Columns

From the hospital to the rehab center and back to the hospital, then back to the rehab center and now…she has come home! And now her power has gone off. I had visited with her this evening before coming in with my son Bruce from South Louisiana.

During and after the Civil War Louisianans were faced with many unbearable problems. Our northwest Louisiana area faced the hardship and cruelty inflicted by the Carpet Baggers (Northern troops and individuals sent after the war to enforce privileges for the Negros). But central and south Louisiana had tremendous problems with the Jayhawkers.

The Jayhawkers were a terrifying and widespread group of notorious mongrel men whose goal was to cause havoc in the area. It appeared to have originated in Winn Parish and spread eastward and southwards. Whatever their motivation they formed violent gangs to take advantage of the war’s chaos to rob, steal and murder.

Most people that have studied history through the years have questioned certain points or thoughts that are generally accepted or projected as ideas. Abraham Lincoln has been presented as an agnostic or even atheist president in religion.

By chance I came into possession of a Mobile, Alabama newspaper article that was 100 years old and written by Thomas B. Mc-Gregor, Assistant Attorney General of Kentucky. Evidently McGregor had wondered about Lincoln’s religious affiliation or lack thereof. Also, evidently proven that Lincoln was reared in the Baptist Church. Most of the religious mystery of he and his parent religious life was found in the deerskin covered ledger of the Little Pigeon Church where Mc-Gregor found that Thomas Lincoln, Abe’s father, acted as Moderator and was a pillar of the Little Pigeon church near Lincoln City, in Spinder County, Indiana.

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want He makes me to lie down in green pastures He leads me beside the still waters; He restores my soul Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.

Thou leadest me in the paths of righteousness.

My cup runneth over… As I come to the last day of January (as I was writing this) and already into the new year, I do not know what things may befall us in 2026, but I know that He is with us. He will lead us through these valleys “of the shadow of death”. We are to fear no evil, our Lord is with us. (Psalm 23) Years ago an elderly woman lost her husband to an illness. They lived out in the country and she was by herself now. Folks asked, “why don’t you move to town where you won’t be by yourself?” She answered them, “’I am not by myself; He is with me, my Lord Jesus. I will not be afraid.”

To begin this week, I want to thank the many workers who diligently and with much sacrifice performed their best to restore power to each home and help persons in dire straits in Desoto Parish. Words alone are not enough to convey my gratitude and understanding of their importance to everyone’s daily lives. Even though this weather was a hard one to deal with, I saw so many good things that came through many people throughout the parish.

Fish Pepper Soup

Yes, from Nigeria and I was thinking about cooking this exotic — but dangerous sounding — dish until I got a look at the ingredients: Alligator Pepper? No problem, I’ll maybe use Caradamon Seeds; Uziza Seeds? No problem, I’ll use coarse ground Black Pepper; Calabash Seeds? Well, here’s where it got a little weird because Wikipedia was saying they were like Gourd Seeds — What?!; Finally, Gbafilic Seeds are supposed to be like Flax … AND that did it. Kinda like ole Jimmy Duranti used to say when he ended his T.V. program, “Goodnight Mrs. Calabash (seeds), wherever you are”.

History is in many forms and today’s article takes on a whimsical form yet is about one of our true icons of the mid 1900’s — Burma Shave. They introduced in 1925 a different and unique method to advertise their products. Originally a liniment and aftershave made from “Ingredients from the Malay Peninsula and Burma”. It grew into the top shaving creams through a series of road side signs that entertained the children and adults all over America.

Stuffed Onion

Bombs

Doesn’t the name of this recipe just scream out at you?! It did to me especially when I learned they were wrapped with bacon. One reading and I knew I had my next column. Thanks to Charlotte Huff Miller for posting this to me on Facebook and thanks for all the positive comments by others attesting to how good they were gonna be.

Her recipe from “Best Bites” asks you to combine 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of bread crumbs, 1/3 cup of chopped onions, 1/2 tsp. of chopped garlic,? cup BBQ Sauce, a tsp. of salt & pepper and 2 lbs. of ground beef in a large bowl.

Mans field of old would not be recognizable today. The transportation was by horseback, buggy or wagon and people did not travel to Shreveport or other distant places unless it was absolutely necessary. Logansport, 22 miles in distance, was a two-day affair. Many of the people would get up and leave by wagon to pay their taxes in Mansfield, which was the Parish Seat and ladies would shop for dress material, lace, etc. After shopping they would return to a campground just west of Attwood’s on the left side of U.S. 84. Reading one account of the family camping told of Dr. Stribling (built the Milton Baker house now the home of Sue Baker) stopping by for coffee. The campers would cook breakfast and be on the way back to Logansport by six o’clock.

The old saying “Everything Has A Reason” which is true with a lot of the towns, rivers, bayous, etc. Most of our places in our parish are named from early settlers, Indian folklore and legend. DeSoto Parish many believed to have been named for Hernando DeSoto the Spanish explorer actually was named for Joseph Marcel DeSoto of Bayou Pierre.