Editing Fordoche, Louisiana (section)

==History==
In 1854, the first post office was established at Fordoche, with Thomas Farrar designated as its first postmaster.  There are two conflicting stories about how the town's name was derived.  One story suggests that it received its name from a Caddo Indian word meaning "wild animal lair" (i.e., the bed of a wild beast) and the other claims that it is named after a Louisiana French term for underbrush found in bayou bottom.<ref>Lockhart, John M. "Roadmap to the Westside", ''[http://www.riversidereader.com The Riverside Reader] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121214003324/http://www.riversidereader.com/ |date=December 14, 2012 }}'', January 21, 2008, p. 1</ref>

At least two [[American Civil War]] battles were fought in and around Fordoche.  The [[Battle of Fordoche Bridge]] was fought in September 1863. Union troops were sent to prevent the Confederacy from operating in the upper [[Atchafalaya River|Atchafalaya]] but the [[Confederate States Army|Confederates]] were successful in driving back the [[Union Army|Union forces]].

In May 1864, the Confederates were again victorious over the Union troops at the "Skirmish on Bayou Fordoche Road".<ref>[http://www.pcchamber.org/fordoche.htm Pointe Coupee: Fordoche<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071225061631/http://www.pcchamber.org/fordoche.htm |date=December 25, 2007 }}</ref>

The area saw an influx of Italian immigrants after 1890.

Fordoche is the most recently incorporated community in Pointe Coupee Parish. It was incorporated as a village in 1961 and became a town in 1994.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/popest/geographic/boundary_changes/index.html |title=Boundary Changes |work=Geographic Change Notes: Louisiana |publisher=Population Division, United States Census Bureau |date=May 19, 2006 |accessdate=October 24, 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100806133317/http://www.census.gov/popest/geographic/boundary_changes/index.html |archivedate=August 6, 2010 }}</ref>