Shreveport, Louisiana

==History==
{{Main|History of Shreveport, Louisiana|Timeline of Shreveport, Louisiana}}

===Early settlers===
Shreveport was established to create a town at the meeting point of the Brown Bricks and the Texas Trail. The Red River was made navigable by Captain [[Henry Miller Shreve]], who led the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] efforts to clear the Red River. A {{convert|180|mi|km|adj=mid|-long}} natural log jam, the [[Great Raft]], had previously obstructed passage to shipping. Shreve used a specially modified [[riverboat]], the ''Heliopolis'', to remove the log jam. The company and the village of Shreve Town were named in Shreve's honor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ci.shreveport.la.us/history.htm |title=Shreveport: a Brief History |author=Brock, Eric J. |year=2006 |publisher=City of Shreveport, Louisiana |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090608103601/http://www.ci.shreveport.la.us/history.htm |archive-date=June 8, 2009 }}</ref>

Shreve Town was originally contained within the boundaries of a piece of land sold to the company in 1835 by the indigenous [[Caddo Indians]]. In 1838 [[Caddo Parish]] was created from the large [[Natchitoches Parish]], and Shreve Town became its parish seat. On March 20, 1839, the town was incorporated as Shreveport. Originally, the town consisted of 64 city blocks, created by eight streets running west from the Red River and eight streets running south from Cross Bayou, one of its tributaries.

Shreveport soon became a center of [[steamboat]] commerce, carrying mostly cotton and agricultural crops from the plantations of Caddo Parish. Shreveport also had a [[slavery in the United States|slave]] market, though slave trading was not as widespread as in other parts of the state. Steamboats plied the Red River, and [[stevedore]]s loaded and unloaded cargo. By 1860, Shreveport had a population of 2,200 free people and 1,300 slaves within the city limits.

===Civil War and Reconstruction===
During the [[American Civil War]], Shreveport was the capital of Louisiana from 1863 to 1865, having succeeded [[Baton Rouge, Louisiana|Baton Rouge]] and [[Opelousas, Louisiana|Opelousas]] after each fell under [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] control. The city was a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] stronghold throughout the war and was the site of the headquarters of the [[Trans-Mississippi Department]] of the Confederate Army. Fort Albert Sidney Johnston was built on a ridge northwest of the city. Because of limited development in that area, the site is relatively undisturbed in the 21st century.

Isolated from events in the east, the Civil War continued in the Trans-Mississippi theater for several weeks after [[Robert E. Lee]]'s surrender in April 1865, and the Trans-Mississippi was the last Confederate command to surrender, on May 26, 1865. "The period May 13–21, 1865, was filled with great uncertainly after soldiers learned of the surrenders of Lee and Johnston, the Good Friday assassination of President [[Abraham Lincoln]] and the rapid departure of their own generals."<ref name="prime">[https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2015/05/10/history-mayhem-marked-civil-war-end/27084699/ John Andrew Prime, "Our History: Mayhem marked Civil War's end here"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613021809/https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2015/05/10/history-mayhem-marked-civil-war-end/27084699/ |date=June 13, 2018 }}, ''Shreveport Times'', 10 May 2015; accessed 5 May 2018</ref> In the confusion there was a breakdown of military discipline and rioting by soldiers. They destroyed buildings containing service records, a loss that later made it difficult for many to gain Confederate pensions from state governments.<ref name="prime"/>

The Red River, opened by Shreve in the 1830s, remained navigable throughout the Civil War. But seasonal water levels got so low at one point that Union [[Admiral]] [[David Dixon Porter]] was trapped with his gunboats north of [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]]. His engineers quickly constructed a temporary dam to raise the water level and free his fleet.

In 1873, Shreveport lost 759 citizens in an 80-day period to a [[yellow fever]] epidemic, with over 400 additional victims eventually succumbing. The total death toll from August through November was approximately 1,200.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ldh.la.gov/assets/oph/Center-PHCH/Center-CH/infectious-epi/Annuals/LaIDAnnual_YellowFever.pdf|title=Louisiana Office of Public Health Statistics, page 6|website=Ldh.la.gov|access-date=September 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190204032113/http://ldh.la.gov/assets/oph/Center-PHCH/Center-CH/infectious-epi/Annuals/LaIDAnnual_YellowFever.pdf|archive-date=February 4, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oaklandcemeteryla.org/Tour/Tour-Stop-1.aspx|title=Tour Stop 1 – Yellow Fever Victims – Tour – Oakland Cemetery – Shreveport – Louisiana – Founded 1847|website=Oaklandcemeteryla.org|access-date=September 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928202518/http://www.oaklandcemeteryla.org/Tour/Tour-Stop-1.aspx|archive-date=September 28, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Five Roman Catholic priests in the city and two religious sisters died while caring for yellow fever victims in the city.<ref>Archives, Diocese of Shreveport</ref>

===20th century to present===
A number of local African American musicians became nationally famous. By the 1910s, [[Lead Belly|Huddie William Ledbetter]]—also known as "Lead Belly", a [[blues]] singer and guitarist—was performing for Shreveport audiences in St.&nbsp;Paul's Bottoms, the notable [[red-light district]] of Shreveport that operated legally from 1903 to 1917. Ledbetter began to develop his own style of music after exposure to a variety of musical influences on Fannin Street, a row of saloons, [[brothel]]s, and dance halls in the Bottoms. Bluesmen [[Jesse Thomas (musician)|Jesse Thomas]], [[Dave Alexander (blues musician)|Dave Alexander]], and [[Kenny Wayne Shepherd]], and the early [[jazz]] and [[ragtime]] composers Bill Wray and Willian Christopher O'Hare were all from Shreveport. Lead Belly achieved international fame.

By 1914, neglect and lack of use, due to diversion of freight traffic to railroad lines, resulted in the Red River becoming unnavigable. In projects accomplished over decades, in 1994, the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] restored navigability by completion of a series of federally funded lock-and-dam structures and a navigation channel.

As early as 1924, the citizens of Shreveport became interested in hosting a military flying field. In 1926, Shreveport citizens learned that the 3rd Attack Wing stationed at [[Fort Crockett]], Texas, would be enlarged by 500 percent and would require at least 20,000 acres (81&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) to support aerial gunnery and a bombing range. The efforts to procure the government's commitment to build the facility in the Greater Shreveport metropolitan area were spearheaded by a committee co-chaired by local civic leaders Andrew Querbes and [[John D. Ewing]], beginning in 1927. It took a great deal of correspondence between the interested parties and the original proposal was rejected. However, in February 1928, a young crop duster, an Air Corps captain named Harold Ross Harris, was hired to fly over the local area in order to find a suitable site for the airfield.

Captain Harris selected what he felt was an adequate location for a military airfield. It was a sprawling section of cotton plantation near Bossier City. The site selection committee, representing the wealthiest taxpayers in the city, unanimously agreed upon the Barksdale Field location. A delegation of citizens traveled to [[Washington, D.C.]], to personally present the advantages of the proposed site to the [[United States Department of War|War Department]]. Following the return of this delegation, a special army board visited Shreveport and reported the location met all requirements of the Air Corps.

The site was selected December 5, 1928, as the location of the airfield. The land in Bossier Parish on which the airfield was built was unincorporated land near Bossier City that was annexed by the city of Shreveport once the site had been selected among 80 candidates. The real estate was purchased from over 800 property owners via a $1,500,000 [[municipal bond]] issue approved by Shreveport voters in 1929 in fulfillment of the pledge that the citizens of Shreveport made to the U.S. government. The last of these bonds matured on December 31, 1959. After acquisition, Shreveport then donated the land to the federal government per their agreement, while the federal government assumed all the costs of building construction and equipment installation. Shreveport had originally proposed a site adjacent to [[Cross Lake (Shreveport, Louisiana)|Cross Lake]], but the United States Department of War deemed this location inappropriate due to the lack of suitable terrain for the facility's future expansion. Subsequent to the establishment of the military installation, Bossier City grew and expanded southward and eastward, eventually enveloping the area surrounding the base. Technically, [[Barksdale Air Force Base|Barksdale AFB]] is neither in Bossier City nor Shreveport but, like all military bases, is an autonomous community with its own infrastructure.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dy2G-wG-eoAC|title=Eric Brock's Shreveport|first=Brock, Eric|last=J|date=January 31, 2001|publisher=Pelican Publishing|isbn=9781455603862|via=Google Books}}</ref>
 
In September, 1941, the capture of the city of Shreveport was the objective of a U.S. Army war game, or [[military exercise]], known as the [[Louisiana Maneuvers]]. The field exercise's mission was accomplished largely due to General [[George S. Patton]], who commanded the mock "Blue" army's 2nd Armored Division.<ref name="The Louisiana Maneuvers, The National WWII Museum New Orleans">{{cite web
|url = https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/louisiana-maneuvers
|title = The Louisiana Maneuvers: The National WWII Museum New Orleans
|date = July 11, 2017
|access-date = October 2, 2018
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181003063742/https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/louisiana-maneuvers
|archive-date = October 3, 2018
|url-status = live
}}</ref>
[[File:Elvis in Louisiana Hayride.JPG|thumb|304x304px|[[Elvis Presley|Elvis]] in the Louisiana Hayride]]
Shreveport was home to the ''[[Louisiana Hayride]]'' radio program, broadcast weekly from the [[Shreveport Municipal Memorial Auditorium]]. During its heyday from 1948 to 1960, this program stimulated the careers of some of the greatest figures in American music. The ''Hayride'' featured musicians including [[Hank Williams]] and [[Elvis Presley]], who made his broadcasting debut at this venue. In the mid-1950s, [[KWKH]] was the first major radio station to feature the music of Presley on its long-running ''Louisiana Hayride'' program at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. Horace Logan, long-term KWKH program manager and originator of the ''Hayride'', and Frank Page introduced Presley on the ''Hayride''.

African American veterans of World War II were among activists in Shreveport through the 1960s who worked in the [[civil rights movement]] to correct injustices under [[Jim Crow]] and [[Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era|disenfranchisement]] of blacks. While activism gradually increased, 1963 was a particularly violent year in Shreveport because of white resistance. The Shreveport home of Dr. C. O. Simpkins was bombed in retaliation for his work with Dr. [[Martin Luther King Jr.]]<ref name="holmes">[https://www.ktbs.com/news/local-civil-rights-leaders-look-back-years/article_9f7ba4b9-5dfe-531a-a014-b33b09857bb1.html Keristen Holmes, "Local Civil Rights Leaders Look Back 50 Years"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321154228/https://www.ktbs.com/news/local-civil-rights-leaders-look-back-years/article_9f7ba4b9-5dfe-531a-a014-b33b09857bb1.html |date=March 21, 2019 }}, KTBS-TV, 18 September 2013; accessed 21 March 2019</ref><ref name="galilee">{{cite web |url=http://beyondgalilee.com/ |title=Beyond Galilee: Shreveport and the Struggle for Civil Rights |publisher=Joey Kent & Tim DeWayne |date=December 2012 |access-date=21 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180820191627/https://www.beyondgalilee.com/ |archive-date=August 20, 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In September 1963 [[George W. D'Artois]], Public Service Commissioner, refused a permit for a march to the Little Union Baptist Church in Shreveport, where mourners gathered to honor and commemorate four black girls killed in the [[16th Street Baptist Church Bombing]] on September 15 in [[Birmingham, Alabama]]. D'Artois and other officers entered the church on horseback and took out the pastor, Dr. Harry Blake, beating him severely.<ref name="holmes"/><ref name="ktbstv">{{cite web|url=http://www.ktbs.com/story/24811348/badge-of-dishonor|title=Badge of Dishonor: George D'Artois and his alleged murder plot against Jim Leslie|date=February 24, 2014 |publisher=[[KTBS-TV]]|access-date=July 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818083652/http://www.ktbs.com/story/24811348/badge-of-dishonor|archive-date=August 18, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

Also in 1963, headlines across the country reported that African American musician [[Sam Cooke]] was arrested in Shreveport after his band tried to register at a "whites-only" [[Holiday Inn]], where they planned to stay before performing in the city. Public facilities in Louisiana were still segregated.<ref>{{cite news |title=Negro Band Leader Held in Shreveport |work=The New York Times |date=October 9, 1963}}</ref> In the months following, Cooke recorded the civil rights era song, "[[A Change Is Gonna Come]]". In 1964 Congress passed the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964|Civil Rights Act]] to end segregation of public facilities.

In the mid-1990s, the coming of [[riverboat gambling]] to Shreveport attracted numerous new patrons to the downtown and spurred a revitalization of the adjacent riverfront areas. Many downtown streets were given a facelift through the "Streetscape" project. Traditional brick sidewalks and crosswalks were built, and statues, sculptures, and [[mosaic]]s were added to create a better pedestrian environment. The O.K. Allen Bridge, commonly known as the [[Long–Allen Bridge (Shreveport)|Texas Street bridge]], was lit with [[neon light]]s. Residents predictably had a variety of reactions to these changes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ci.shreveport.la.us/mayorpr/pr2000/082300.neon.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512062326/http://www.ci.shreveport.la.us/mayorpr/pr2000/082300.neon.htm|url-status=dead|title=Notice from City of Shreveport regarding bridge repairs|archive-date=May 12, 2008}}</ref> Shreveport was named an [[All-America City Award|All-American City]] in 1953, 1979, and 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ncl.org/aac/past_winners/past_winners.html |title=Past Winners of the All-America City Award |publisher=[[National Civic League]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707222907/http://www.ncl.org/aac/past_winners/past_winners.html |archive-date=July 7, 2010 }}</ref>

In the 1990s, Shreveport became known for its rap music scene, and acquired its famous aka name, ''Ratchet City''.<ref name="Durden">{{Cite web|last=Durden|first=Jada|title=Ratchet rap still leaves its mark|url=https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/entertainment/music/2015/02/19/ratchet-rap-still-leaves-mark/23666001/|access-date=2023-06-28|website=Shreveport Times|date=February 19, 2015|language=en-US}}</ref>  The term was first used by the group Lava House in its 1999 single "Ratchet".<ref name="Durden"/>

During the [[September 11 attacks|September 11, 2001 attacks]], President [[George W. Bush]] was taken to the nearby [[Barksdale Air Force Base]]. He also made a visit to speak in the city on March 11, 2005.<ref>{{Cite web|title=President Discusses Strengthening Social Security in Louisiana|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/03/images/20050311-13_w8n66582jpg-515h.html|access-date=2020-08-29|website=George W. Bush White House Archives |date= March 11, 2005 }}</ref>

Since the downturn in the oil industry and other economic problems, the city has struggled with a declining population, unemployment, poverty, drugs and violent crime.<ref name="TIM" /> City data from 2017 showed a dramatic increase in certain violent crimes from the previous year, including a 138 percent increase in homicides, a 21 percent increase in forcible rapes and more than 130 percent increases in both business armed robberies and business burglaries.<ref name="TIM" /> In 2018 the local government and police authorities reported a [[crime drop]] in most categories; it was part of an overall reduction in crime since the late 20th century.<ref name=":12" /> As Shreveport continued its economic resurgence,<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":8" /> the [[Adrian Perkins]] administration saw the coming of Advanced Aero Services,<ref name=":9" /> Tomakk Glass Partners,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Glass company to open facility in Shreveport, will create new jobs|url=https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2020/08/12/tomakk-glass-partners-create-new-jobs-shreveport/3358096001/|access-date=2020-08-29|website=Shreveport Times |date=Aug 12, 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref> and the revitalization plan of the Shreveport Economic Recovery Task Force after the Cross Bayou redevelopment plan was rejected.<ref name=":13" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Chuck|title=Council Vote Falls Short In Support Of Cross Bayou Project MOU|url=https://www.redriverradio.org/post/council-vote-falls-short-support-cross-bayou-project-mou|access-date=2020-08-29|website=Red River Radio|date=January 29, 2020 |language=en}}</ref>

In June 2020, rapper [[Hurricane Chris (rapper)|Hurricane Chris]] was arrested in Shreveport for [[second-degree murder]].<ref>{{Cite web|last2=Blackmon|first1=Danielle |last1=Scruggs |first2=Charitee|title=La. rapper Hurricane Chris posts bond, released from jail|url=https://www.ksla.com/2020/06/19/spd-investigate-possible-attempted-robbery-shooting/|access-date=2020-08-29|website=KSLA 12 News|date=June 22, 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref> Following the [[George Floyd]] killing in Minnesota, multiple protests were held in the city.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Chuck|title=Black Lives Matter Marchers Hold Peaceful Protest In Shreveport|url=https://www.redriverradio.org/post/black-lives-matter-marchers-hold-peaceful-protest-shreveport|access-date=2020-08-29|website=Red River Radio|date=June 2, 2020 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Enfinger|first=Emily|title=Hundreds participate in Shreveport Black Lives Matter march|url=https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/local/2020/05/31/hundreds-gathered-shreveport-black-lives-matter-protest-march/5299886002/|access-date=2020-08-29|website=Shreveport Times|language=en-US |date=May 31, 2020 }}</ref>
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