On this date in 1699, Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville cast his eyes on Le Baton Rouge, the Red Stick or Red Pole. It served as “the dividing line between the Ouma’s hunting ground and the Bayogoula’s. On the bank are many huts roofed with palmettos and a maypole with no limbs, painted red, several fish heads and bear bones being tied to it as a sacrifice.”
The Red Stick remains a common symbol in Louisiana.
Memories of the People 