After the land was opened to non-native settlement in the early 1870s, a Métis contemporary of Joe Rolette, Pierre Bottineau, promoted immigration to the Red Lake River area by French-Canadian settlers. A substantial French-Canadian farming community developed nearby in what later became Red Lake County. One of these settlers, Louis Huot, arrived from Quebec in 1876. He established a ferry at the Old Crossing, just below the Black River, in 1877. The resulting village site and surrounding Louisville Township both were named after Louis Huot. As the neighborhood was homesteaded by other farmers, the village grew to include a Catholic church, a school, general store, a creamery (which later became the town hall) and a post office, as well as several houses. A bridge was built across the river, replacing the ferry, around 1900.