The City of Natchitoches is the oldest permanent settlement in the Louisiana Purchase. Natchitoches was established in 1714 by Louis Juchereau de St. Denis. The French originally founded Natchitoches as an outpost on the Red River to trade with the Spanish in Mexico. It is believed the French first arrived in the area around 1699. Successful trading with area Indians prompted leaders to establish a trading post at the head of navigation on the Red River. The site was established near a village of Natchitoches Indians.<br> The Louisiana Purchase was the purchase of the French province of Louisiana by the United States in 1803. It stretched from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada. <br> People settled in the Natchitoches area in large numbers after the Louisiana Purchase. Several plantations were built along the river. Eventually, however, the river changed its course, bypassing Natchitoches. What was once known as the Red River is now Cane River Lake, a 30-something mile body of water that runs from the City’s downtown historic district through Plantation Country. <br> Natchitoches Parish was created by the act of April 10, 1805 that divided the Louisiana Territory into 12 parishes, including Orleans, Iberville, Rapides and Natchitoches. Several parishes were subsequently organized out of Natchitoches Parish.