Mile 68.0 — Jesuit Bend

John Ruskey

26 Apr 2026 � 1 min read

The river makes a gentle curve around Will’s Point at Jesuit Bend (just a bump in the road compared to the radical bends upstream -- less than 90 degrees). This bump creates a series of possible campsites/picnic sites along its inside edge from 68.5 to 67.5 LBD. This little bump here results in a thin sliver of greenery amongst the some of the last pockets of intense industry on the Lower Miss. While not more than a mile wide levee to levee, it is plenty wide and deep for paddler to find their lovely “river illusion,” that is the feeling that you are alone with nothing but wilderness around you!

The Society ofJesus is a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church. and the Jesuits took an active part in the early settlement and development of the Lower Mississippi Valley. A Jesuit priest accompanied Iberville and Bienville. and other Jesuits established small missions on the Mississippi. enduring all kinds of incredible hardships and laboring incessantly to convert the Indian tribes to Christianity. Some were murdered for their efforts. but the Jesuits continued their work in Louisiana until they were expelled in 1763 because of European opposition to the Order. They helped introduce indigo, oranges, figs, and sugar cane to the colony, and established missions and educational institutions. In 1837 the Jesuits were allowed to come back to Louisiana, and they acquired land below New Orleans and operated plantations to support the educational institutions they established in New Orleans and elsewhere. River pilots called this great bend of the river Jesuits Bend, because some of the land belonging to the order was located in the area. (Braggs)

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