In the latter part of the eighteenth century, when Don Estevan Miro was appointed provisional governor of part of the Louisiana Territory, he gave the Ouachita area a commandant of its own, Don Juan Filhiol. The section that is now Monroe was officially named “Post of the Ouachita.” Filhiol erected a fort for the protection of its inhabitants, naming it in honor of Don Estevan Miro. Fort Miro Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution was named for this fort.

In 1913, Mrs. Peter Youree of Shreveport, the State Regent, appointed Mrs. Mae Fontaine Surghnor as organizing regent for a DAR chapter in Monroe. On February 7, 1914, an organizing meeting was presided over by Mrs. Surghnor, and the charter was granted February 16, 1914, to seventeen women. The official flower of the chapter is the Marechal Niel Rose, and the society's colors are the blue and white of Washington's staff.

Fort Miro Chapter had two of its members become State Regents: Mrs. C.M. Flower 1939-1942, and Miss Frances V. Flanders 1974-1977. Mrs. Flower was born in California and moved to Alexandria, LA., where she was accepted into the DAR June 5, 1905, and became a charter member of Loyalty Chapter DAR. In 1925 she moved to Monroe, LA, and resided until her death on September 16, 1944.

In her Memory, her four children gave the Louisiana State Star on the National Birthday Bell Tower at Valley Forge. Her grandson, Cpl. Robert Layton, Jr., made the presentation at the dedication in 1948.

Monroe, Louisiana, was named after a steamship, the "James Monroe" which, of course, was named for President James Monroe. Monroe is located in Ouachita Parish on the Ouachita River. Until this steamship arrived in 1819, the area of Fort Miro was called "Prairie des Canots," as it was a departure point for traders and trappers traveling the river to New Orleans.

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Site last updated January 22, 2013