Coushatta, LA

Coushatta is the Red River Parish seat on the east bank of the Red River, about 45 miles south of Shreveport along U.S. 71. The parish was created in 1871, and Coushatta was incorporated and made the seat that same year. The town’s name recalls the Coushatta people who once lived in this region. North of town, Loggy Bayou comes out of the Lake Bistineau country to meet the Red River, adding another water line to the local map.

Coushatta also carries the difficult history of Reconstruction-era violence in rural Red River Parish, including White League activity during the 1870s. That past belongs alongside the ordinary parish-seat landmarks: the courthouse, Red River Parish schools, the library, and the city park and boat launch by the river. The river is not just scenery here; it shaped early landings, trade, and the town’s location. Put Coushatta on the map as a north Louisiana civic center with a river at its edge, parish government in the middle, and a history that includes both community life and the hard record of political violence after the Civil War.