Editing Winn Parish, Louisiana (section)

==History==
[[Image:Saline Bayou (Winn-Natchitoches Parish, LA) IMG 7496 1.jpg|200px|thumb|Saline Bayou|left]]

[[Image:2015 backwater flooding in Winn Parish, LA MG_7194.JPG|200px|thumb|Backwater flooding in Winn Parish led temporarily in June 2015 to a detour around [[U.S. Highway 71]] at [[St. Maurice, Louisiana|St. Maurice]], Louisiana.|left]]Winn Parish was established in 1852 from lands which had belonged to the parishes of [[Catahoula Parish, Louisiana|Catahoula]], [[Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana|Natchitoches]], and [[Rapides Parish, Louisiana|Rapides]].<ref name=CCET/>

During the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], David Pierson, a young attorney, was elected to represent the parish at the Secession Convention called in January 1861 in [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge]] by [[Governor of Louisiana|Governor]] [[Thomas Overton Moore]]. Pierson voted against secession and refused, along with several others, to change his "no" vote at the end of the process when asked to do so to make the final tally unanimous.{{Citation needed|date=August 2010}}

That these conscripts refused to fight for the Confederacy is understandable considering that Union support was higher in north Louisiana, and especially high in Winn Parish.<ref>{{Cite book|last=King, William Henry, 1828–1903.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/61204291|title=No pardons to ask, nor apologies to make : the journal of William Henry King, Gray's 28th Louisiana Infantry Regiment|date=2006|publisher=University of Tennessee Press|others=Joiner, Gary D., Joiner, Marilyn S., Cardin, Clifton D. (Clifton Dale), 1957–|isbn=1-57233-461-4|edition=1st|location=Knoxville|oclc=61204291}}</ref> The [[Confederate States Army]] defeated a Union detachment sent to destroy a salt works in the parish. Winn Parish contributed to the $80,000 raised to build fortifications on the nearby [[Red River of the South|Red River]].<ref>[[John D. Winters]], ''The Civil War in Louisiana'', Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1963, {{ISBN|0-8071-0834-0}}, pp. 164, 310</ref>

After the war, bandits roamed the [[Natchez Trace]] or [[Harrisonburg Road]] that ran through the lower part of the parish. Among the worst were the West and Kimbrell clan. For seven years they preyed especially on travelers and migrants passing through the area.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G_mSCwAAQBAJ&q=natchez+trace+west+kimbrell+clans&pg=PA48|title=Legendary Louisiana Outlaws: The Villains and Heroes of Folk Justice|last=LeJeune|first=Keagan|publisher=LSU Press|year=2016|isbn=9780807162590|location=Baton Rouge|pages=48–49|language=en}}</ref>

In April 1873, white Democrats forming a militia from Winn Parish joined with ex-Confederate veterans from Rapides and Grant parishes against Republican blacks in the [[Colfax massacre]] in neighboring [[Grant Parish, Louisiana|Grant Parish]].<ref>Keith, Leeanna, ''The Colfax Massacre: The Untold Story of Black Power, White Terror, & The Death of Reconstruction,'' New York: Oxford University Press, 2007</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lane |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Lane (journalist) |title=The Day Freedom Died: The Colfax Massacre, the Supreme Court, and the Betrayal of Reconstruction |location=New York |publisher=Henry Holt & Company |year=2008 |isbn=9780805083422 |url=https://archive.org/details/dayfreedomdiedco00lane |url-access=registration }}</ref> They attacked [[freedmen]] defending the parish courthouse and two Republican officeholders in the aftermath to the disputed gubernatorial election of 1872. Among the 80–150 blacks killed were at least 50 who had surrendered; a total of three white men were killed in the confrontation.<ref>Buddy Jordan obituary, ''[[The Town Talk (Alexandria)|Alexandria Daily Town Talk]]'', February 23, 2012</ref><ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, General election returns, November 17, 2007</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao/law/news/wdla20120224.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414133011/http://www.justice.gov/usao/law/news/wdla20120224.pdf |archive-date=April 14, 2012 |url-status=live|title="Former Sheriff of Winn Parish Found Guilty: Federal Jury Convicts A. D. "Bodie" Little of Drug Charges Tonight," February 24, 2012|publisher=justice.gov|access-date=March 4, 2012}}</ref><ref name="jordan">{{cite web |title=Tom Kelly, "Third Sheriff Jordan elected in Winn Parish," 2011 |url=http://www.thepineywoods.com/JordanJan12.htm |access-date=March 4, 2012 |publisher=thepineywoods.com}}</ref>