The New International Encyclopædia/Natchitoches (Louisiana)

NATCHITOCHES, năk′ĭ-tŏsh′. A town and the parish seat of Natchitoches Parish, La., 63 miles southeast of Shreveport; on a branch of the Red River, and on the Texas and Pacific Railroad (Map: Louisiana, B 2). It is the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop, and has a State normal school, a State high school, and a Roman Catholic convent. The town is surrounded by a productive district, devoted to stock-breeding and agriculture, its chief products being cotton and sugar-cane. Natchitoches owes its origin to a trading post established in 1714 by the French. Population, in 1890, 1820; in 1900, 2388.