Lexicon: Trembling Prairies

Trembling prairie. [Tr. F. prairie tremblante : limited in use to parts of Louisiana : also called shaking prairie.] Also, in the vicinity of the numerous lakes of the parish [LaFourche, Louisiana] exist immense tracts called trembling prairies. These seem to be a surface composed of the matted roots and decayed stalks of the marsh vegetation, floating upon water in some instances, and upon very soft mud in others. Over these prairies it is practicable to walk, and cattle graze upon them, although they vibrate at every tread, and a cut of a few feet in depth will always discover a substratum of water. S.H. Lockett, Sec. Ann. Rep. Topog. Surv. of Louisiana, 1871, p. 10.  From The Century Dictionary and Encyclopedia, 1911, p. 6457 available via googlebooks.

Above:  Plat of T. 19 S. - R. 16 E. South Eastern District, La.  East of the Mississippi.  Surveyor General's Office, Donaldsonville, La. October 24th, 1854.  Photostat of old plat.  Bohemia Spillway Files, Guy Seghers Collection, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

To find other historic Louisiana plats, see the Louisiana Division of Administration's Historical Records page, and select under "Document Type" "Plats, Old."  Then enter appropriate Land District, Township and/or Range.

To ascertain Township and Range coordinates related to the Public Land Survey System [PLSS], consult the Land Survey Information System online.

Selling Braithwaite

In 1927, the Braithwaite Land and Liquidation Company commissioned surveyor D.G.W. Ricketts to map Braithwaite Plantation -- formerly Orange Grove -- and its newly subdivided tracts in Plaquemines Parish Township 13 & 14 South / Ranges 12 & 13 East. The E-Z Opener Bag Company, United Railway & Trading Company, and the Orange Grove Refining Company purchased properties here.

Ricketts, Seghers & Dibdin, Civil Engineers & Surveyors published the requisite map, including its inset "Key Map Showing Braithwaite, La. and its locations with reference to the City of New Orleans and Rail & Water Facilities as well as accessibility to chief national centers of population" 13 March 1931. Not only was proximity to other industries emphasized, but so too were express services and the region's average annual temperature, rainfall and humidity.

Image above: Guy Seghers Collection, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries. Detail of Map of Braithwaite Plantation formerly Orange Grove Plantation (New Orleans: 1931).