Jim Bradshaw: Were movie moguls lured by fishing in Catahoula?

Promoters were not subtle when they tried to lure fishermen to Lake Catahoula in St, Martin Parish in 1921, “Every throw brings in a fish,” the notice in the St. Martinville Messenger promised.
“Some of our local sports catch as many as four 18-inch perches at one throw.”
Not only was the lake full of easily caught fish, it was easy to get to. You just turned off the Pershing Highway (as the old Highway 90 was then called) at Cade and followed a nicely graveled road to the lake, about 10 miles northeast of St. Martinville.
When you got there, you would find “free parking, where ever you please on the lawn of the beautiful lake.”
The fish-on-every-cast claim may have been an exaggeration, but the beauty of the lake wasn’t.
Legend has it that the area was occupied centuries ago by a Chitimacha band whose village was swallowed by an earthquake. The gap filled with water and created the lake (which is not to be confused with the bigger lake of the same name in Rapides and LaSalle parishes).
Survivors of the St. Martin disaster believed it was an act of the Great Spirit, and named the lake Cata-oulou, lake of sacrifice, and  began worshiping what they believed were sacred waters.
The noted linguist William Read translates Catahoula as “beloved lake,” but by whatever name it became a place of pilgrimage.
Attakapas warriors went to bathe in the lake, which was supposed to make them invincible, and to  dip their arrows into the deep, clear water to make them fly straight and true.
The  story of an ancient earthquake may be more than legend; there are reports of tremors felt at the lake in historical times.
The St. Martinville Creole reported that about 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 7. 1842, “an earthquake which lasted two or three seconds, was felt in the parish.
"A respectable inhabitant of Catahoula, who was angling at the time … told us that the lake rose, during the space of some minutes, to more than six feet. … From the declaration of the oldest inhabitant of this parish, this would be the second earthquake felt in Attakapas.”
Whatever its origin, the clear lake and surrounding woodlands lured the first European settlers to the area around the turn of the century. Louis Alcide Olivier of Youngsville “got fed up with civilization,” according to an old newspaper story.
He moved his family to the secluded lake around 1901 and established a timber business which drew loggers to the area.
By the 1920s groups from St. Martin and surrounding parishes were regularly using the scenic lakeside for picnics and gatherings.
The Woodmen of the World promised “a good fish dinner” along with other refreshments and dancing for W.O.W. Day at the Lake in 1922.
The fish dinner cost 60 cents and the money was to be used for the benefit of Cottonwood Camp No. 134. That same fall, nearly every member of both councils went to the lake when the Knights of Columbus  in St. Martinville and Breaux Bridge joined together for a big soiree.
“The large gathering was for pleasure, good eating and a jolly good time, and they all had it,” the Messenger said.
“The younger element enjoyed the dancing, some fishing, others boating on the lake, and we believe we can safely say that all who spent the day at the lake … spent a pleasant and enjoyable day.”
The KCs who went boating assuredly did it at a much more leisurely pace than “the fast gliding boat” brought there the next year by Henry Sherburne, founder of the now-gone Pointe Coupee Parish sawmill community named for him. His boat was “the first of its kind seen at the lake,” according to the Messenger.  It had …  an air propeller that does not touch the water.” The newspaper said “the boat just glides over the water at a speed of 75 miles an hour, and creates no waves. It is almost a flying boat”
Movie makers also found the lake attractive.
Much of the filming for the 1929 movie "Evangeline" was done in the Catahoula area and "The Buccaneer," based on Jean Lafitte’s involvement in the Battle of New Orleans was filmed there in 1938. 
It’s not clear why Paramount Pictures went to Catahoula instead of to the actual battle ground for the Lafitte film.
Had some movie mogul heard the claims of fish almost jumping into your lap, and wanted to do some serious fishing between scenes?
Perhaps the casting director?
You can contact Jim Bradshaw at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.