Louisiana had a history of government and court districts long before the Louisiana Purchase. In 1770, Spanish Governor O'Reilly had Lieutenant Governors at St. Louis and at Natchitoches, and Commandants in the nine posts of Ste. Genevieve, the two German Coasts (St. Charles and St. John-the-Baptist); Pointe Coupee; Opelousas; Iberia with Ascension Parish; La Fourche; Rapides; and St. James's Parish. *
Some of the first American parishes were ecclesiastical parishes that were already in existence. The new court districts simply used boundaries that were already known. Also, because much of the land was composed of rivers, bayous, lakes, swamps, and marshes, accurate cartography was not a minor task to accomplish. It was easier to expand upon an existing system.
Hans W. Baade, The Formalities of Private Real Estate Transactions in Spanish North America, 38 LA. L. REV. 655 (1977).
