"Deweyville residents thought it very risky behavior when young men snuck across the river to visit those parts."
LOL! Joe, I dated a girl from Pitkin, Louisiana a few times. As you know that is the heart of this Redbone country we are speaking of. I told her how I was raised hearing about how dangerous it was to cross the Calcasieu to go courting. She just laughed and said they always said the same things about us... uh, Cajuns... on this side of the river. I guess it depends where one is from as to what they should think about this.
By the way, I worked the Ambulance out of Lake Charles for years and spent many shifts in the DeRidder and DeQuincey stations. I am very familiar with Starks and Deweyville. My Dad always cut through Deweyville when we would go to Houston.
Getting back on topic, there is some good information in regards what this country was like during the war in the book, A Thrilling Narrative: The Memoir of a Southern Unionist which is edited by our very own Dr. Arthur W. Bergeron, Jr. If you are interested in how the war was going between the Calcasieu River and Six and Ten Mile Creeks I highly suggest the book. Somewhere on the Ouiska Chitto was some camps I would sure like to find. I have canoed through there but that is a big area to cover without more starting info.