Upon leaving the Marine Corps April 1, 1966, I drove from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina to California in my red 1963 Volkswagen. On the way, I swung by Hornbeck, Louisiana to visit Grandpa Self and Grandma Elsie. While there, Grandma Elsie told me something that I’ve never forgotten. She said that as a young married women, about 1912 or 1913, her husband’s grandmother, Great-Great-Grandma  Elizabeth Leticia “Betty” Sibley (Self), wife of  Major David Washington Self, C.S.A., told her something which happened to her during the “War Between The States” or Civil War. As they were getting low on supplies, she loaded up 2 wagons with produce and had her slaves drive her up to Shreveport, Louisiana, some 80 mile north of Sabine Parish. I’m positive she said that it was Shreveport; it was a  large town under Union control. If Shreveport is correct, the trip must have taken some 4 days, at 20 miles per day. Her slaves hid her in one of the wagons and snuck her past the Union sentries on into the city. She traded for supplies there and they snuck her back out of Shreveport and returned to Sabine Parish. This is something I heard directly from my grandmother relaying a true story from the lips of my great-great-grandmother. This story brings the reality of the Civil War very close to home. Elizabeth Leticia Sibley died a couple of years later, in 1915, after telling the Civil War story to Grandma Elsie. Editor Don Smith.

Look At The Map:

Follow 71 south from Shreveport to Hornbeck, Louisiana. Hornbeck is located very close to the location of the plantation land which belonged to Major David Washington Self, C.S.A. and his wife, Elizabeth Lutitia “Betty” (Self) Sibley.  The distance from Hornbeck to Shreveport is exactly 80 miles.

           Location of Major & Mrs. David Washington Self’s Land:

Major and Mrs. David Washington Self resided on their plantation land situated very close to the current site of Hodges Gardens in Sabine Parish. I looked up Hodges Gardens on the map. There is a Hodges Wilderness Camp Ground located 3 miles north of Hornbeck. That must be it. The Parish line between Sabine Parish and Vernon Parish lies just north of Hornbeck. Vernon Parish was created in 1897 out of sections of 3 other parishes, Sabine Parish, Natchitoches Parish and Rapides Parish. Hornbeck, Louisiana was once a great hub for the Kansas City Southern Railroad and was slated to be the crossroads of Vernon Parish. The land where Hornbeck stands started as a private property owned by the Kansas City Construction Co. It was purchased from C.S. Searing for only $8,640. The land then passed hands again and was part of the Arkansas Township Company. Hornbeck officially became a town in the later part of 1897. Hornbeck was considered a division town, meaning there was a turntable, and coat shut. It was the largest territory tributary of any town lying on the line of the Kansas City Southern Railroad because the land was rich with natural resources. The territory consisted of Anacoco, Toro and Sabine Rivers. The town was named after F.A. Hornbeck who was a real estate agent of the town site, began selling lots in the town out of a log office when it was certain the railroad would be coming through the town making Hornbeck a railroad division. The early days of Hornbeck were home to five stores, five hotels, five saloons and one Methodist and one Baptist Church. There was a money order post office, express office, telegraph station and furnished about everything needed. It had a very fair size population at 225 people. On January 1, 1905 it was incorporated as a town of Vernon Parish. There were large sawmills which were the towns main industry. The original proposed population was 3,000 people because the Kansas City Southern Railroad was to be established in Hornbeck. It was also the home to the railroad roundhouse, until the rail house moved to Leesville in 1912. The railroad division's move caused great set backs on the town of Hornbeck. In general, railroad division towns in the early 1900s were home to 2,000 to 5,000 people, but the population never reached that, especially after the division moved. They did however continue to prosper until the 1930s when all the lumber mills closed. People then turned to agriculture for their livelihood. And although they were not the richest town, education was still top priority to the people of Hornbeck. Hornbeck had one of the finest and largest graded schools in Louisiana. In 1938 the high school gym was built when many areas did not even have their own school yet. In the 1940s the economy began looking up once again because of Fort Polk. Land for Hornbeck was used by the U.S. Army for construction of Fort Polk. Toledo Bend also became a popular spot around this time. Hornbeck is to this day considered the Gateway to Toledo Bend Dam. Hornbeck established its own government structure in 1946 and implemented a Mayor and counsel. Hornbeck also has its own city water system and natural gas system. By 1964 Hornbeck had a population of 518 people. The number of stores and churches in the town had risen. But change occurred when the saw mills left town. Industry decreased and the area was not as good farming country as some once thought. Today the population is a bit less than 427 people.