After the Battle of Mansfield, halting the Union advance to the West in Spring of 1864, Forts Randolph and Buhlow were constructed on the Red River at Alexandria by Confederates in order to repel future Union attacks through Northwest Louisiana. Construction, completed by March 1865, was under the command of Cpt. Christopher M. Randolph and supervised by a military engineer, Lt. Alphonse Buhlow, for whom the forts are named. A third and larger fort, planned for the Alexandria side of the river, was never built.

The earthen forts, constructed using local plantation slave labor, were fortified with cannon and over 800 soldiers. In addition to a Confederate troop buildup in the Alexandria area, the Confederate ironclad Missouri was anchored in the river opposite Fort Randolph, but the anticipated attack never came and no fighting over took place. In May of 1865, the Confederates surrendered to Union forces, and the forts where occupied for a short while by the Union before being abandoned at the end of the war.

Forts Randolph & Buhlow State Historic Site also includes the remains of Bailey’s Dam. Bailey’s Dam, remarkable for its design and the amount of time required in constructing it, allowed for the Union Fleet, under the command of Admiral David Porter, to escape below the rapids on the Red River at Alexandria during the Union retreat after the battle of Mansfield. Called “one of the greatest engineering feats of the Civil War,” The dam designed by Colonel Joseph Bailey has left a lasting mark on the history of the region. The site is today commemorated with interpretive signage and a scenic overlook of the Red River.

Located on Red River in downtown Pineville, the site includes a visitor center with exhibits on the Civil War Red River Campaign, an elevated boardwalk around the fort area, with an overlook near Bailey's Dam site, and an open field for Civil War re-enactments. Forts Randolph & Buhlow were placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.

Forts Randolph & Buhlow State Historic Site

Kent Plantation House State Historic Site turns back the clock to circa 1800, when Pierre Baillio II commissioned the construction of a simple six-bedroom home on the banks of Bayou Rapides. Located in what today is the central Louisiana hub of Alexandria, it’s a testament to how sugar barons lived over 300 years ago. King Charles IV of Spain granted Baillio approximately 500 acres of land in 1795, and the planter soon set to making a profit from it. The home, made with local materials found in the Alexandria area (including cypress for roofbeams and clay for bricks), was built on brick piers to protect it from flood waters. Its simple Creole style architecture was typical of the period. Baillio’s heirs sold the property in 1842 to a wealthy planter named Robert C. Hynson from Kent County, Maryland. He named the plantation after his homeland and began updating architectural details to match the Greek Revival style that was popular for the period, as well as greatly expanding the house itself. Today visitors can view the handiwork that Baillio and Hynson oversaw. Tour outbuildings that include a working sugar house, the only one of its kind known to exist, and open for sugar-making demonstrations during the fall harvest season. Visit the slave quarters for a glimpse into how Kent Plantation House’s workers endured harsh conditions, and the specialized Milk House used for dairy preparation. In the Big House, you’ll find finely adorned rooms that include a ladies’ parlor, where women of means once sipped tea, and a library reserved for entertaining gentlemen guests. The main bedroom and children’s bedroom are also on display, as well as the “stranger’s room,” quarters reserved for unknown guests who were passing through the region. During your visit to the Alexandria area, check out the Alexandria Zoological Park, as well as nearby Arna Wendell Bontemps Museum and the Louisiana History Museum. Get some sun at Chicot State Park and South Toledo Bend State Park, and for insight into Louisiana’s military history, check out Forts Randolph and Buhlow State Historic Site, and Louisiana Maneuvers and Military Museum.

Kent Plantation House State Historic Site

Marksville was founded by accident. Here, in the 1790s, a Venetian peddler named Marco broke a wagon wheel along his travels, and decided to stay and set up a trading post. The resulting town offers visitors a patchwork of colonial history—and more. The 1820 Hypolite-Bordelon House is a window into the life of early European settlers. Fort De Russy was built during the Civil War to defend the Red River. On the prehistoric side, Marksville State Historic Site features a Native American ceremonial center. The first inhabitants of the Marksville area are honored with the annual Fete du Ble Indian Festival. The modern presence of Native Americans is on spectacular display at the 500-room Paragon Casino & Resort, owned by the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe. Natural areas, such as Spring Bayou Wildlife Management Area and the Lake Ophelia and Grand Cote National Wildlife Preserves, give hunters, fishermen and nature lovers their due.

Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site, also known as the Marksville State Historic Site, is a Marksville culture archaeological site located 1 mile southeast of Marksville in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. The site features numerous earthworks built by the prehistoric indigenous peoples of southeastern North America.

Marksville State Historic Site

Established in 1961, the Louisiana State Arboretum was the first such area in the South and the first state-supported arboretum in the United States. To help preserve the Arboretum for future generations, removing or damaging any plants or animals is strictly prohibited. Pets and picnicking are not allowed on the grounds due to the preservation status of this site. Picnic grounds and camping facilities are available at nearby Chicot State Park. 

The Louisiana State Arboretum is large – more than 600 acres of natural growth, embellished with additional plantings of species that are indigenous to the state. Atypical of the terrain in the Louisiana prairieland, the topography of the Arboretum is varied and dramatic. The landscape ranges from nearly flat along the Walker Branch of Lake Chicot to relatively steep slopes along the terrace ridges. Due to this great variation in topography, almost every type of Louisiana vegetation, except coastal marsh and prairie, is represented on the site.
A Visitor Center, located within Chicot State Park and dedicated to the memory of J.D. "Prof" LaFleur, an outdoor enthusiast instrumental in establishing the Arboretum, houses interactive exhibits and meeting facilities. Nature trails take you deep into the wooded areas and longer trails take you along Walker Branch or Ferguson's Gully where several of the footpaths converge. If you walk the trails quietly, you'll discover that sycamores, maples, beeches, magnolias, hickories, ferns, and crane fly orchids are not the only living things in the arboretum. There's a good chance that you'll encounter some two-and four-legged critters, too: white-tail deer, wild turkey, raccoon, opossum, fox, skunk, squirrel, and numerous species of birds.

Botanists, horticulturists, college students, youth groups, solitary nature lovers, and people of all ages are all attracted to this beautiful and fascinating place. No matter how you walk along the trails – whether carefully, with the attentive eye of a scientist, or at full tilt with the carefree heart of a child – the Louisiana State Arboretum promises to be a memorable experience. Enjoy and please remember — take only pictures, leave only footprints.

Louisiana State Arboretum State Preservation Area

The park covers over 6,400 acres of rolling hills and water in South Central Louisiana. The cool, clear waters of Lake Chicot have yielded record freshwater catches of largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill and red-ear sunfish. Fishermen will enjoy the convenient boathouse, three boat launches and boat rental facilities.

An extensive hiking/backpacking trail completely encircles Lake Chicot and includes several primitive campsites along the way. The hiking trails allow visitors to experience and enjoy the park's natural landscape, its bottomland hardwood forest and the lake itself. For visitors who enjoy a quicker pace, much of the trail is geared toward mountain bikers, and all cyclists are welcome to ride the roadways throughout the park.

The South Landing includes cabins, a group camp, picnic areas and playground, a water playground, a boat launch, a fishing pier and a dock with rental boats. A scenic road links the South Landing with the North Landing.

The North Landing features campsites, a boat launch, a dock, a 400 ft. fishing pier and a primitive group-camping area. Lodges also are located in this area.

The East Landing is accessible from LA 106. It is less developed than the other two areas. It includes a boat launch, a dock, a meeting room and a barbeque pavilion, which makes this area ideal for day visitors.

The Louisiana State Arboretum, located within Chicot State Park, is home to a magnificent mature beech-magnolia forest and features an outdoor classroom and several miles of nature trails with labeled plant life native to Louisiana.

Chicot State Park

Natchitoches was founded by a French Canadian, Louis Antoine Juchereau de St. Denis, in 1714 while he was en route to Mexico from Mobile, Alabama, on a trade mission. When he reached the village of the Natchitoches Indians on the Red River, he had two huts constructed within the village and left a small detachment there to guard the stores and trade with the inhabitants. This became the first permanent European settlement in the territory later known as the Louisiana Purchase.

In 1716, Sieur Charles Claude Dutisné was sent to Natchitoches with a small company of colonial troops to build and garrison an outpost that would prevent the Spanish forces in the province of Texas from advancing across the border of French Louisiane. This strategic outpost was named Fort St. Jean Baptiste des Natchitoches. Economically, Natchitoches evolved into a primary French trade center in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Native American tribes of the three Caddo Confederacies played a vital role in establishing trade and communication links among the French, the Spanish and the Native Americans of the region. The trade that developed with the Caddos forever changed the material culture of the tribes, and by the mid-18th century they were almost completely dependent upon French trade goods. The diplomatic success of the fort was assured when St. Denis was named commandant in 1722. His influence would thrive in the colony until his death in 1744.

The fort continued to serve as a military outpost and commercial trade center until 1762, when France's defeat by England in the French and Indian War forced her to cede the Louisiana colony to Spain. Under Spanish authority, the fort served as a trade center and a link in Spain's intracolonial communications network. But since its original purpose of protecting a territorial boundary no longer applied, the Spanish eventually abandoned the fort. The fort was in such ruins by the time the United States acquired the area in the Louisiana Purchase (1803) that the Americans could no longer use it, so they built Fort Claiborne nearby.

The site obtained for the replication of Fort St. Jean Baptiste is located on Cane River Lake (formerly the Red River) a few hundred yards from the original fort site. The fort replication was based upon Ignace Francois Broutin's plans and on extensive archival research in Louisiana, Canada and France. Construction began in 1979 under the direction of the late Samuel Wilson, Jr. and the Louisiana Office of State Parks. Building materials were obtained locally, and many 18th-century techniques were employed in the replication. Nearly 2,000 treated pine logs form the palisade and approximately 250,000 board feet of treated lumber went into the construction of the buildings. All of the hinges and latches were handmade at a nearby foundry. Further historical research is ongoing.

Fort St. Jean Baptiste State Historic Site

Los Adaes, the symbol of New Spain in Louisiana, was once the capital of Texas and the scene of a unique cooperation among the French, the Spanish and the indigenous Native Americans. An area rich in archaeological finds, it thrives today as one of Louisiana's most intriguing state Historic Sites. Click here for additional information about excavations at and resulting discoveries about the history of Los Adaes, courtesy of the Louisiana Division of Archaeology.

Los Adaes dates back to the early 1700s when a Franciscan missionary, Father Francisco Hidalgo, urged the French governor of Louisiana to establish a post near east Texas. The missionary's objectives weren't purely religious; he knew that such an action by the French would alert New Spain and cause the Spanish government to re-establish previously closed Spanish military posts and Franciscan missions. The founding of Natchitoches in 1714 by the Frenchman St. Denis and the subsequent construction there of Fort St. Jean Baptiste had the predicted effect. In 1716, the Spanish established six missions and one fort in east Texas.

In 1719, an attack on Mission San Miguel - 15 miles from the French Fort St. Jean Baptiste - alarmed the Spanish and they built a new presidio, or fort, to counter any further French intrusion into Spanish territory. The Presidio Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Los Adaes (Fort of Our Lady of Pilar at the Adaes) was surrounded by a hexagonal stockade with three bulwarks. In 1729, Spain designated Los Adaes the capital of the province of Texas. This made Los Adaes the official residence of the governor, and a house was constructed for him within the presidio. Los Adaes remained the administrative seat of government for the entire province for the next 44 years.

Life at Los Adaes was harsh. Poor land and crop failures meant constant food shortages and rainy weather often meant spoiled supplies. The nearest Spanish supply post was 800 miles away and that distance, combined with rain, floods and hostile Native Americans, resulted in chronic shortages of everything. Without the trade of the French at Natchitoches, the inhabitants of Los Adaes would have starved. Although Spain strictly prohibited trade with the French, the latter eagerly sought it. The French took advantage of supply shortages at Los Adaes, and an illicit trade soon flourished between the two posts.

In 1772, ten years after Louisiana was transferred to Spain, Los Adaes closed and the inhabitants moved to San Antonio. However, many of the 500 soldiers and family members soon left San Antonio and returned to Louisiana, where their descendants live today.

Forts Randolph & Buhlow State Historic Site Maps

Pineville, LA

Forts Randolph & Buhlow State Historic Site Description

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