by Annabel Matherne Hogan
Chalands were very common among the Cajuns of the Des Allemands, Louisiana area until the 1940s. Chalands were houseboats (often called "campboats") of Cajun trappers and fisherman. They were often towed around the bayous and lakes in the area of Lake Salvador, Mud Lake, and Lac Des Allemands.
The term campboat is more appropriate, since the trappers used them as a camp away from their primary homes. However, many families made these their sole home. Campboats were built similar to a river barge; made from cypress wood that was slow to rot. The boats were actually built upside down. Ribs would be placed lengthwise about 4 feet apart, and thick boards were nailed from side to side. Cracks between the boards would be corked with cotton or "oakum", a material made of cotton. The hull would be painted with a coat of tar. The bottom was built on land, then towed to deep water, where the craft was filled with water and flipped over. Once upright, the boat would be drained of water and construction on the housing portion would begin. A tin roof was standard on these homes, providing the treasured sound of one's memories - the gentle "pinging" sound of rain on the tin roof while you were sleeping.
Porches were always built at the ends, where the doors would be. Most campboats had two bedrooms and kitchen, but more affluent families might have three bedrooms and even a hallway. No bathrooms existed, but chamber pots and large galvanized tubs served the purpose. Water was collected from a large water barrel or small cistern left outside. And, of course, air conditioning was unheard of in the early 1900's.
Upkeep on the homes was minimal, but as the house aged the cotton would rot and water would leak in. Many times the houses would sink while the owners slept or were away. Hand pumps and buckets worked well to bail out the water, until electricity became available.
Most of the houseboats were docked in coupées, or small shallow canals, along the banks of the bayous. The coupées were the exact width of the houseboats, and kept the boats from rocking when other boats passed by. The shallow water also kept the boat from sinking too deep if the owner was away or asleep.
As the financial status of Cajun families improved, many dismantled their houseboats and used them to build a home on land. Most added kitchens on the side, forming an "L" shaped home. Bathrooms were added when running water was available, and porches were added over time.
I remember life on a campboat as a child being great! As an adult today, I can visualize the ordeal parents had to contend with: constantly worrying about youngsters falling into the bayou, and the hardship of no electricity or running water. But, as children, we had fond memories of swimming off the back porch, bathing in the bayou, and fishing any time we wanted. How we never drowned, I'll never know.
My brother, Ray Matherne, has fond memories of hunting ducks from the back porch of our houseboat, and remembers that the crabbing was good too. But, he also remembers being awakened on a rainy night in order to help bail water from the sinking house boat. Such was life living on a chaland!
Barbera Steele Thibodeaux is a talented artist who has created a wonderful oil-on-canvas painting depicting her Cajun Grandmother-in-law on a "chaland." You can visit Barbera's web site at: http://folk-art.com/cbpix.html. To quote the artist, "This painting was actually taken from an old photograph of the artist's husband's grandmother...Grandma Brunet. She was a hard-working Cajun wife and mother, living part of the year here on the water, when the fishing, crabbing, shrimping, and trapping was in season...and the other part on land tending to the garden. The boat had everything they needed...water from rainwater flowed from the makeshift gutters into the barrel on the side of the house. They even had a wood cookstove inside! This series will be dedicated to the many hard-working Cajun men and women who overcame the strife of exile to settle and make a home in the wonderful paradise that is Louisiana!"
'The Houseboat'
Barbara Steele Thibodeaux
http://folk-art.com/