The White League arose in the Red River valley in 1874, first in Grant Parish and nearby parishes. It was a group of Confederate veterans whose stated purpose was "the extermination of the carpetbag element" and restoration of white supremacy. Most had been with the white militias that had taken part in the Colfax Massacre, but units later arose in other communities across the state. Unlike the secret Ku Klux Klan, the White League operated openly and were more organized. They intended to overturn Republican rule. They targeted local Republican officeholders for assassination, disrupted political organizing, and terrorized freedmen and their allies. One historian described them as "the military arm of the Democratic Party."