Few DeSoto Parish residents realize the rich culture and heritage of our area. For seven years it has been my pleasure, at the suggestion of Enterprise owner and Editor John Blanchard, to write this weekly article on history - primarily DeSoto Parish History. None of the topics are more iconic than the Rock Chapel. Research on the Rock Chapel constantly renders new and interesting facts.
In the year 1850, the Bayou Pierre Community, located in the piney woods of DeSoto Parish in Northwest Louisiana, was a small congregation of Catholics and they decided to establish a Catholic Church there. A church was built in 1856 by Father Pierre, the first pastor. Father Pierre, whose name was coincidently the same as the community, came once a month from Natchitoches on horseback or boat. Legend has it that while Father Pierre was reading a prayer book accidentally drowned when the riverbank where he was standing suddenly crumbled into the Red River.