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Bayou Teche



 
 
The Bayou Teche is a 125-mile long waterway of great cultural significance in south central Louisiana
Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
. Bayou Teche was the Mississippi River
Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
's main course when it developed a delta about 2,800 to 4,500 years ago. Through a natural process known as deltaic switching the river's deposits of silt and sediment causes the Mississippi to change its course every thousand years or so.

Teche begins in Port Barre where it draws water from Bayou Courtableau and then flows southward to meet the Lower Atchafalaya River
Atchafalaya River

The Atchafalaya River is a distributary of the Mississippi River and Red River rivers, approximately 170 miles long, in south central Louisiana in the United States....
 at Patterson.






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The Bayou Teche is a 125-mile long waterway of great cultural significance in south central Louisiana
Louisiana

The State of Louisiana is a U.S. state located in the U.S. Southern States of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans....
. Bayou Teche was the Mississippi River
Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
's main course when it developed a delta about 2,800 to 4,500 years ago. Through a natural process known as deltaic switching the river's deposits of silt and sediment causes the Mississippi to change its course every thousand years or so.

History

The Teche begins in Port Barre where it draws water from Bayou Courtableau and then flows southward to meet the Lower Atchafalaya River
Atchafalaya River

The Atchafalaya River is a distributary of the Mississippi River and Red River rivers, approximately 170 miles long, in south central Louisiana in the United States....
 at Patterson. During the time of the Acadian
Acadian

The Acadians are the descendants of the seventeenth-century France French colonial empires who settled in Acadia . Although today most of the Acadians and Qu?b?cois are francophone Canadians, Acadia was founded in a geographically separate region from Quebec leading to their two distinct cultures....
 migration to what was then known as the Attakapas region, the Teche was the primary means of transportation. After the levees were built along the Atachafalaya River in the 1930s, the Teche and the rice
Rice

Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
 farms located along the bayou suffered a drastic reduction in fresh water. Between 1976 and 1982, the United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 34,600 civilian and 650 military personnel, making it the world's largest public services engineering, design and construction management agency....
 built a pumping station at Krotz Springs, Louisiana
Krotz Springs, Louisiana

Krotz Springs is a town in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana on the Atchafalaya River. The population was 1,219 at the 2000 United States Census....
 to pump water from the Atchafalaya River into Bayou Courtableau.

The name "Teche" is a French word meaning "snake" based on a story about a large snake told by the Chitimacha Indians to the settlers in the area.

Towns on Bayou Teche

Towns along the Teche include:
  • St. Landry Parish, Louisiana
    St. Landry Parish, Louisiana

    St. Landry Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is at the heart of Acadian/Cajun culture and heritage in Louisiana. The parish seat is Opelousas, Louisiana....
    • Port Barre, Louisiana
      Port Barre, Louisiana

      Port Barre is a town in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,287 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the Opelousas, Louisiana–Eunice, Louisiana Micropolitan Statistical Area....
    • Leonville, Louisiana
      Leonville, Louisiana

      Leonville is a town in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,007 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the Opelousas, Louisiana–Eunice, Louisiana Micropolitan Statistical Area....
    • Arnaudville, Louisiana
      Arnaudville, Louisiana

      Arnaudville is a town in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana and St. Martin Parish, Louisiana parishes in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The population was 1,398 at the 2000 United States Census....
  • St. Martin Parish, Louisiana
    St. Martin Parish, Louisiana

    St. Martin Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is St. Martinville, Louisiana. As of the United States 2000 Census, the population was 48,583....
    • Cecilia, Louisiana
      Cecilia, Louisiana

      Cecilia is a census-designated place in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,505 at the 2000 United States Census....
    • Breaux Bridge, Louisiana
      Breaux Bridge, Louisiana

      Breaux Bridge is a city in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 7,281 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette, Louisiana metropolitan area....
    • Parks, Louisiana
      Parks, Louisiana

      Parks is a village in St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 533 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the Lafayette, Louisiana Lafayette, Louisiana metropolitan area....
    • St. Martinville, Louisiana
      St. Martinville, Louisiana

      St. Martinville is a city in and the parish seat of St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. It lies on Bayou Teche, sixteen miles south of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, eighteen miles southeast of Lafayette, Louisiana, and nine miles north of New Iberia, Louisiana....
  • Iberia Parish, Louisiana
    Iberia Parish, Louisiana

    Iberia Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is New Iberia, Louisiana. As of 2000, the population was 73,266....
    • Loreauville, Louisiana
      Loreauville, Louisiana

      Loreauville is a village in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 938 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the New Iberia, Louisiana Micropolitan Statistical Area....
    • New Iberia, Louisiana
      New Iberia, Louisiana

      New Iberia is a city in and the parish seat of Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States, 30 miles southeast of Lafayette, Louisiana....
    • Jeanerette, Louisiana
      Jeanerette, Louisiana

      Jeanerette is a city in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,997 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the New Iberia, Louisiana Micropolitan Statistical Area....
  • St. Mary Parish, Louisiana
    St. Mary Parish, Louisiana

    St. Mary Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Franklin, Louisiana. As of 2000, the population was 53,500....
    • Charenton, Louisiana
      Charenton, Louisiana

      Charenton is a census-designated place in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 1,944 at the 2000 United States Census....
    • Baldwin, Louisiana
      Baldwin, Louisiana

      Baldwin is a town in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,497 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the Morgan City, Louisiana Micropolitan Statistical Area....
    • Franklin, Louisiana
      Franklin, Louisiana

      Franklin is a city in and the parish seat of St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 8,354 at the 2000 United States Census....
    • Patterson, Louisiana
      Patterson, Louisiana

      Patterson is a small city in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, Louisiana, United States. The population was 6,530 at the 2000 United States Census. It is part of the Morgan City, Louisiana Micropolitan Statistical Area....


See also

Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge
Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge

Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge is located in the coastal Louisiana towns of Franklin, Garden City and Centerville on Bayou Teche. The refuge is forested with bottomland hardwoods and cypress-gum forests....