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'''Dorcheat Bayou''', also known as '''Bayou Dorcheat''', is a 115-mile long stream in the [[United States]] that extends from Nevada County in southwestern [[Arkansas]] through Columbia County and into Webster Parish in northwestern [[Louisiana]] before emptying into Lake Bistineau east of the village of Doyline in south Webster Parish.<ref name=lebreton>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=N6a-9ZHqz8oC&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&dq=dorcheat+bayoiu&source=bl&ots=DtJOfecT_k&sig=kMu3l8r5zzp5ggx6hYxuAuvqeAo&hl=en&ei=5NuRSuCxNZeQtger88DOBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8#v=onepage&q=&f=false|author=Marietta Marie LeBreton|title=Bayou Dorcheat (in The Rivers and Bayous of Louisiana by Edwin Adams Davis)|publisher=Google Books|accessdate=April 8, 2020}}</ref>  

 

'''Dorcheat Bayou''', also known as '''Bayou Dorcheat''' and formerly Bayou Dauchite, is a 115-mile long stream in the [[United States]] that extends from Nevada County in southwestern [[Arkansas]] through Columbia County and into Webster Parish in northwestern [[Louisiana]] before emptying into Lake Bistineau east of the village of Doyline in south Webster Parish.<ref name=lebreton>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=N6a-9ZHqz8oC&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&dq=dorcheat+bayoiu&source=bl&ots=DtJOfecT_k&sig=kMu3l8r5zzp5ggx6hYxuAuvqeAo&hl=en&ei=5NuRSuCxNZeQtger88DOBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8#v=onepage&q=&f=false|author=Marietta Marie LeBreton|title=Bayou Dorcheat (in The Rivers and Bayous of Louisiana by Edwin Adams Davis)|publisher=Google Books|accessdate=April 8, 2020}}</ref>  

==Overview==

==Overview==

The land along the Dorcheat was settled by the Caddo [[Indians]]. The names "Dorcheat" and "Bistineau" come from the Caddo and mean "people" and "big broth," respectively, the latter a reference to floating plant debris still found  in the lake. In 1835, the Caddo signed a treaty with the United States government and left the Dorcheat country. A few white traders, trappers, and hunters had arrived in the area even before the Indians left. The early settlers used the Dorcheat because of log jams on the Red River, which were later eliminated by Captain Henry Miller Shreve (1785-1851), for whom [[Shreveport]] is named.<ref name=lebreton/>​

The land along the Dorcheat was settled by the Caddo [[Indians]]. The names "Dorcheat" and "Bistineau" come from the Caddo and mean "people" and "big broth," respectively, the latter a reference to floating plant debris still found  in the lake. In 1835, the Caddo signed a treaty with the United States government and left the Dorcheat country. A few white traders, trappers, and hunters had arrived in the area even before the Indians left. The early settlers used the Dorcheat because of log jams on the Red River, which were later eliminated by Captain Henry Miller Shreve (1785-1851), for whom [[Shreveport]] is named.<ref name=lebreton/>​

Isaac Alden, who arrived from New Orleans prior to the [[War of 1812]], was one of the first white settlers in the Dorcheat country. A decade later, John Murrell arrived from [[Tennessee]]. Newett Drew, a native of [[Virginia]] and an ancestor of Judges Richard Maxwell Drew, [[Richard Cleveland Drew]], [[Harmon Caldwell Drew]], R. Harmon Drew, Sr. (1917-1995), and current Circuit Judge [[Harmon Drew, Jr.]], constructed a [[sawmill]] and gristmill at Dorcheat in 1821, from which appeared the settlement of the defunct Overton community in south Webster Parish. The settlers were dependent on the connection with the Red River as a tributary of the [[Mississippi River]].<ref name=lebreton/>​

Isaac Alden, who arrived from New Orleans prior to the [[War of 1812]], was one of the first white settlers in the Dorcheat country. A decade later, John Murrell arrived from [[Tennessee]]. Newett Drew, a native of [[Virginia]] and an ancestor of Judges Richard Maxwell Drew, [[Richard Cleveland Drew]], [[Harmon Caldwell Drew]], [[R. Harmon Drew, Sr.]], and current Circuit Judge [[Harmon Drew, Jr.]], constructed a [[sawmill]] and gristmill at Dorcheat in 1821, from which appeared the settlement of the defunct Overton community in south Webster Parish. The settlers were dependent on the connection with the Red River as a tributary of the [[Mississippi River]].<ref name=lebreton/>​

Overton became the seat of government of Claiborne Parish; in 1871, Webster Parish was separated from Claiborne Parish. Plagued by [[epidemic]]s, Overton was eventually abandoned. The Claiborne Parish seat of government was shifted east to Athens, and then the current location of Homer. Meanwhile, Charles Hanson Veeder (1796-1871), a [[New York]] native, established Minden in 1836, and the new community soon outgrew Overton. Veeder established the defunct Minden Female College, considered the oldest college in Louisiana. In time, farming declined along the Dorcheat, as [[petroleum]] and [[natural gas]] strikes occurred in Webster Parish during the 1920s.<ref name=lebreton/>​

Overton became the seat of government of Claiborne Parish; in 1871, Webster Parish was separated from Claiborne Parish. Plagued by [[epidemic]]s, Overton was eventually abandoned. The Claiborne Parish seat of government was shifted east to Athens, and then the current location of Homer. Meanwhile, Charles Hanson Veeder (1796-1871), a [[New York]] native, established Minden in 1836, and the new community soon outgrew Overton. Veeder established the defunct Minden Female College, considered the oldest college in Louisiana. In time, farming declined along the Dorcheat, as [[petroleum]] and [[natural gas]] strikes occurred in Webster Parish during the 1920s.<ref name=lebreton/>​

Historian Marietta LeBreton (1936-2009), who was affiliated with [[Northwestern State University]] in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]] from 1963 until her death,<ref>Obituary of Marietta Marie LeBreton, ''The New Orleans Times-Picayune,'' March 8, 2009.</ref> describes the modern Dorcheat as a "lazy stream winding through low, hilly farmland and catering to the fishermen and sportsmen of North Louisiana."<ref name=lebreton/> Calm-water canoeing is another sport popular on Dorcheat.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.povertypoint.us/la-canoeing-kayaking/bayou-dorcheat|title=Bayou Dorcheat|publisher=Povertypoint.us|accessdate=April 9, 2020}}</ref>

Historian [[Marietta LeBreton]], who was affiliated with [[Northwestern State University]] in [[Natchitoches, Louisiana|Natchitoches]] from 1963 until her death,<ref>Obituary of Marietta Marie LeBreton, ''The New Orleans Times-Picayune,'' March 8, 2009.</ref> describes the modern Dorcheat as a "lazy stream winding through low, hilly farmland and catering to the fishermen and sportsmen of North Louisiana."<ref name=lebreton/> Calm-water canoeing is another sport popular on Dorcheat.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.povertypoint.us/la-canoeing-kayaking/bayou-dorcheat|title=Bayou Dorcheat|publisher=Povertypoint.us|accessdate=April 9, 2020}}</ref>

The history of the Dorcheat country is revealed in certain exhibits at the [[Dorcheat Historical Association Museum]] at 116 Pearl Street in Minden. Named for the bayou is the $7.2 million Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center, which opened in 2002 at the former Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant (1942-1996) west of Minden. The correctional center was pushed to completion by then Webster Parish [[Sheriff]] [[Ted Riser|Larkin T. Riser]].<ref>Josh Beavers, "Dorcheat Center Ready at Last," ''[[Minden Press-Herald]],'' March 28, 2002.</ref> There is also the Dorcheat Soil Conservation District.​

The history of the Dorcheat country is revealed in certain exhibits at the [[Dorcheat Historical Association Museum]] at 116 Pearl Street in Minden. Named for the bayou is the $7.2 million Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center, which opened in 2002 at the former Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant (1942-1996) west of Minden. The correctional center was pushed to completion by then Webster Parish [[Sheriff]] [[Ted Riser|Larkin T. Riser]].<ref>Josh Beavers, "Dorcheat Center Ready at Last," ''[[Minden Press-Herald]],'' March 28, 2002.</ref> There is also the Dorcheat Soil Conservation District.​