Abbeville - Official Web Site

Addis - Official Web Site

Alexandra - Official Web Site

Baker - Official Web Site

Baton Rouge - Official Web Site

Baton Rouge - Chamber of Commerce

Baton Rouge - Convention & Visitors Bureau

Bogalusa - Official Web Site

Bossier City - Official Web Site

Bossier City - Shreveport-Bossier Convention & Tourism Bureau

Cajun Coast - Convention & Visitors Bureau

Covington - Official Web Site

Delcambre - Official Web Site

Erath - Official Web Site

Eunice - Official Web Site

French Settlement - Official Web Site

Gretna - Official Web Site

Gueydan - Official Web Site

Hammond - Official Web Site

Harahan & Metairie - Official Web Site

Houma - Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce

Houma - Houma Area Convention & Visitors Bureau

Iberia - Chamber of Commerce

Kaplan - Official Web Site

Kenner - Official Web Site

Kentwood - Guide - Kentwood, Louisiana

Kinder - Chamber of Commerce

Lafayette - Chamber of Commerce

Lafayette - Convention & Visitors Commission

Lafitte - Official Web Site

Lake Charles - Convention & Visitors Bureau

LaPlace - Guide - LaPlace Online

Mandeville - Official Web Site

Minden - Chamber of Commerce

Monroe - Official Web Site

Monroe - Chamber of Commerce

Monroe - Monroe-West Monroe Convention & Visitors Bureau

Natchitoches - Guide - Natchitoches Online

Natchitoches - Guide - Natchitoches.net

New Orleans - Official Web Site

New Orleans - New Orleans Regional Chamber of Commerce

New Orleans - City Council

New Orleans - Convention & Visitors Bureau

New Orleans - Regional Planning Commission

New Orleans - Guide - Economic Development Information Center

New Orleans - Guide - French Quarter

Opelousas - Official Web Site

Palmetto - Official Web Site

Pineville - Official Web Site

Ponchatoula - Official Web Site

Rayne - Official Web Site

Ruston - Official Web Site

Ruston - Guide - Ruston, Louisiana

Ruston - Guide - Welcome to Ruston

St. Francisville - Official Web Site

Shreveport - Official Web Site

Shreveport - Chamber of Commerce

Shreveport - Shreveport-Bossier Convention & Tourism Bureau

Slidell - Official Web Site

Slidell - Chamber of Commerce

SW Louisiana - Lake Charles - Convention & Visitors Bureau

Springhill - Chamber of Commerce

Vidalia - Chamber of Commerce

Ville Platte - Official Web Site

Vivian - Official Web Site

Walker - Official Web Site

Westwego - Official Web Site

Winnsboro - Official Web Site Louisiana's Flag - The design consists of the pelican group from the state seal, in white and gold, and a white ribbon bearing the state motto, "Union, Justice, and Confidence", on a field of a solid blue. A Brief History of Louisiana Under 10 Flags. History of Louisiana - Louisiana has a rich, colorful historical background. Early Spanish explorers were Alvárez Piñeda, 1519; Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, 1528; and Hernando De Soto in 1541. Sieur de la Salle reached the mouth of the Mississippi and claimed all the land drained by it and its tributaries for Louis XIV of France in 1682. Louisiana became a French crown colony in 1731, was ceded to Spain in 1763, returned to France in 1800, and sold by Napoleon to the U.S. as part of the Louisiana Purchase (with large territories to the north and northwest) in 1803. In 1815, Gen. Andrew Jackson's troops defeated a larger British army in the Battle of New Orleans, neither side aware that the treaty ending the War of 1812 had been signed. Louisiana is a leader in natural gas, salt, petroleum, and sulfur production. Much of the oil and sulfur comes from offshore deposits. The state also produces large crops of sweet potatoes, rice, sugar cane, pecans, soybeans, corn, and cotton. Leading manufactures include chemicals, processed food, petroleum and coal products, paper, lumber and wood products, transportation equipment, and apparel. Louisiana marshes supply most of the nation's muskrat fur as well as that of opossum, raccoon, mink, and otter, and large numbers of game birds. Major points of interest include New Orleans with its French Quarter and Superdome, plantation homes near Natchitoches and New Iberia, Cajun country in the Mississippi Delta region, Chalmette National Historical Park, and the state capital at Baton Rouge.