How was False River formed? Here's the history of the lake which could date back to the 1700s.

False River is an oxbow lake.

That fact is not in contention, but when it comes to the body of water's origins, Artemas Davis has questions.

"Is False River man-made or the result of the ever-changing mighty Mississippi River?" he asked.

The question was prompted by a story told to him by his grandfather.

"He told us about helping to dredge out False River," Davis said. "And I've always wondered if it was a man-made formation because of that. He would have done that work in the late 1920 or early '30s, so it could have been during the Great Flood of 1927."

It could have happened at that time. Author Brian Costello, founding historian of the Pointe Coupee Parish Library Historical Materials Collection, said the Mississippi River's fluctuating levels still affect False River in their own way.

"False River receives its water from natural drainage bayous and canals," Costello said. "But of course, you know, the Mississippi River's water table is so great, so I'm sure it may be getting some water from the river underground, as well."

But when it comes to the Mississippi River, it, alone, formed the oxbow lake when it changed course in the late 17th century.

"It's natural," Costello said. "It is part of the Mississippi River, which has cut off several bends through the years with False River being the southernmost. There are more in northern Louisiana and Mississippi."

As the river flows southward, it naturally tries to carve out the shortest distance to the Gulf of Mexico. So, unnecessary bends and hairpin curves have been bypassed along the way.

"And we think False River's formation may have been as early as 1682 with the LaSalle expedition because, when they were descending the river, they neared some bluffs, which we interpret as Feliciana," Costello said. "They mention a risky river, like a small channel that was slowing on their left-hand side over to the east, so that may have been the river trying to make a shortcut at that time."

The Atchafalaya Heritage Water Trail dates False River's formation between 1713 and 1722, but Costello said there is documentation of its formation in 1699.

"It was definitely there in 1699 when Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and his Canadian explorers ascended the river," he said. "Native American guides told them instead of going around this great 22-mile bend, they could take a shortcut through a little channel that the river was already carving, which was only four miles. So they removed some underbrush and debris that was in that channel and brought their boats through the upper end of the bend."

That was according to the earliest maps in 1699, Costello added.

"The cutoff was complete by 1722," he continued. "The river had fully adopted its new channel."

The earliest settlers along the oxbow lake, Costello said, were Belgian. The French who settled there called it a false river, or Fausse Rivière.

Finally, there is a man-made component to False River. According to the Atchafalaya Heritage Water Trail, its main outlet is an artificial drainage channel in nearby Oscar built as part of a statewide drainage program in 1947.

"First called the False River-Bayou Grosse Tete Spillway Canal, then the Rougon Canal (or Lighthouse Canal) and now the False River Outfall Channel, the construction was a massive undertaking accomplished in record time," the Atchafalaya Heritage Water Way continued. "It connects False River to the shared headwaters of Bayou Grosse Tete and Bayou Cholpe. Most of the water flows into Bayou Cholpe through an area once referred to as Greve's Swamp, eventually connecting with the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway west of Brusly. It also drains False River through the lake’s high natural levee (where La. 1 is today)."

Bayou Cirier, named for the numerous wax myrtle trees early Francophone settlers observed there, was False River’s original primary outlet before the False River Outfall Channel was built. Now the bayou only serves as a distributary when False River reaches higher stages.

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