Contraband Bayou

{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}

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File:Contraband Bayou2.jpg campus.]]

Contraband Bayou is a large bayou, a tributary of the Calcasieu River.{{cite web |title=Calcasieu Estuary Remedial Investigation: Lake Charles, Louisiana |url=https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-08/calcasieu_estuary_final_remedial_investigation.pdf |website=epa.gov |access-date=26 March 2023}} It runs through Lake Charles, Louisiana, and empties into Prien Lake.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

The bayou is so named because of the legendary pirate Jean Lafitte, who built a slave barracks on the bayou in the early 1800s{{cite web |last1=Block |first1=W. T. |title=The Legacy of Jean Lafitte in Southwest Louisiana |url=http://www.wtblock.com/wtblockjr/jean1.htm |website=wtblock.com |access-date=26 March 2023}} and reputedly hid his contraband somewhere along the shores of the bayou.{{cite book |last1=Bordelon |first1=Kathie |title=McNeese State University |date=2001 |publisher=Arcadia |isbn=9780738506999 |pages=11–12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L4wXRaFrP0kC |access-date=26 March 2023}}

The bayou is moderately saline, with low flow, and receives Lake Charles municipal waste discharge. Over the years, it has been dredged and channelized along part of its length.{{cite journal |last1=Felley |first1=James D. |title=Nekton assemblages of three tributaries to the Calcasieu estuary, Louisiana |journal=Estuaries |date=December 1987 |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=321–329 |doi=10.2307/1351890 |jstor=1351890 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.2307/1351890 |access-date=26 March 2023|url-access=subscription }} While the bayou was once lined with many cypress trees, the saltwater brought in during this dredging caused some to die off, leaving behind stumps in the water.{{cite news |title=Safer sailing |url=http://www.worldportsource.com/ports/commerce/USA_LA_Port_of_Lake_Charles_64.php |access-date=26 March 2023 |publisher=American Press |date=27 December 2018}}.

The bayou runs through the McNeese State University campus. L'Auberge du Lac Resort is located near the mouth of the bayou, and the resort's Contraband Bayou Golf Club is named for it.{{cite web |title=Contraband Bayou Golf Club |url=https://www.llakecharles.com/hotel/amenities/contraband-bayou-golf-club |website=L'auberge Casino Resort Lake Charles |access-date=26 March 2023}} Part of the city docks of the Port of Lake Charles are also located near the bayou.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}