CYRUS BLANCHARD

Cyrus Blanchard is a direct descendant of Pierre LeMoyne d'Iberville who can be traced back to 1697 in the area in and around the village of Bayou Lafourche in Assumption Parrish about 40 miles from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Cyrus was born to Horace and Hortence Blanchard in 1937, the middle child of seven, very near Bayou Lafourche.  They lived along the banks of the swamp in a small shack with no running water or electricity.  It was a very hard life for them but they managed to survive by a little rice farming and fishing, but mainly by the closeness and love of the family.

As the story goes, his parents were tragically taken away from the children by an alligator or alligators that lived in the swamps nearby.  Cyrus, being the oldest male, took on the huge responsibility of now raising all his siblings.  This was a life changing experience for him.

He became obsessed with finding the "killer gators" and spent most of his free time, which wasn't too much, in the swamps hunting gators and selling the meat as a delicacy and the hides for the making of belts, boots and handbags.

One late mid-August afternoon while looking for gators he came upon what he thought was a fallen tree about 19 feet long and as round as the largest tree he had ever seen.  This moment changed his life forever.  As he approached, the tree moved, two huge eyes popped open, an enormous mouth spread showing 3"-4" razor sharp teeth and Cyrus was frozen in his tracks.  He could not move a muscle.

Well, a miracle of miracles was about to occur.  The tree turned out to be, you guessed it, the largest gator he had ever seen and it was beginning to slowly move towards him.  He was horror struck as the gator placed its monsterous head on his boots and looked up at him straight in his eyes.  Cyrus felt a connection immediately and his fear vanished.

This was the beginning of a relationship that lasted for over 50 years.  Cyrus and "BIG SWAMPY", as he had named him became the talk of the territory.  He would give swamp tours to visitors who had heard of "BIG SWAMPY" and as the years went on Cyrus would spot and befriend other gators, all of them he would name and he often got out of the tour boat while the horrified tourists looked on.  Big Swampy's Boat Tour became the largest tourist attraction in the entire State of Louisiana and has maintained that distinction to this day.

Cyrus has retired and "BIG SWAMPY" went to gator heaven.  Cyrus' sons continue to take folks out on those swamp tours and they too are as daring as their dad.  Some of the recipes that we use in preparing your meal have been handed down to us by our relatives from one generation to another.

This is our way of honoring Cyrus Blanchard, our family and most of all "BIG SWAMPY".

Thanks for visiting us,

The Blanchard Clan