This territory in today’s Louisiana was part of border disputes between France and Spain during the 1700s, and later informally recognized as a lawless “no man’s land” from 1806 until Louisiana became a state in 1821.
It was the Wild West before the Wild West became a thing, basically.
Obviously, the people who lived there had to be extrememly tough and fiercely independent, providing all of their own food and security against pirates, outlaws, predators, and the like.
Louisiana has a very interesting cultural history and this is easy to understand when you consider that the major influences were a “gumbo” of Spanish, French, and Native American going back hundreds of years.
Here’s a good short primer on the area and its history.
Apparently “Natchitoches” is pronounced NACK-i-tesh. The more you know…
A longer but still very interesting PBS video.