A golf cart ride along the 7-mile path of Tamahka Trails Golf Club, alone, is worth a trip to Marksville.

With its rolling hills, the spread is easily one of Louisiana's most beautiful golf courses, as well as one of the amenities of the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe-owned Paragon Casino and Resort at 711 Paragon Place, Avoyelles Parish's biggest tourism draw.

That's neither slight nor exaggeration. The casino and its grounds have been attracting tourists to Marksville since its opening in 1994. Still, the identity of this city that grew from a broken wagon wheel was established long before that.

Marksville's beginning can be traced to 1794 when Venetian peddler Marco Eliché's wagon wheel broke while traveling through the area. He decided to stay and open a trading post.

A settlement grew around

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