Biloxi

Biloxi lies on the northern Gulf coast, facing Mississippi Sound and the barrier islands beyond. The name comes from the Biloxi people, who lived near the coast when the French arrived. They cultivated maize, beans and squash, hunted and fished throughout the year; an epidemic had already devastated one of their villages before Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville encountered them in 1699.

Iberville founded Fort Maurepas at Old Biloxi in 1699. A later settlement developed around Fort Louis, and in 1720 the capital of French Louisiana moved there from Mobile. The stay was brief: concerns about the exposed coast helped persuade Governor Bienville to transfer the capital to New Orleans in 1722. Biloxi people later moved west into Louisiana, where they joined other Indigenous communities.