The La Bahía, Opelousas, or Lower Road was originally an east-west Indian trail in southwestern Louisiana and southeastern Texas and eventually extended to Washington-on-the-Brazos and Goliad. The Brazos River is thought to have been crossed at the mouth of the Navasota River in present Grimes County and the Colorado River near the site of present La Grange in Fayette County. The western portion of the road was laid out by the Spanish and was known as the Atascosito Road. The route was presumably known as early as 1690, when it was traveled by Alonso De León. It was known as the Opelousas Road during the nineteenth century, when it was used as a cattle trail.
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W. A. Ely, Map of Spanish Texas, 1835, Texas State Archives, Austin.
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this entry.
Anonymous,
“La Bahía Road,”
Handbook of Texas Online,
accessed May 23, 2022,
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/la-bahia-road.
Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
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Original Publication Date:
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1952
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Most Recent Revision Date:
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August 7, 2020
This entry belongs to the following Handbook Special Projects:
