- PICTURE OF A STAND OF VIRGIN BOGALUSA PINE -Long before European and African settlers formed the City of Bogalusa Native Americans had lived on the land for thousands of years. The various Native American Nations formed small communities, which lead a noematic hunter gather lifestyle on the same land we now reside upon. Their hunting practices resulted in the development of a large forest which blanketed the south from Southern Virginia reaching as far south as Florida and as far west as Texas.
Pinus palustris is the scientific name for the one plant which was responsible for the formation and development of this massive forest. The more common name is the Longleaf Pine. So strong is the relationship between the City of Bogalusa and the Longleaf Pine that one of the common names for the tree is "Bogalusa pine".
The longleaf pine was milled throughout the Southern United States due to its innate attractiveness for development into lumber. Our City ancestors were blessed with a solid stand of virgin pines, which had been "worked" by native Americans for thousands of years.
Longleaf pine forest were created by thousands of years of native american hunting parties, which used fire to assist in their harvesting of deer. The relationship between longleaf pines and native Americans was one of a synergy of benefits for nature and humankind. The longleaf pines developed a tall growing pattern due to thousands of years of being subjected to native american hunting parties fire practices. The native Americans and even some current non-native Americans used fire to "chase out" deer from the dense forest. This practice resulted in a type of manmade breeding of the longleaf pine, which resulted in the plant having a very high growth height and a very high tree branch base.
"Longleaf Pine is highly resistant to fire. Periodic natural wildfire selects for this species by killing other trees, leading to open Longleaf Pine forests or savannas. " From Wikipedia.
Bogalusa history is typical of many Southern towns, which were formed by lumber companies to help in the harvest of our Nations great southern yellow or longleaf pine forest which the Native Americans had developed during the thousands of years they ruled the forest. Many European and African citizens followed the lumber mills as they harvested the forest almost into extinction. Immigrant forest workers from Europe noted that the beautiful Longleaf pine forest reminded them of the great Cathedrals of Europe. It is estimated the once limitless forest was reduced to a mere 5 percent of its original size in less than two generations.
What is not typical of Bogalusa is its development by an absentee owner family known locally as the Goodyear Family. More typical was the migration of less well capitalized lumber families across the South in a pattern which typically was developed by the clear cutting of areas closer to the east coast followed by relocation to more inland and western Longleaf pine locations. To put it simply the smaller lumber yard operators clear cut the lumber and moved the entire operation to less accessible virgin forest as the deforestation of one area was complete. Bogalusa is unique in its development and domination by an absentee "owner" who merely viewed the community as a means to developing great personal wealth for his own family. Unlike other great Southern lumber families the Goodyears never set roots of their own in the community in which they made their fortunes. This afforded the family a certain freedom to impact community events in a manner, which benefited their family and did not directly impact their own New York community. The Goodyears were peers with the elite families of America. Bogalusa solidified their membership in our Nations WASP ruling class.
FROM THE LONGLEAF ALLIANCE WEBSITE LINKED BELOW.
The average American's view of the natural communities of the Southeastern U.S. is that it is comprised mainly of swamps, alligators and big, old moss-hung cypress trees. On the contrary to this view, when early explorers visited the southeastern region they saw "a vast forest of the most stately pine trees that can be imagined, planted by nature at a moderate distance. . . enameled with a variety of flowering shrubs." Fire defined where the longleaf pine forest was found and fostered an ecosystem diverse in plants and animals. Longleaf pine's domain was vast. By all accounts, the longleaf pine forest dominated the southern landscape. Starting in southwest Virginia, the longleaf pine forest stretched southward through nine states eventually stopping in east Texas (over 140,000 square miles). Unlike today, other southern pine species such as loblolly and slash pine were mostly relegated to areas where fire did not burn frequently (such as the edges of streams and ponds).
The primeval pine forest seen by early explorers to the southeastern U.S. shared several fundamental characteristics: Tall, majestic, and ancient stands dominated by a single species of tree - the Longleaf Pine; A conspicuous lack of midstory trees and shrubs presented a scenic vista through the forest; A well developed ground layer, dominated by bunch grasses helped to create a manicured park-like appearance; A high diversity of plants in the ground layer; Numerous wildlife species that were dependent upon the open pine forest; Frequent fires that skimmed across the ground's surface acted as the thread which held the longleaf pine forest together; and Found across a variety of habitat types.
For countless generations, cultures were both transformed by and helped to transform the longleaf piney woods. However, starting about 150 years ago, overexploitation of the longleaf pine forest accelerated tremendously and the face of the southern landscape changed radically.
http://www.longleafalliance.org/bigpicture.html
http://www.longleafalliance.org/memoirs.html
