Cajuns began populating the prairies and the bayou and river parishes of south-western Louisiana in the late eighteenth century. Song, dance, and animated talk were never in short supply. Early on, house-raising parties required cooperation among neighbors, and these gatherings evolved into the ramasseries, boucheries, and bals de maisons that were the underpinnings of Cajun cohesiveness. The arrival of Ron and Fay Stanford in Louisiana in the early 1970s to study and record French music was timely and these photographs, invaluable.