Pierre Part and Belle River rest in an area once known as the Atchafalaya Basin. Between 1770 and 1773, a young Canadian named Pierre Part set foot on the banks of what he called La Bay de Lac Verret. He was with the Spanish colonial militia under the command of Commandant Nicholas Verret Sr., a French Canadian. Part considered this place a beautiful wilderness and asked his superior for permission to establish a settlement—his request was not granted. The military returned Part to the Spanish military post at Valenzuela, and although he never made this area his home, his name remains. Other French explorers came much earlier than Part, and some of the area's waterways bear French names: Le Belle Rivere, Le Lac de Natchez, Bayou de Magazille, Bayou de Lantania (Palmetto), Bayou de Postillion, Le Lac de Palourde, and Le Bayou Milhomme. In 1780, Acadian French—speaking people moved to Pierre Part from Burlie des Olivers and Burlie Saint Vincent. Small groups came and settled together at various places within sight of each other. In 1803, a small settlement of families, which is believed to have included the Solors and Berthelots and later the Heberts and the Pipsairs, settled on the banks of Lake Verret, where Bayou Pierre Part flows into the lake.