I was looking up obituaries and came across one of Winston's articles in the Town Talk from 1987. (April 12, 1987 C-9). One part of the article is about the soldiers who came after Napoleon's defeat in 1815. This is another interesting bit about Louisiana.
I read some history about Mansura (Avoyelles) and yesterday mentioned the Ville Platte Tournoi. These French people influenced the area of Evangeline. Marcellin Garand, in legend, was the founder of Ville Platte. He was one of these Napoleon soldiers. He supposedly taught the area about the sport of Tournoi. He also, in legend, ran a tavern where the Ville Platte main library is located today. Cowboys driving cattle to New Orleans would stop and get a drink. Travelers on the El Camino Real would stop too.
It might be bull**** but I like the idea.
Now these French people spoke French too. There were so many different groups of French people who came to the area. People came from France, Acadie, Illinois, Quebec, Fort Toulouse, Mobile, etc, etc. The French were dominate and that is why French was spoken. Germans, Spanish, Irish, English, Italians, etc also came. Africans came (not by choice of course) also and greatly influenced the area too. And of course the Native Americans were here before anyone else.
But French became the language for the area and "French" was the dominate culture. How much of the language is Acadian? Quebec? "Napoleon soldier French"? "Fort Toulouse soldier French"?
Directly from France (before 1803) French?"
Man, how can anyone really tell? They all influenced each other. I do know that the Acadians were not the main French group in this area. Terrebonne and Vermilion had a dominate Acadian culture but not in Evangeline. This is from what I've read.
http://www.vpla.com/vp_history.php