Fun Fact Friday with Special Collections

Today we will be talking about the anniversary of the Battle of Queue de Tortue.

Today in 1859, disputes between outlaws and vigilantes came to a head in the Battle of Queue de Tortue. This battle was the result of rising tensions between the Acadians and their “American” neighbors. The “Americans” formed a vigilante committee which grew to several hundred strong. They took 24 prisoners and gave the leaders a hundred lashes of the whip at the border between Lafayette and St. Landry parishes. In 1986, the movie Belizare the Cajun was released which chronicles this battle.

More information can be found on this in Special Collections. Specifically:

• Belizaire the Cajun
• Histoire des comités de vigilance aux Attakapas
• The Vigilante Committees of the Attakapas: An Eyewitness Account of Banditry and Backlash in Southwestern Louisiana
• Collection 26 – The Lucile Mouton Griffin Papers
• Collection 7 – The Paul DeBaillion Papers

View more photos on the Special Collections Facebook Page.

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