Louisiana's sixth largest city, Kenner, is often looked upon simply as a suburb of New Orleans and home to Louis Armstrong International Airport. An Untractable Country: The History of Kenner, Louisiana, reveals that Kenner has its own unique and dynamic history separate from that of New Orleans. This is the first book-length narrative of the three-hundred-year-long story of the people and events that transformed an area located along the Mississippi River, approximately thirteen miles upriver from the Crescent City, from a grassy Indian hunting ground to one of Louisiana's largest municipalities. From its earliest times as the colonial settlement of Cannes Brûlées, through its incarnation as the small antebellum town of Kennerville, to its rapid growth as a suburban bedroom community during the second half of the twentieth century, the story of Kenner exemplifies life in communities across the state and fills an important void in the greater mosaic of the story of Louisiana. Book jacket.

Text, date unknown, circa 1930s. History and description of the Kenner family of New Orleans, Louisiana.

In 1682, when French explorer Robert de La Salle landed his canoe expedition on the banks of the Mississippi River to find a massacred Native American village, he never could have imagined that 300 years later the site would have grown into a city of over 75,000 residents and a major international airport. Louisiana's fifth largest city, Kenner was built in the shadow of New Orleans based on a history intertwined with French and antebellum plantations, agricultural farms, and rural subdivisions. Against a backdrop of Indian, French, Spanish, American, and Confederate control, it suffered river floods, hurricanes, epidemics, Civil War occupation, and governmental infighting, through which a rich heritage of freed slaves, French, Irish, German, and numerous Italian immigrants and settlers persevered and prospered. A host to vanished tribes, famous explorers, renowned entrepreneurs, world-class boxers, Confederate and Union troops, US presidents, a pope, and countless celebrities, as well as being the site of tragic airline crashes and record hurricanes, Kenner's history is a tale worth telling.

In 1682, when French explorer Robert de La Salle landed his canoe expedition on the banks of the Mississippi River to find a massacred Native American village, he never could have imagined that 300 years later the site would have grown into a city of over 75,000 residents and a major international airport. Louisiana's fifth largest city, Kenner was built in the shadow of New Orleans based on a history intertwined with French and antebellum plantations, agricultural farms, and rural subdivisions. Against a backdrop of Indian, French, Spanish, American, and Confederate control, it suffered river floods, hurricanes, epidemics, Civil War occupation, and governmental infighting, through which a rich heritage of freed slaves, French, Irish, German, and numerous Italian immigrants and settlers persevered and prospered. A host to vanished tribes, famous explorers, renowned entrepreneurs, world-class boxers, Confederate and Union troops, US presidents, a pope, and countless celebrities, as well as being the site of tragic airline crashes and record hurricanes, Kenner's history is a tale worth telling.

From the accounts of 18th-century travelers to the interpretations of 21st-century historians, Jumonville lists more than 6,800 books, chapters, articles, theses, dissertations, and government documents that describe the rich history of America's 18th state. Here are references to sources on the Louisiana Purchase, the Battle of New Orleans, Carnival, and Cajuns. Less-explored topics such as the rebellion of 1768, the changing roles of women, and civic development are also covered. It is a sweeping guide to the publications that best illuminate the land, the people, and the multifaceted history of the Pelican State. Arranged according to discipline and time period, chapters cover such topics as the environment, the Civil War and Reconstruction, social and cultural history, the people of Louisiana, local, parish, and sectional histories, and New Orleans. It also lists major historical sites and repositories of primary materials. As the only comprehensive bibliography of the secondary sources about the state, ^ILouisiana History^R is an invaluable resource for scholars and researchers.