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The Mermentau River is located in Southern 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....
 and flows between Calcasieu Lake
Calcasieu Lake

Calcasieu Lake is a brackish lake located in southwest Louisiana, United States, located mostly within Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The lake is paralleled on its west shore by Louisiana Highway 27 and is located about 17 miles south of Lake Charles, Louisiana....
 and Vermillion Bay on the Chenier Coastal Plain of Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
 and 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....
.

The Mermentau River supplies freshwater for the Mermentau Basin. The Chenier Basin is located between the Mermentau Basin and the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an oceanic basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba....
, and is unique in that it no longer contains any true estuarine Gulf habitat although historically the basin served as a productive estuarine nursery ground.






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The Mermentau River is located in Southern 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....
 and flows between Calcasieu Lake
Calcasieu Lake

Calcasieu Lake is a brackish lake located in southwest Louisiana, United States, located mostly within Cameron Parish, Louisiana. The lake is paralleled on its west shore by Louisiana Highway 27 and is located about 17 miles south of Lake Charles, Louisiana....
 and Vermillion Bay on the Chenier Coastal Plain of Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
 and 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....
.

The Mermentau River supplies freshwater for the Mermentau Basin. The Chenier Basin is located between the Mermentau Basin and the Gulf of Mexico
Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an oceanic basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba....
, and is unique in that it no longer contains any true estuarine Gulf habitat although historically the basin served as a productive estuarine nursery ground. Freshwater inflow is from the Catfish Point control structure. Presently, several large freshwater lakes (Grand Lake
Grand Lake

Grand Lake may refer to:...
, White Lake
White Lake

White Lake may refer to:...
) and confined wetlands dominate the region. These habitats are confined within the mainland and isolated from the influence of saltwater by a series of water control structures or 'locks'.

A significant percentage of the basin lands are publicly owned as Federal refuges and State wildlife management areas. Pirate Jean Laffite is rumored to have sailed into the area during the 1800s, possibly stashing gold treasure.

Landmarks

The Mermentau River is also known to contain the infamous "Negro Island" (also known as "Skull Island") where in March 1867, John W. Sweeney, Jr found "countless skulls, skeletons, and leg bones, each of the latter still shackled by a rusting leg iron to the skeleton lying beside it." Since the Civil War
American Civil War

The American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several Naming the American Civil War, was a civil war in the United States....
 recently ended, slave captains knew that if a slave ship were caught with Africans aboard, the slaver captain would be tried for violating the 1820 U.S. Law on Slave Trade
1820 U.S. Law on Slave Trade

The 1820 U.S. Law on Slave Trade declared the trading of slaves by a U.S. citizen punishable by death. The statute was approved on May 15, 1820....
, the penalty of which was a charge of piracy and death by hanging. Without a doubt the shackled and starving Africans on Skull Island died quickly. Researches believe this human cargo could possibly be the missing slaves from the topsail hermaphrodite schooner "The Huntress
The Huntress (ship)

The Huntress of New York was a topsail hermaphrodite schooner which transported slaves. The Huntress was the last slave schooner to leave the Congo region....
". This schooner was the last slave ship which left the Congo region of Africa in March 1865 with a capacity of 200 slaves.