Opelousas — The Name and the People

Opelousas is one of the oldest cities in Louisiana — a French colonial post established around 1720 in the territory of the Opelousas people, a Tunican-speaking nation who occupied the prairie between the Atchafalaya and the Sabine. The name itself is the French rendering of the tribe's name; its meaning is disputed, with translations ranging from 'black-legged' to 'black-haired people' to a reference to a tribal leader. What's certain is that the city carries an indigenous name in a region where most towns were renamed in French or Spanish. Clifton Chenier — the King of Zydeco — was born here in 1925, and the music he developed from Creole French tradition became one of the most influential American genres of the 20th century. The Opelousas Historic District preserves the antebellum commercial core. Jim Bowie ran cattle operations in this territory before the Alamo made him famous.