In acknowledging the sources of information and the assistance of the many persons I consulted in the preparation of this book, the author wishes to thank the following: The staffs of the Sabine Parish, the Natchitoches Parish and the Northwestern State College Libraries—with especial thanks to Miss Catherine Bridges who so patiently and ably assisted me in gathering data for this writing. Acknowledgment is gratefully and appreciatingly given to those excellent authors and their publishers listed in the bibliography at the back of this book, for it was through their talent and efforts that a whole new experience was opened to me.

I must remember too my History Teacher, Mrs. Lucille Roy Caffery, who so thoroughly planted in my mind the desire to read and study History, for it was she who told me, “It is the History and the Present which foretells the Future.”

I am likewise grateful to Miss Margie Harrison and Mrs. Mabel Fletcher Harrison who corrected and typed this book and to Mrs. Bernice A. Authur of Many, La., who also assisted in the typing of this manuscript.

Louis R. Nardini