What is the history of Bossier City, Louisiana?
The area of Bossier City dates back to the 1830s when it was the Elysian Groves Plantation of James and Mary Cane. Steamboat loads of cotton, corn, and sweet potatoes were shipped to markets in the south and east, from the plantation port known to many as “Cane’s Landing.” During the American Civil War, several companies of local Confederate soldiers left Cane’s Landing aboard steamboats for the distant battlefields. During the war, the riverfront was protected from Union invasion by the artillery embankments of Battery’s Price, Walker and Ewell. The Confederate Fort Smith stood near what is now Bossier High School and protected the area from an eastern invasion. Many, many early settlers passed through the region on their way to the wild west. By 1850, over 200 wagons a week were passing through Bossier City. Some of these settlers stayed, attracted by the fertile soil and lush river valley. By 1882, the plantation was at the center of the convergence of the infamous Shed Road, The Re
