The city of Baton Rouge was named nearly 300 years ago when on March 17, 1699, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville, led an expedition along the Mississippi River. The city’s earliest written records are found in the diaries of these explorers which tell the tale of a pole stained with blood of fish and animals that served as the dividing line between the Bayougoula and Houmas Indians. It is from this "red stick" that Iberville christened our city "le Baton Rouge." The Indian mounds on the campus of LSU were built 450 years before the construction of the great Egyptian pyramids.
Gimme a freakin' break, Chuck! Red Stick is a common colloquial term in BR. It's a direct translation of the French. There are a dozen companies in the phone book that have Red Stick in their name. Softball teams use it, DJ's use it, you name it. I guess it's the slow season for topics.
Well Chuck, you should now have a complete history lesson on how Baton (Stick) Rouge (Red) got it's name. Hope you enjoyed the history lesson. Not sure how many semester hours you get for this course though.
other than the above 5 year old quality response, it actually was pretty interesting. I've never used the term, but have heard others and wasn't sure if it was considered derogotry. So it sounds like it certainly isn't a derogotory statement. just a little piece of BR history. Good stuff - impressed by the local knowledge . .I had no clue. Thanks!
Chuck, you can call us whatever you want, Red Stick, Bayou Country, LSU, or even LSwho...........just as long as you call us the 2003 SEC Champions!!!!
