Alabama Landing is located on the Ouachita River southeast of Marion and east of Haile. A few camps are located at the original landing. A nice Corps of Engineers boat launch and primitive campground is found just downstream on the Union Parish side of the river. Historical accounts seem to indicate that it was an important "disembarkation" site for settlers in the early 1800's (many of whom were from Alabama--thus the name). There was also a ford adjacent the site on the upstream side. A road from the east to Bastrop, Lake Providence, Vicksburg, etc. was present at least by the 1840's. So not only did steamboats unload settlers here (they likely could go no farther upstream for much of the year) but overland wagons from the east crossed at this site. There were no other good fords on either side for a good many miles according to the old maps I've seen. As a boy I can remember swimming at Alabama Landing before the Corps of Engineer's lock & dam & channelization project. Then you could walk all the way across. The bottom was very gravelly--rare in this area. I don't know of any cemetaries close to the landing but there is a recently (last 20 years) marked single grave of a civil war soldlier on the edge of the road leading to the landing. I can't remember the name but if anyone is interested I'll make a point to go by there and check it out. In addition to geneology my real interest is historical biology. I manage the National Wildlife Refuge adjacent Alabama Landing and many other lands in northeast La. My brother who is a wildlife professor at LSU and I spend a good bit of time researching old documents in an effort to recreate the pre-settlement environments in this part of the world--using Gov. Land Office Records, journals, diaries, etc. I also do a weekly blurb on the local public radio entitled "Bayou-Diversity" in which I use a lot of historical materials. Hey, I'm even in the process of writing a historical novel set in the 1860's in Union Parish! Seriously, I live in Rocky Branch and will be glad to help anyone on this board if I can. I am also seeking info on the Ouchley clan. We all came from Union Parish as a descendent of Dallas Ouchley (b.1840's) and cannot find even one reference to this surname prior to him anywhere in the world. He was almost certainly native American. Happy Thanksgiving, Kelby Ouchley -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] <[email protected]> To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Date: Saturday, November 28, 1998 9:21 AM Subject: Alabama Landing? >Hello: > >Can someone tell me wexactly where 'Alabama Landing' is or was? Was it a >rural community? Was there a cemetery there? Or are there still cemeteries >extant in that area? Is there anything left today of Alabama Landing? > >And where is/was 'Cherry Ridge'? > >Some of my kin, the Lees (and their allied folk) , moved to Union Parish ca >1846, from Dallas County, Alabama -- two brothers Martin Batte Lee (my g-g- >grandfather) and William Eaton Lee. Many of them are buried in the >Taylor/Liberty Hill Cemetery near Farmerville, but the earliest graves were >probably in the Alabama Landing area. > >Any help is greatly appreciated. > >Robert E. (Bob) Parrott, 433 Scenic Drive, Knoxville, TN 37919 >[email protected] > >