Ouachita Parish, Louisiana

Ouachita Parish (French: Paroisse d'Ouachita) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 153,720. The parish seat is Monroe. The parish was formed in 1807.

Ouachita Parish is part of the Monroe, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Prehistory

Ouachita Parish was the home to many succeeding Native American groups in the thousands of years before European settlements began. Peoples of the Marksville culture, Troyville culture, Coles Creek culture and Plaquemine culture built villages and mound sites throughout the area. Notable examples include the Filhiol Mound Site, located on a natural levee of the Ouachita River.

Historic era

The parish bears the same name as the Ouachita River, which flows through southern Arkansas and northeastern Louisiana. In 1541, the first Europeans to set foot on the territory that is now Ouachita parish was the expedition of Spanish explorer and conquistador Hernando de Soto. After crossing over onto the west bank of the Mississippi River near the White River, the expedition descended into Louisiana near the junction of the Ouachita and Tensas Rivers to avoid the muddy western banks of the Mississippi River. French settlers arrived in Ouachita Parish around 1720. In 1769, Alejandro O'Reilly claimed Ouachita Parish for Spain. A census of the parish was taken and the result was 110 people. In 1785, Juan Filhiol established the first European outpost in Louisiana, called Fort Miro, which became a town in 1805, two years after the Louisiana Purchase. Fort Miro was renamed the Ouachita Post in 1819; then it was changed to Monroe a year or so later, to honor the first powered steamboat to sail the Ouachita River.