From colonial times well into the mid-20th century and long after the arrival of the automobile, travel by animal-drawn conveyance was the chief mode of transportation for many Creole families of Louisiana’s “French Triangle.”
The most common forms of transportation were the two-wheel charette (cart), in the 18th century often pulled by a pair of oxen (charette de boeuf), and the four-wheel, horse- or mule-drawn wagon. As most Creole families were of modest socio-economic status, with limited funds for luxuries, they traveled in the same vehicles in which they transported their cotton, sugar cane, corn, timber, fire wood and other produce from their farms. In her November 22, 1891 installment on Pointe Coupée Parish, New Orleans Daily Picayune columnist Catherine Cole (nomme de plume of Martha R. Field) quoted False River planter John H. Seibert in relating that the first carts in the parish were made entirely of wood, without any piece of iron whatsoever, and that as the great wheels rolled along the roads “their shrill, sour creaking could be heard two miles away.”
A widely-used vehicle on the prairies west of the Atchafalaya River during the early 19th century was the caleche (calash), a topless, completely wooden vehicle, held together with pegs, the body hung low on strips of rawhide.
The most substantial form of transport was the carosse (coach), a wooden, fully enclosed vehicle with an interior bench or benches for passengers and a n exterior seat up front for the driver. While typical in New Orleans, coaches were rare in the rural districts of the state. Succession inventories in Pointe Coupée Parish mention include at least two: that of the wealthy Mississippi River indigo planter Jean Claude Trenonay de Chanfret, purchased at his succession sale in 1792 by Francois Samson; and that of False River planter Jean Baptiste Pourciau, purchased from his estate in 1834 by his granddaughter Artemise Pourciau’s husband, Pierre Bercy Major.
Much more prevalent, though expensive, in the early 19th century was the cabriolet, sort of a “half-coach,” having a single, fully enclosed bench for two passengers with an open driver’s seat and drawn by a single animal. Similar conveyances at mid-19th century were known in English as the “brougham” and “rockaway” carriages. For most Creoles, the ultimate luxury in 19th century travel was the stately barouche, an open carriage with two facing benches for passengers, a collapsible top and high open seat for the driver. In English, a similar conveyance was referred to as a “landau.” Succession inventories indicated at least 10 Pointe Coupée households as possessing barouches in the 19th century: those of Antoine Cesaire Gosserand and wife, Marie Anne Jarreau, their vehicle appraised at a heady $280 in 1834; Constance LaCour, widow of Vincent Ternant, valued for her estate at $250 in 1837; her grandson Alfred Fuselier, whose estate included one in 1840; Vincent, whose estate included a record four vehicles in 1842, being a barouche, a landau, a tilbury and a gig; Chalinette Berza, free woman of color, sold by her estate in 1842 to another free woman of color, Fannie Riche, likely her half-sister; Augustin LeBlanc de Villeneuve, sold by his estate in 1849 to William H. Thompson; Clarisse Boisdore, widow of Nicholas LaCour III, in 1854; Jean Ursin Jarreau and wife, Octavine Leblanc de Villeneuve, in 1857; Hubert Patin, in whose estate is accounted for a mere $10 in 1877; and Joseph Lorio, whose estate included an “old” barouche valued at $50 in 1891.
Beginning in the mid-1800s and continuing for a century, countless Creole families acquired and used for many years the vehicles affectionately referred to as the boghie (buggy) and the voiture (double buggy or surrey). Strictly speaking, the boghie was a four-wheel conveyance with one bench for two persons – a driver and a passenger –and a collapsible top. If designed to be pulled by a single animal, it was also known as a brancard. The voiture was similar to the boghie but had two benches and could, therefore, accommodate a driver and three passengers.
Pointe Coupée’s most elegant small vehicle, without a doubt, was the fantastic chaise landaulet (small shay landau for two passengers) of Jean Claude Trenonay de Chanfret. It was described in his 1792 succession proceedings as being upholstered in crimson velvet and silk and having silver-plated harness.
The smallest of all vehicles was the jhompa (jumper), a two-wheel vehicle for a single person, pulled by a single animal. In English, its variations were known as “gig,” “tilbury” and “trap” in addition to “jumper.” The jompa was the most affordable vehicle for consumers; cotton farmer Paul Aguillard’s vehicle on False River was valued at a mere $5 in the 1903 Pointe Coupée Parish Assessment Roll.
Despite the ravages of the Civil War, when troops of North and South as well as jayhawkers took movable goods from many of the citizenry, a surprising number of Creole families in Louisiana’s French triangle managed to hold on to their carriages and buggies. IRS agents visited South Louisiana during 1865 and 1866 for the assessment of income and luxury taxes to help defray the Federal government’s Civil War costs. In addition to pianos, silverware and watches, they found a large number of vehicles which to assess. Some families possessed multiple vehicles and some of the conveyances were valued quite high. In Pointe Coupée Parish, for example, sugar planter Arthur Denis was listed in 1865 as having three carriages at his False River plantation, presently known as River Lake. In 1866, IRS agents listed three carriages at a value of $200 each, these being the vehicles of Jean Francois Lieux, F.C Patin and Francois X. Robillard. In keeping with such figures, a rockaway seized by court order from sugar planter Armand LaCour as part of civil proceedings instituted against him brought $200 at sheriff’s sale in 1868. By contrast, the 1868 succession inventory of attorney and Secession Convention delegate Auguste Provosty, now housed in Special Collections at Louisiana State University, lists three old carriages, valued together at a mere $10.
The buggy and harness formerly part of the community property of Island of False River cotton planter Paul Jarreau and Virginie David – who divorced after 40 years of marriage in 1867 – brought $40 at public sale.
Work vehicles, in addition to the wagon and charette listed earlier, included the charette des cannes (sugar cane cart), charette a bagasse (bagasse cart, for hauling the pulp by-product of grinding sugar cane) and char a banc (a freight cart drawn by a single animal).
In the towns, hotels and livery stables commonly offered buggies and carriages for hire, these being referred to as “hacks.” The “omnibus,” a long, enclosed vehicle having seats for several passengers who paid fares to ride, was called the bos by Creole speakers. Omnibus lines operated between downtown areas and railroad stations and river landings in several South Louisiana Parishes. B.F. Holden operated an omnibus line from the corner of Market and St. Louis Streets in Thibodaux, Lafourche Parish in 1868. In 1891, merchant and pharmacist Harry Demouy established an omnibus line between downtown New Roads and Anchor Landing on the Mississippi River, After the Texas & Pacific Railroad was built through New Roads in 1899, Auguste Bondy operated an omnibus line running to and from the depot.
Long after the automobile became the most prominent mode of transportation on the streets and roadways of Louisiana, buggies, wagons and other animal-drawn vehicles continued in service, particularly in the areas west and south of Lafayette. By mid-20th century, however, with the passage of older generations of drivers, these old conveyances could only be seen deteriorating in barns or farmyards, sometimes to be retrieved and spruced up as parade entries. The Church Point Buggy Festival, as its name indicates, pays homage to the animal-drawn transport of yesteryear. Meanwhile, vehicles of many types, including hearses, are available for viewing year ’round at a number of South Louisiana tourist attractions, notably the :SU Rural Life Museum on Essen Lane in Baton Rouge.