[Louisiana Cemeteries] Old Gravel Point Cemetery - DeSoto Parish - Restored
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- Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2011 13:34:35 -0800 (PST)
Forgotten DeSoto cemetery is restored
By Vickie Welborn • vwelborn@xxxxxxxxxxx • January 17, 2011
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20110117/NEWS01/101170321/Forgotten-DeSoto-cemetery-is-restored
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FRIERSON — An unmarked and pretty much forgotten DeSoto Parish cemetery
that was almost razed last year during a pipeline crossing project has been
restored to a condition likely not seen since its creation more than 150 years
ago.
The rediscovery of the Old Gravel Point Cemetery sitting on a bluff along Bayou
Pierre in the Frierson community also reconnected descendents of several of
DeSoto Parish's pioneer families. And along with it, historians learned even
more about the history of the region.
"This cemetery is along a cotton road where people would travel to take their
cotton to Gravel Point to a steamboat," said Gary Joiner, a local historian who
was enlisted as a consultant to research the cemetery. "This area was there in
the 1820s, no later than 1840s. It's when people started coming into this
region,
even before Shreveport. This is an old, old community. It was a pioneer trail."
Landowner Reggie Roe said he wasn't aware a cemetery existed on the site.
And it likely would have remained a secret if had not been for the ETC Tiger
Pipeline project that traverses part of Roe's land.
No signs of a cemetery were noted when archaeologists conducted
preconstruction surveys prior to the installation of a 42-inch pipeline that is
carrying natural gas extracted from the Haynesville Shale. The land resembled
a vacant field.
But as an equipment operator moved in to scrub the corridor "he was sitting up
high enough to see that something wasn't right," Joiner said. "He did the right
thing. He stopped and made the right calls."
ETC Tiger contacted Joiner, who in turn brought on board two of his LSUS
students. Gentle removal of topsoil revealed earth stains associated with the
excavation and refilling of grave shafts. An infrared camera helped Joiner
identify 25 graves that were oriented east-west, as is the custom in Christian
cemeteries.
As ETC Tiger made plans to reroute the pipeline, Joiner and his students
flagged
each grave corner and mapped the entire area. Still, piecing together the
cemetery's history was just beginning.
"We started out with absolutely no information," Joiner said.
But it wasn't long after poring through dozens of maps that Joiner found the
Old
Gravel Point Cemetery designated on an 1861 Confederate defense map of
Caddo and DeSoto parishes. And from a computer-generated map of the ridge,
Joiner was able to outline the road bed that led to the Gravel Point steamboat
landing once located on Bayou Pierre, a major tributary of the Red River.
Joiner lucked up again after a conversation with a fellow teacher led to her
brother, Albert Lafitte, who once searched the land for a cemetery where some
of their ancestors were believed to be buried.
"He walked through there and didn't see a thing," Joiner said. "I eventually
identified three sets of intertwined families that had been working on their
genealogy and none of them knew how it fit together. This cemetery was the
missing piece."
Of the 25 gravesites, only six can be positively identified. "But even though
we
don't know the specific people in the specific grave, we do know how many are
there, where they are and the families involved," Joiner said.
Joiner heaps praise on how ETC Tiger handled the situation. "They did
everything right every step of the way" from rerouting the pipeline, "which
cost
them a ton of money," to erecting an iron fence and gate around the cemetery
boundary. Each gravesite is marked with a 3-foot tall metal cross, and an
historical marker noting the final resting place of members of the Dupre,
Lafitte,
Prudhome, Rambin and Williams families also was added.
ETC Tiger has produced an eight-page booklet outlining the restoration effort.
It's filled with maps, photos and background information on the pioneering
families.
"ETC Tiger is pleased to have had the opportunity to restore the Old Gravel
Point Cemetery so that it can once again be visited by descendants and stand
as a visible reminder of DeSoto Parish history," the document states.
Joiner assisted William Stanyard in preparing a full technical report on the
site
that is now registered with the Louisiana Division of Archaeology. The report
will
undergo review before it is deemed final. But having it registered as an
archaeological site could mean stiff penalties for any vandals. Vandals get the
blame for the destruction of the original cemetery markers.
"This was such a wonderful, wonderful project to work on. To me, it validates
what I do and why I do it," Joiner said.
ETC TIGER REPORT PDF
http://www.tigerpipeline.com/pdfs/ETC_Old_Gravel_Point_Cemetery.pdf
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