Had it been a race, Louis Juchereau de St. Denis would have won the gold.
The people of Natchitoches know him as St. Denis, the founder of their city. A bust of the French commandant can be found on the Cane River side of Natchitoches’ bricked Front Street directly across from the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
In 1714, St. Denis set up a trading post, marking the official beginning of the settlement that would become the City of Natchitoches.
Still, the date 1714 piqued Walker Lasiter’s question…