Editing Rapides Parish, Louisiana (section)

==History==
[[Image:Jackson Street Bridge atop Red River in Alexandria, LA IMG 1135.JPG|210px|right|thumb|Purple Heart Memorial Bridge over the [[Red River of the South|Red River]] in [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]] and [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]]]]{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2023}}
In 1763, the land that is now Rapides Parish became the new home of the [[Apalachee]] tribe, who were settled there with the permission of Governor Kerlerec. Some Native Americans had come after fleeing the [[Great Britain|British]] and their [[Creek people|Creek]] Indian allies from what is now [[Leon County, Florida|Leon County]], [[Florida]]. Many of their descendants remain in [[Natchitoches Parish]].

The first French settler was Vincent Porei, who was granted a small tract of land in July 1764 by the Civil and Military Commander of Natchitoches. Nicolas Etienne Marafret Layssard arrived in December 1766, with the permission of Aubrey and Foucault, to establish a "tar works" in the pineries of Rapides, for naval stores. He was later appointed the first Civil Commander of Rapides Parish. During the 1760s, the area was still a dependency of Natchitoches Parish {{clarify span|[AGI, PPC, Legajo 187a, 384-384v].|date=August 2023}}

Parts of [[Catahoula Parish, Louisiana|Catahoula Parish]], [[Grant Parish, Louisiana|Grant Parish]], [[Vernon Parish, Louisiana|Vernon Parish]], and [[Winn Parish, Louisiana|Winn Parish]] were initially part of Rapides Parish territory, but they eventually separated and obtained land from neighboring parishes.

===21st-century politics===
Since the late 20th century, conservative whites have mostly shifted from the Democratic Party, long in control in Louisiana and other Deep South states, to the Republican Party. The population of Alexandria is heavily [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]], but voters in the white-majority Rapides Parish frequently favor [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] candidates in competitive presidential elections. In 2012, Republican [[Mitt Romney]] carried the parish with 37,193 votes (64.1 percent), compared to Democrat [[U.S. President]] [[Barack Obama]]'s 20,045 (34.6 percent) tabulation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/11062012/11062012_40.html|title=Rapides Parish election returns, November 6, 2012|publisher=staticresults.sos.la.gov|access-date=November 17, 2012}}</ref> The 2008 returns in Rapides Parish were similar to those of 2012. [[U.S. Senator]] [[John McCain]] of [[Arizona]] won the parish with 36,611 votes (63.6 percent) to President Obama's 20,127 (35 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/11042008/11042008_40.html|title=Rapides Parish election returns, November 4, 2008|publisher=staticresults.sos.la.gov|access-date=November 17, 2012}}</ref>

With 58.8 percent and 63.8 percent, respectively, [[George W. Bush]] carried Rapides Parish in both 2000 and 2004 over the Democrats, [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] [[Al Gore]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/11072000/11072000_40.html|title=Rapides Parish election returns, November 7, 2000|publisher=staticresults.sos.la.gov|access-date=November 17, 2012}}</ref> and [[John F. Kerry]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/11022004/11022004_40.html|title=Rapides Parish election returns, November 2, 2004|publisher=staticresults.sos.la.gov|access-date=November 17, 2012}}</ref> The last Democrat to win at the presidential level in Rapides Parish was [[Bill Clinton]], who in 1996 received 23,004 votes (46.1 percent) to [[Robert J. Dole]]'s 21,548 (43.2 percent). [[Ross Perot]], founder of his [[Reform Party (United States)|Reform Party]], received 4,670 ballots (9.4 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://staticresults.sos.la.gov/11051996/11051996_40.html|title=Rapides Parish election returns, November 5, 1996|publisher=staticresults.sos.la.gov|access-date=November 17, 2012}}</ref>