Before his stint as governor, outspoken Public Service Commission member Huey Long worked to prevent the state from erecting privately built toll bridges over Lake Pontchartrain.

  There are a few of us who still enjoy the ride on Highway 90 from New Orleans to the Gulf Coast. We, like you, admire the bridges that were part of a big controversy involving Huey Long when he was on the Public Service Commission.

  In the 1920s, automobiles were becoming very popular, and people wanted to take motor trips. Because New Orleans is surrounded by so much water, bridges to connect us with the east and the west would be necessary. The question arose, however, whether the bridges would be free bridges – built by the state, of course – or toll bridges built by private companies.

  A constitutional amendment in 1918 authorized the building of a free bridge across Lake Pontchartrain. Nothing was done about it right away because the state was busy building roads, and New Orleans wasn’t putting any pressure on the legislature. But the city grew rapidly, and powerful folks began making noises about a bridge to the east – any bridge.

  In 1924, Gov. Henry L. Fuqua and the legislature were persuaded to authorize the Highway Commission to get a private firm to build a toll bridge. Two groups popped up. One was the Watson-Williams syndicate, represented by ex-Gov. Jared Y. Sanders, and another represented by ex-Gov. Ruffin G. Pleasant. Each group proposed a different route – Watson-Williams to Slidell, the other to Mandeville.

  There was, however, a third route, the one approved by the state in 1918. But this one would cross the Chef Menteur and the Rigolets, and that meant two bridges. Since both private groups wanted the prized contract from the state that didn’t have enough money to build a bridge itself, they worked privately to get the governor’s approval.

  The public was not aware of what was going on until Jan. 1, 1925, when Long objected to the entire plan. Declaring that only the Public Service Commission could grant a franchise, he accused Sanders of trying to make money for himself and his group when the state had already authorized free bridges.

  Long found support in New Orleans even though the city was divided among those who favored one of the two private groups and those who were happy to wait for the free bridge. Huey persuaded his friends to set the two private groups against each other so that the people of Louisiana would have the free bridges owned by the state. He used the controversy to gain voters as someone who stood for the interests of the people.

  But before he could sufficiently arouse public opinion, the contract was awarded to the Watson-Williams group. On behalf of the Public Service Commission, he filed suit and took the case to the Louisiana Supreme Court. Although the court refused to cancel the contract, it did rule that the state could also erect free bridges, financed by highway funds, at the Chef Menteur-Rigolets route.

  After many legal complications and much controversy, the syndicate reorganized, sold bonds, and began construction. Long announced confidently, "Go ahead and build the bridge, and before you finish it I will be elected governor and will have free bridges right beside it. You are building the most expensive buzzard roost in the United States."

  And so it came to pass. Gov. Fuqua died in office, and in October 1926 Oramel H. Simpson was sworn in as Governor. When there were complaints about the high tolls on the Pontchartrain bridge, Simpson supported the popular side of the bridge controversy, and in December 1927 a plan was in place and a contract was awarded to build the free bridges.

  The Rigolets bridge opened officially on June 9, 1930, connecting with the Chef Menteur bridge that had been dedicated the previous September. And, as he had predicted, Long – elected in 1928 – was there as governor to cut the ribbon. .

  Cat Island is part of a chain of protective islands – including the Chandeleur Islands and Ship Island, and the Isle of Caprice – just off Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. All except the last were named by Iberville when he first came looking for some vacation property for Louis XIV, the King of France.

  When Iberville and his men landed on the island seven miles off the coast of Gulfport, they discovered what they thought to be a species of wild cat. So they named the place "Ile Aux Chats." What they had actually discovered was an island with a large population of a critter found only in America: raccoons!