where was the first mardi gras held in the united states
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title: Mardi Gras in the United States text: Mardi Gras in the United States Mardi Gras in the United States is not observed nationally across the country, however a number of cities and regions in the U.S. have notable Carnival celebrations. Most trace their Mardi Gras celebrations to French, Spanish, and other colonial influences on the settlements over their history. The earliest Carnival celebration in North America occurred at a place on the west bank of the Mississippi river about 60 miles (96.6 kilometers) downriver from where New Orleans is today; this Mardi Gras on the 3rd of March 1699 and in honor of this holiday, Pierre Le title: Mardi Gras in the United States text: Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, a 38-year-old French Canadian, named the spot Point du Mardi Gras (French: "Mardi Gras Point") near Fort Jackson. The earliest organized Carnival celebrations occurred in Mobile, Biloxi, New Orleans, and Pensacola, which have each developed separate traditions. In addition, modern activities generally vary from city to city across the U.S. Mardi Gras arrived in North America as a sedate French Catholic tradition with the Le Moyne brothers, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, in the late 17th century, when King Louis XIV sent the pair to defend France's claim on the territory of title: Mardi Gras in the United States text: the United States, dating back to 1874. Festivities typically took place on the eponymous Tuesday itself and the preceding week. The first organized secular celebration of Carnival in Pensacola was in 1874, when a group of men including B. F. Yniestra, D. G. and F. C. Brent, D. K. Huckley and Dr. J. C. Whiting established the Knights of Priscus Association. The name Priscus came from Tarquinius Priscus, the fifth king of Rome who: The event became unorganized, having "fallen entirely into the hands of individual merry-makers and frolickers who disported themselves as their own wild merriment dictated," but was title: Mardi Gras in the United States text: "Louisiane", which included what are now the U.S. states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The expedition, led by Iberville, entered the mouth of the Mississippi River on the evening of March 2, 1699, Lundi Gras, not yet knowing it was the river explored and claimed for France by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in 1683. The party proceeded upstream to a place on the west bank about 60 miles downriver from where New Orleans is today, where a small tributary emptied into the great river, and made camp in what is now Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana. This was on March title: Mardi Gras in the United States text: New Orleans. The group's leader, Pierre Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville dubbed the spot La Pointe du Mardi Gras. Three hundred years later, the Rex organization put a marker at the site. An account from 1743 notes that the custom of holding Carnival balls was established by that date, during the time when Bienville was governor. On Mardi Gras, there were masques and processions in the streets of the city, although they were, at times, prohibited by law. The celebrations were quickly resumed whenever restrictions were lifted or the enforcement of them was lax. In 1833, Bernard Xavier de Marigny