Gifts were simpler then and oranges were plentiful. Much of
southern Louisiana was covered with citrus trees. In fact,
Cameron Parish was once one of the leading orange producers in
the nation. In 1892, the New Orleans Picayune reported, "The
future of southwest Louisiana can be assured financially because
of its gigantic orange groves. In Cameron Parish alone,
1,500,000 of the finest oranges were produced. They are said to
be the sweetest and best of all. "You can drive for 16 miles
across Grand Chenier and see nothing but orange groves," the
newspaper continued. "In fact, Mr. Welsh [who represented
Cameron in the state legislature] proposes to furnish the
Louisiana exhibit to the World's Fair an actual growing orange
tree with 1,000 oranges on its limbs." Freezes, hurricane,
drought, and salt water did in the Cameron groves. Most of them
were gone by the late 1920s or earlier. A bitter freeze in 1930
finished off practically all of the Cameron trees that were
still producing. But they were valuable while th