So many people debate the fact of where and how Mardi Gras started in US. At its most basic, Mardi Gras , is a pre-Lenten festival celebrated in Roman Catholic countries and communities. Traditionally, Mardi Grove, …show more content…
But, Mobile, AL feel that the first Mardi Gras parade was hosted in their city in 1703, long before New Orleans actually organized the celebration. Mardi Gras was first celebrated when Mobile was a French colony, a century before Alabama was founded. Mobilians do believe that several people help influence Mardi Gras like Pierre D’Iberville, Knights of Revelry Float, and Joe Cain. Pierre D’Iberville Mardi Gras is a Catholic festival beginning 40 days before Easter. The name Mardi Gras is French meaning Fat Tuesday, which is the last day of feast before Lent starts. Both cities to agree that D’Iberville documented the first Mardi Gras in 1699. The Knights of Revelry Float is an important part of Mobile’s celebration but was not apart of the traditional Mardi Gras. This float didn’t start until the New Year’s Eve in 1831 by an cotton broker. Now the Civil War stopped a lot of celebration including Mardi Gras when Union troop took control of the city in April of 1865. Mardi Gras unexpectedly started back up the following year when Joseph Stillwell Cain formed the Tea Drinkers Mystic Society, which lead the parade through the city dressed as fictional Indian Chiefs. During the reconstruction of the city Mardi Gras became a premier event in