Alligator Bayou: Sieur d'Iberville and Francofete 1999

Iberville: Louisiana's Most Famous Explorer

Alligator Bayou and Bayou Manchac are intimately connected with Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, Louisiana's most famous explorer. Historians and civic officials disagree about many facts related to Iberville, but one thing is certain: Iberville sighted the red stick (a cypress pole festooned with bloody fish heads) on March 17, 1699, paddled down Bayou Manchac on March 25, 1699, and spent the night at Alligator Bayou.
He wrote in his journal, "This place where I am is one of the prettiest spots I have seen, fine level ground, beautiful woods, clear and bare of canes..." The next morning, Iberville and his party of daring Frenchmen paddled down the Bayou Manchac shortcut to the Gulf of Mexico and opened this trade route to eventual settlement by world cultures.

Historic Plaque Unveiled By
Louisiana's Lieutenant Governor

Iberville's appreciative words are inscribed on a brass plaque unveiled on March 2, 1999, by Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who oversees the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation & Tourism, and by Frank Bonifay, owner of Alligator Bayou Tours and
co-founder of Bluff Swamp Wildlife Refuge & Botanical Gardens.

The ceremony, a FrancoFete event and press conference, celebrated Iberville's historic ascension of the Mississippi River, his journey down Bayou Manchac and the night he spent at Alligator Bayou.

Our historic marker is located at Alligator Bayou near the intersection of East Baton Rouge, Ascension and Iberville parishes. Dignitaries from state offices, the three parishes and the Louisiana Travel Promotion Association were present at the ceremony and at a birthday cake and wine celebration toasting Bonne Fête and FrancoFete afterward.

Louisiana's colorful FrancoFete
flag greeted dignitaries and press attending the March 2, 1999 commemorative ceremony.

The hosts of the event were Frank Bonifay and Jim Ragland of Alligator Bayou Tours. Along with Ascension Parish citizen Kermit Braud, they are co-founders of Bluff Swamp Wildlife Refuge & Botanical Gardens, a national non-profit organization which has preserved for posterity 901 acres of Bluff Swamp. In October 1998, Alligator Bayou Tours and Bluff Swamp Wildlife Refuge won the 1998-99 Louisiana Rural Tourism Success Award for their efforts in forging a public-private partnership that saved the swamp and brings international tourists here to enjoy the eco-cultural resources of our beautiful area.

Lt. Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco and officials from Ascension, East Baton Rouge and Iberville parishes toast Iberville's landing at
Alligator Bayou, Bonne Fete and FrancoFete.

Edmund Boudreaux of Biloxi (left) and
Joseph O of Gonzales re-enact Iberville's
March 25, 1699 landing at Alligator Bayou.

Cajun conservationist Kermit Braud (left) trumpeted the event with his hunting cowhorn while Lt. Gov. Blanco (center) and Frank unveiled the commemorative plaque.

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