“Keeper of the King’s Storehouse” and Cast Iron Cookware

In 1714 Louis Antoine Juchereau de St. Denis navigated up the Red River on his trade mission from what is now Mobile, Alabama to Mexico. Because of a massive log jam St. Denis had to leave the river and continue overland. He landed near a village of the Natchitoches (nak-a-tish) Indians. St. Denis continued on to Mexico but left a few men to guard their provisions and trade with the Native Americans.Their rustic huts became Fort St. Jean Baptiste, the oldest continuous European settlement in the entire Louisiana Purchase Territory. Francois Dion Duprez d’Herbonne (Derbonne), Barbara’s ninth generation grandfather was commissioned in 1716 by King Louis XV of France “Keeper of the King’s Store House and Paymaster of the Militia” at Fort St. Jean Baptiste.

Barbara Bailey, partner with her husband Doyle, operates Cast Iron Cookware Shop in Natchitoches. Family history shows that her grandfather Francois Dion Duprez d’Herbonne (9 generations ago) also was a merchant who dealt with cast iron cookware in the store at Ft. St. Jean Baptiste. Barbara’s grandfather’s stewardship as “Keeper of the King’s Storehouse” involved the management of cast iron cookware. It must run in the family for Barbara loves cast iron cookware. She cooks with it every day and loves to talk about it with others.

Cast Iron Cookware has been around a long time. Start your collection or add to your collection of cast iron cookware and you will have family heirlooms you can pass to your children and grandchildren. In the mean time you will enjoy meals that let you “taste the food and not the cookware“.

For more on the French Colonial History of Natchitoches, the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase, visit Barbara’s Blog. http://www.tournatchitocheswithbarbara.storeblogs.com

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