Editing Beauregard Parish, Louisiana (section)

===Spanish and French rule===

Until 1762, the land that would eventually become Beauregard Parish was a part of the Spanish holdings in Louisiana, as, at that time, the border between [[Spain]] and [[France]] was acknowledged as the Rio Hondo (now known as the Calcasieu river); however the land between the Rio Hondo and the Sabine river was in some dispute as the French were beginning to occupy land on the west side of the Rio Hondo. In 1762, King [[Louis XV]] of France secretly gave Louisiana to Spain in the [[Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762)|Treaty of Fontainebleau]]. From 1762 to 1800, the region was a part of [[Louisiana (New Spain)|New Spain]]. In 1800, the secret [[Third Treaty of San Ildefonso]] transferred possession of Louisiana back to the French, although Spain continued to administer the land until 1803. In this period, the only European settlers to the land that would become Beauregard Parish were a few individuals with Spanish land grants.<ref name="ReferenceA">[Claims to Land Between the Rio Hondo and Sabine Rivers in Louisiana. Communicated to the Senate January 31, 1825]</ref>