Welcome to Bienville Parish
Bienville Parish was named in honor of the "Father of Louisiana", Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville.
Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, b. Feb. 23, 1680, d. Mar. 7, 1767, was a French-Canadian explorer and administrator who founded Mobile, Ala., and New Orleans, La. The son of the Sieur de LONGUEUIL and the brother of the Sieur d'IBERVILLE, he earned military plaudits in the French naval campaigns against the English in the North Atlantic and Hudson Bay from 1695 to 1698. He took part in Iberville's expedition to the mouth of the Mississippi in 1698-99 and in 1700 explored up the Red River as far as Natchitoches. French control of the area was assured by alliances with the Indians.
Assuming command of the Louisiana colony in 1701, Bienville constructed (1702) a fort at 26-Mile Bluff on Mobile Bay; in 1710 the fort was moved to the present site of Mobile on the lower part of the bay. Superseded by the Sieur de CADILLAC in 1712, Bienville was restored (1717) to the governorship under the MISSISSIPPI SCHEME and founded New Orleans in 1718. The collapse of the Mississippi scheme and quarrels with other colonial administrators resulted in his recall in 1725. His reappointment in 1732 was greeted with rejoicing among the New Orleans settlers.
Indian wars occupied his time, however, and he never achieved the brilliance for which his supporters had hoped. He left Louisiana in 1743.