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The Mi'kmaw people travelled the rivers and forests of the region long before the arrival of the whites and they helped in many ways to facilitate the arrival of the first settlers. The presence of salt marshes along the shores was a plus for the early settlers since the tall salt grass, called salt hay, served as excellent fodder for livestock.
In 1796, Jean Babineau and his son Joseph from Village-des-Babineau (Turtle Creek) on the Petitcodiac River came to explore the Kagibougouette (Saint-Louis) area where they settled. They chose land on the north side of the river, and then returned in December. Jean drowned in the Petitcodiac. In May 1797, Joseph Babineau and his wife, Anne-Marie Melanson, settled in Kagibougouette.
The following year, in 1798, Joseph returned to Petitcodiac to get his mother, Anne Bastarache, his younger brother Thaddée and his two sisters. At the same time, he tried to find new recruits.
A prosperous cultivator, Joseph Babineau fathered 11 children. He died in 1872 at the age of 99 and was buried in the cemetery located near the present-day church.
Over the years, many families settled in Kouchibougouet, the village’s original name. From that moment, family names such as Barriault, Henri, Poirier, Maillet, Richard, Thébeau, Vautour, Leblanc and Comeau soon multiplied.
In 1798, the first missionary to come to Saint-Louis, Reverend L. J. Desjardins, pleased the settlers because he was the first time a missionary visited the area. In 1805, the inhabitants were granted their lands.
From 1800, missionary priests living in Richibouctou-Village took care of Saint-Louis. The first chapel was built before 1810. It was soon outgrown and construction of another chapel began in 1828, on the same site, on the north shore, near the actual bridge, under the direction of Father Hubert Tétreau.
Beginning in 1855 and for some ten years thereafter, the village was called Palmerston, in honour of England’s Prime Minister at the time. In 1866, it was changed to Saint-Louis, a name more acceptable for the Acadians of the village.
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