The Final Chapter-October2020
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The houses and buildings in Atchafalaya were synchronized with the period, except many of the structures did not have internal walls and were built on stilts. The walls consisted, in many cases, of studs and weatherboards. This fast became an architectural technique due to the rise of the river and fast drying-out process. Water retained inside the walls would cause rotting to take place, therefore, dwellers had to master the problem. Many of those who were interviewed said, the humidity was great.
The scorching summer heat and air would hover over the basin and the mud was a constant way of life. The winters were cold and very damp. Shoes were not a popular item among the young, therefore much of the pastime of the children was spent removing splinters. Wooden walkways were everywhere. Getting around was like walking on a preplanned, isolated pattern of mazes with the objective to never touch ground but it wasn’t always wet and muddy. During the dry spells, the Atchafalaya Baseball Team would practice on a diamond near the businesses and actually participated in league play during the course of the season. The team consisted of: Henry Guidry, pitcher: Tom Bernard, catcher: Dewey Guidry, Xavier Bijeaux, Gus Guidry, Yancy Ramagossa and Bean Bijeaux. Lowell Bernard said, everything there became a way of life. There was nothing to do except work. It was just a handful of people determined to stand their ground and assure themselves that Atchafalaya would prosper and succeed.
But, a new decade was coming in, the 1920’s, and Mother Nature’s curse of damnation was about to take her toll on the people of Atchafalaya…… and the people chose to stand and hold the ground that had become so parallel to their way of life.
| The Atchafalaya Depot, built in ca. 1912 Photo taken in May, 1937 |
