Texas Almanac, 1968-1969 Page: 53
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INDIANS IN TEXAS 53
Indians at Dawn of History
The largest group of Indians living in
Texas during the early Spanish and French
explorations was that of the Caddo tribes of
East, Northeast and North Central Texas.
This great Indian family of Caddo stock was
broken into three major subclassifications:
(1) The Hasinai confederacy in the lower
half of the Texas Pine Belt and extending
across the Sabine into Louisiana; (2) the
Caddo proper group living in Northeast
Texas and the adjacent sections of Arkan-
sas, Louisiana and Oklahoma, and (3) the
Wichita group dwelling in the Middle Red
River Valley, on the Trinity headwaters and
on the Middle Brazos.
The Hasinai confederacy included the
Nacogdoches, Nasoni, Neche, Heinai, Nadoco
and other tribal subclassifications. They were
rather advanced culturally, living in perman-
ent homes and cultivating the soil.
The tribal groups usually referred to as
the Caddoes proper included the Grand Cad-
does, Little Caddoes, Nachitoches, Adaes,
Natsoos and other tribes. They dwelt in per-
manent abodes, tilled the soil and main-
tained a rather high cultural state.
The third Caddo group consisted of the
Wichita confederacy along both sides of the
Upper Red River, extending southward into
the upper valley of the Brazos as far as the
vicinity of Waco. Subclassifications included
the Wichitas proper, Taovayos, Tawakanis
(or Tehuacanas), the Yscanis and others.
Coastal Tribes
Along the Gulf Coast were tribes with a
seafood economy and culture. From the Sa-
bine to Galveston Bay were the Attacapas,
the Deadoses and the Arkokisas on the
coastal prairie and in the southern fringe of
the Big Thicket. To the north and west were
the Bidais. From Galveston Bay to San An-
tonio Bay were the Karankawas including the
Cujanes, Coapites and other subtribes. They
were described by Cabeza de Vaca as vic-
ious and undependable. Many early reports
said they were cannibals.
Indians of the Rio Grande Plain
Between the Gulf Coast and the Rio
Grande and south of San Antonio were the
Coahuiltecan tribes. They were not bound in
confederacies as were the Caddoes. They
may have been related to the Karankawas;
some ethnologists place both groups in the
Pakawa family. In the area south of San
Antonio and extending into Mexico was a
number of small Coahuiltecan subtribes, in-
cluding the Pajalates, Orejones, Tilijayos,
Alasapas and others. The Coahuiltecans were
generally considered as of rather low cul-
tural status, but under training of the early
missionaries they showed themselves cap-
able of appreciable advancement. It was
among this group that the San Antonio mis-
sions were most successful in their Chris-
tianizing and civilizing effort. Most of them
had migrated across the Rio Grande into
Mexico before the coming of the Anglo-Amer-
icans.
Central Texas Tribes
Northwest of the Karankawas along the
lower and middle course of the Guadalupe
River were several small tribes, including
the Tamique, the Xaraname and possibly sev-
eral others. North of these, and sandwiched
between the Caddoes on the east and the
Lipan Apaches on the west, were the Ton-
kawa tribes.
Lipan Apaches
During the early mission period, in West-
ern Texas from the vicinity of San Antonio
as far north probably as the Panhandle and
westward across the Trans-Pecos, the warlike
Lipan Apaches held sway. They were cousins
of even more warlike true Apaches of New
Mexico, Arizona and northern Mexico.
The Migratory Comanches
To the north of the Lipan Apaches lay
the Comanches. During the early missionperiod apparently the Comanches, who were
an offshoot of the Shoshoni, occupied no
more of Texas than the Upper Panhandle.
They advanced rapidly southward, however,
in sharp conflict with the Apaches, as well
as eastward against the Wichitas. By 1740
they had established themselves as far east
as the Blackland Prairies and as far south
as San Antonio, driving the Lipan Apaches
southwestward and westward across the Rio
Grande and Pecos River. These fierce, no-
madic Indians played the leading role in the
conflict between red and white men in the
territory lying between the Red River and
Rio Grande. They were a people of fine
physique and great courage.
The foregoing situation was quickly
changed after colonization began about 1821.
Some tribes were driven southward, then
others were pressed westward by Indians
from states to the east who were displaced
by white settlers.
Indians in Texas numbered 30,000 to 40,000
when the white men arrived, in all probabil-
ity, though estimates run as high as 130,000.
The remainder of this historical discussion
mentions some Indian tribes as they are in-
volved in the events described. Subsequent
history of Indians is summarized under the
heading "Decline of the indians."
Trans-Pecos Tribes
A few other tribes, related to those in
New Mexico and Arizona, were found west of
the Pecos River. Tiguas, a tribe that came
to Texas in 1682 from New Mexico, had 166
survivors in 1967, when the state's second
Indian reservation was created for them at
El Paso.
Exploration and Mission Founding
A few years after Pineda's mapping of
the Gulf Coast in 1519, he founded a colony
at the mouth of Rio de las Palmas (probably
the Rio Grande). It was soon abandoned.
In 1528, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca and
other survivors of an expedition headed by
Panfilo de Narvaez were shipwrecked by
storm on the Texas coast, probably near
Galveston Island. After many hardships and
a remarkable journey with various Indians,
Cabeza de Vaca and three companions
reached a Spanish settlement. From there
they went to Mexico City.
Cabeza de Vaca's repetition of Indian
tales of the rich Seven Cities of Cibola
aroused interest in exploring the area. The
viceroy sent Francisco Vasquez de Coronado
with an expedition which found no wealthy
cities, but crossed much of New Mexico, the
High Plains of West Texas and went as far
north as Kansas.
Coronado's failure to find fabulous wealth
did not keep other Spaniards from exploring
the region. In 1605, Santa Fe was established
in New Mexico, the second oldest settlement
in the United States.
Antonio de Espejo headed one of the ex-
peditions that crossed Texas, exploring the
Big Bend-Pecos area in 1582.
The first real effort to establish missions
among Indians in the United States came
with Coronado. Fra Juan Padilla, one of sev-
eral missionaries on the expedition, re-
mained behind with the Indians and was
killed.
Luis Moscoso de Alvarado commanded a
group of followers of Hernando de Soto who
crossed East Central Texas after DeSoto's
death in Mississippi in 1542. After reaching
the Brazos River, they returned to the Mis-
sissippi.
None of these expeditions in the century
after America was discovered has more
than historical interest, as far as influenc-
ing Texas development is concerned. For
years afterward, the Spaniards neglected
Texas until French activity to the east re-
newed interest in strengthening Spanish
claims to the area.
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Texas Almanac, 1968-1969, book, 1967; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth113809/m1/55/?q=%221964~%22: accessed August 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Texas State Historical Association.