top of page

History

Mongtomery, established in 1719 as a French trading post, was first called Bon Dieu Falls. The land on

which it was located passed back and forth between Frenchmen and Spaniards and eventually became the

property of General Thomas Woodward. Red River, which now flows by the bluffs at Montgomery, was

originally Rigolette de Bon Dieu. When in 1832 the river changed its course between Shreveport and

Alexandria, it took over Rigolette's channel, thus placing the trading post on the banks of Red River and

enabling it to become a permanent settlement. General Woodward purchased the land in 1840 and named the settlement Creola Bluffs, legend purports after an Indian girl Creola, whom he loved but could not marry. When the settlement was incorporated into a village, he changed its name to Montgomery, supposedly for Creola's son Montgomery Woodward Rogers.

 

In the late 1800's, one of Montgomery's forefathers, Alexander Brock, was extended pardon in advance by Governor Warmoth, as encouragement to help rid the area and vicinity of the West Kimball Clan, notorious along the El Camino Real and in the vicinity of the neighboring Winn Parish. Brock and others were captured by the West-Kimbell Clan and escaped with the help of Dan Dean. Vigilantes later gunned down thirteen clan members and in days to come, Alex Brock joined them in the hunt for other members.

 

Montgomery had thrived as a river port for many years, but by 1902 when the first railroad was built, river trade had declined, and the town gradually moved east about two miles to the railroad station, then called Machen and later renamed Montgomery.

 

In the 1950s, Montgomery was known as one of the smaller communities in the state which could draw considerable crowds to political gatherings. William J. "Bill" Dodd, veteran Louisiana politician, in his memoirs Peapatch Politics: The Earl Long Era in Louisiana Politics, recalls a 1955 gathering in which he "eulogized" Huey Long, Earl Long, and attorney general candidate Jack P.F. Gremillion. Dodd satirized Gremillion's World War II record: "Why he almost got killed himself when an enemy shell plowed into one of his most vital organs; if you don't believe Jack Gremillion earned his Purple Heart, he will show you the scars he has to prove it." The scars were on Gremillion's rear end, much to the embarrassment of the successful candidate. From Montgomery, the Long train headed to the parish seat of Colfax.

 

Old Montgomery's beautiful bluffs contain fossil beds which have attracted national attention. Those beautiful bluffs are now hidden from view due to stabilization of the river with locks and dams. A curve in the river at the bluffs was straightened in the 1980's and left a sand bar between the bluffs and the river. Willow trees quickly covered the sand bar. They grew rapidly to block the view of the bluffs.

bottom of page