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Travis & Diana Vincent Callahan's Home Page

Hello From South Louisiana

Diana and I were both born here in South Central Louisiana. Some of our ancestors migrated from France to Port Royal, Nova Scotia in 1605. The new land was called Acadia and remained under French control until 1713 when Nova Scotia was ceded to Britain. The Acadians continued to work their farms until 1755 when the British government decided to give the Acadian's farms to new British settlers to the area. The British government then decided to eliminate the Acadians by deporting them. Seven thousand of the Acadian people were sent to the American colonies of which over half that number did not survive . Ten thousand others escaped to present day Canada to take refuge at the French forts there. The British then attacked the forts and many of the Acadians were killed. The remainder were sent to France and England where some were enslaved as servants. Later some of those were able to leave France and travel to Louisiana to meet their cousins who had arrived here in 1755. Some of our other ancestors came directly from France, and were not part of the Acadian exile. Those people adapted to the new climate and terrain quickly and became farmers and cattlemen. The area where we live was a tall grass prairie at the time and ideally suited for farming.

Today Diana and I still speak the French dialect of those first settlers and many of the local people still farm the land of their ancestors. Here we enjoy a lifestyle that is unique with world famous cuisine, music, and a joy of life that is very hard to understand until one visits here. Our research of our family trees inspired this web site and a desire to have you understand a little about this area. Diana and I hope you enjoy your visit to our site which will certainly be expanded in the future. We are including links to other local pages so that you can understand why we are proud to be a pair of Cajuns.

Crawfishermen on a Blustery Day

Three men harvest crawfish near Abbeville, Louisiana. Crawfish are big business in South Louisiana. The small cousin of the lobster is much in demand by restaurants.

The Lacassine River

Near Lake Charles, LA

A remnant of the past

Many years ago rice was irrigated through a series of canals throughout Acadia and Vermilion Parish. Avrico, Acadia Vermilion Rice Irrigation Company, had gigantic pumps at Primeaux,'s landing on the Mermentau River, built by Mr. Gueydan the founder of the town by the same name in 1895. His first pump moved 60,000 gallons of water a minute. A canal began at the pump and went across Vermilion Parish and the company sold water to rice growers along the way .

In Milton Louisiana another pumping system was installed on the Vermilion River with a series of canals through the parish joining with the Gueydan system. This provided adequate water supplies across the two parishes for the young rice industry. In later years deep water pumps allowed rice farming in areas not serviced by Avrico. In the time since then most of the land was reclaimed by the landowners and leveled. Here is a section of the old canal system with a "flume" still in place. The flume allowed the canal water to flow over obstacles such as canals and roads. This is in Vermilion Parish south of Nunez, LA.

To the west a portion of the original canal is visible.

Touchdown

Every year millions of geese over winter in South Louisiana . Large flocks rise with any disturbance and relocate a little further from the road. This group is 100 yards from the truck.

The Catholic Church at Saint Gabriel

This is the oldest church still standing in Louisiana and was built in 1776 by the Acadian settlers who were sent to fortify the fort at Saint Gabriel on the Mississippi river. This church along with the St. Martin de Tours church at Saint Martinville was a very important part of the early settlers lives and the priests were instrumental in preserving the records of early South Louisiana.

Of Important Interest to All Women

Of Particular Interest to us is the fight to cure Inflammatory Breast Cancer since Diana is a four year Survivor of this disease . It is often misdiagnosed and therefore it is of major importance that your loved ones be aware of this aggressive cancer and able to diagnose it themselves .Please join us in our effort to make the world aware.

Click on the link below to open and then click on The IBC Project Video

Learn About the fight to cure IBC

Our Hobbies

Genealogy & The Civil War In Louisiana

General Louis Hebert Camp 2032 SCV Page

My Civil War Memorial Page

American Legion Post 29 Home Page

American Legion Auxiliary Unit 29 Home Page

Gardening

Les Familles Bodin

The Mayhaw Lovers

Our Favorite Louisiana Links