From Coronado to Cattlemen Assessing the Legacy of 19th-Century Cattle Trails on the Southern High Plains

he years following A.D. 1250 witnessed the intensification of Ttrade among Native American villagers on the southern High Plains. Though their economic interaction is certain, archeologists’ ability to map the pathways that linked these Plains horticulturalists is incomplete—isolated to a series of east-west routes that connected the southwestern Pueblos with the Plains and Mississippian trade networks (Kelly 1955; Vehik 1986). The occurrence in Plains villages of artifacts made out of certain kinds of stone from source locations to the north and south confirms that the north-south movement of peoples and technology was an important aspect of the economy; however, the corridors favored for such traffic are yet to be discovered. Beyond the southern High Plains, archeologists are assured that a vast network of roads linked trade centers of pre-Columbian America. This web of highways was first mentioned in the written accounts of early European explorers. Later, archeologists confirmed trail locations by identifying a series of Native American town sites containing significant quantities of non-local materials (Ewers 1954; O’Brien 1986; Riley 1976; Wood 1980, 1983). Our approach is the same. This article reports on the use of published historic documents to locate a possible prehistoric north-south route on the southern High Plains. Subsequent field research, including archeological survey and geomorphological studies, attempted Figure 1. Late Prehistoric and Protohistoric cultural complexes. to substantiate claims that nineteenth- century cattle trails previously were used by prehistoric groups who occupied the Trade on the consisted primarily of hunting supple- southern High Plains. The Late Prehis- Southern High Plains, mented with horticulture. The High Plains toric use of these trails as trade routes, A. D. 1250–1540 villagers include, among others, the followed by their historic use to transport Antelope Creek phase, Odessa phase, cattle, suggests that these trails may have Interregional trade developed on the and Buried City complex, with the Zimms been active during the Protohistoric southern High Plains during the Late complex and Washita River phase in the period when Coronado’s entrada entered Prehistoric period. Cooler and wetter adjacent Redbed Plains (Figure 1). These the southern and central Plains. Though conditions prevailed, allowing developments are substantiated our results are inconclusive, recommenda- horticulturalists to move onto the High archeologically by the presence in semi- tions for further research in other Plains for the first time. Local economies sedentary village sites of exotic materi- locations are offered. varied depending on their locations but als—stone types and ceramic styles, in 14 particular—that presumably were Historical Research: Published translations of the expedition’s acquired from more distant villages diary indicated that an increasing des- (Baugh and Nelson 1987; Drass 1997; Establishing Corridors, peration set in as the party moved along Hughes 1991; Lintz 1986, 1991). Trade A.D. 1540-1900 the Llano Estacado in what is today the probably developed as an aspect of Texas panhandle. When they reached the political leadership. Authorities likely The historical documentation that eastern edge of the Llano, Coronado was secured power through their ability to followed Europe’s introduction to the informed that he had been misled—that establish and sustain trading partnerships Americas helps in identifying prehistoric Quivira was located, not to the east, but with foreign villagers—a relationship that trail locations. The first Spanish conquis- to the north. Enraged at being deceived, would result in the increased occurrence tadors to enter the southern Plains were Coronado had the Turk executed and of non-local resources in elite or non- Coronado and his men, searching for the directed his force to separate. The largest utilitarian contexts. Such items were most golden city of Quivira. In 1541, group returned to Pecos Pueblo, while a commonly procured from Puebloan Coronado’s expedition headed east from smaller division, led by Coronado, fol- groups of the Southwest, Smoky Hill Pecos pueblo on the front range of the lowed the Teyas north to Quivira (Riley phase peoples to the north, and/or Rocky Mountains. Their guide, the Turk, 1997b; Hammond and Rey 1940). Caddoan peoples to the east At this point of the trip, (Vehik 2002). Coronado’s chroniclers lost Following a period of the meticulous attention to warmer and drier conditions, detail that they demonstrated villagers found the High during the journey across the Plains environment less New Mexico and Texas suited for horticulture. They plains. In fact, the many days either adopted a more no- that the expedition followed madic life dependent upon the Teyas are represented in bison or moved north and the narrative by only two east to join other villagers paragraphs that make no where the climate could still mention of significant support maize horticulture. landmarks. Beyond the Evidence for trade centers characterization that the party on the High Plains is nonex- was moving “north by the istent during the needle,” very little can be Protohistoric period, yet drawn from the primary connections between the accounts to reconstruct this Pueblos and the Plains vil- northern portion of the route lagers continued—a reality (Hammond and Rey 1940). that perhaps favored the Previous archeological continuation and importance research helped fill in the of east-west trade routes gaps in the Coronado ac- (Baugh 1982; Drass and count and gave a starting Baugh 1997; Spielmann point for isolating possible 1991; Vehik 1990). North- routes. Investigations in the south interactions on the Texas panhandle uncovered High Plains would have what is most likely one of served a more vital purpose Coronado’s camps on the to the nomadic peoples eastern edge of the Llano known archeologically as Estacado. The Jimmy Owens the Garza complex (likely site is near Floydada, Texas, Apachean) whose move- Figure 2. Proposed routes traveled by Coronado. and may be the spot where ments were seasonal, based the expedition met the Teyas on bison migrations. The and started moving north protohistoric Garza complex, identified by was a Wichita Indian man who volun- (Cornett 1997). Though little has been Coronado as the Teya and Querecho Indi- teered to lead the expedition to Quivira. found to confirm the expedition’s pres- ans, continued to play a role in the Pueblo- The first part of Coronado’s route east ence between the lower Texas panhandle Plains trade network, as did traders from the was well documented, and historians and Quivira, popular belief holds that eastern Plains villages (Habicht-Mauche have traced his movements across New Coronado probably crossed the Arkansas 1992; Kelly 1955; Wedel 1982). Mexico with great certainty (Riley 1997a). River at the natural ford near present-day Ford, Kansas. From there, the Teya Authors Brice Obermeyer and Scott A. Sundermeyer were University of Oklahoma graduate guided Coronado to the Wichita Indian students when they undertook this research, which was funded by the University of villages on the Great Bend of the Arkan- Oklahoma Graduate Student Senate. Volunteers from the Oklahoma Anthropological sas River, known archeologically as the Society, University of Oklahoma Anthropology Department, Kansas State Historical Society, Little River focus (Vehik 2002). Coronado and Meade County Historical Society and area landowners provided much needed identified these villages as the cities of assistance. Obermeyer has since received his Ph.D. in cultural anthropology and is Quivira. Though he was discouraged by working as the Cultural Preservation Director for the Delaware Tribe of Indians in the lack of gold, he did not travel farther Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Sundermeyer earned a M.A. and is now Project Archaeologist with east but ultimately decided to return to LOPEZGARCIA GROUP in Dallas. 15 the Pueblos. He did so under the direc- 2000). The eastern corridor connects the suggested that the central corridor was tion of an indigenous guide who followed Turkey Creek phase and the Zimms the most likely route. We had yet to rule a different route, later called the Santa Fe complex with the Smoky Hill jasper out the eastern corridor. Trail (Hammond and Rey 1940) (Figure 2) sources in northwest Kansas. Non-local The immense land area to be covered The archeological information, along stone types are abundant on the Turkey by a proposed on-the-ground survey with the scant historical documentation of Creek and Zimms sites, and both cultural dictated that we limit our study area. To the route, provided at least beginning and complexes exhibit more evidence for do so, we turned to the next major well- ending points for the intermediate trading relationships with Caddoan documented north-south movements on northern leg of Coronado’s journey. peoples to the east. Puebloan artifacts the southern High Plains; that is, the trails Based on existing data, three general are rare, although they do occur (Drass marked in the late-nineteenth century to corridors have been proposed and are 1997). carry out the extermination of the bison reproduced in Figure 2 (National Park Because the archeological record and the introduction of cattle ranching. Service 1992). The westernmost corridor supports the possible existence of three Following the Civil War and the confine- leaves the bend of the Canadian River, major prehistoric trade routes on the ment of Plains Indians to reservations in goes north to Palo Duro Creek, and heads southern High Plains, we were presented Indian Territory, the federal government northeast to the Arkansas embarked on the annihilation River. The middle corridor of the remaining bison herds begins on the eastern edge that roamed the southern of the Llano Estacado near High Plains. Professional Palo Duro Canyon and hunters, headquartered in travels north by northeast Dodge City, Kansas, were along the eastern edge of paid to travel south into the the High Plains. The Texas panhandle to locate the easternmost corridor is the bison and return with their longest, beginning near the hides and carcasses, which Concho River in Texas and were then shipped by railroad running almost directly to markets in the eastern northeast through western United States. Trails from Oklahoma and Kansas until Texas into Kansas (Figure 3) it reaches the Arkansas were marked and posts River. established to facilitate this Judging the corridors effort (Baker and Harrison in relation to the Late 1986). The Tascosa Trail Prehistoric village com- followed the western corridor, plexes, all three probably and the Jones and Plummer were trade routes as each Trail followed the central links sites that yield corridor. The eastern corridor evidence of large-scale was not utilized in the bison trade. The westernmost slaughter, but it did encom- corridor connects one of pass an important route for the most significant the U.S. military and its resources on the southern expeditions against the High Plains, the Alibates Cheyenne and Arapaho in the Flint Quarries near present- 1860s (Briscoe 1992). day Fritch, Texas, and the The fact that each road associated Antelope Creek followed an existing corridor complex with the Pueblos to proposed for Coronado’s the west and the Smoky Hill Figure 3. Historic trails documented in the southern High Plains. route indicated that the late- phase to the northeast. nineteenth-century roads Ceramic artifacts and obsidian from the with the difficulty of confirming each represented geographically favorable Pueblos are present on Antelope Creek route’s prehistoric origin and determining routes for north-south movement on the phase sites, and Alibates agatized the most probable corridor. Our solution southern High Plains. Because the Jones dolomite is found in Smoky Hill phase was to identify the route most frequently and Plummer Trail effectively followed the villages (Lintz 1986; Vehik 2002). The used after the prehistoric period. We central corridor, our research was central corridor connects the Odessa initially focused on the first written concentrated there. Two simple forms of phase and Buried City complex with the account of north-south movement on the evidence were sought to test the prob- Pueblos to the west and the Smoky Hill southern High Plains—that of ability of prior use of the Jones and phase to the northeast. Southwestern Coronado’s expedition. Based on the Plummer Trail. First, diagnostic artifacts, artifacts are a distinguishing feature of existence of the possible Coronado such as chain mail or crossbow nails, or Buried City complex and Odessa phase campsite on the eastern edge of the Llano an occupation area could indicate villages, but the higher occurrence of Estacado, the western corridor seemed Coronado’s presence. Second, remains of Smoky Hill jasper on these sites suggests the least likely to have been used by a previously undocumented prehistoric a stronger connection with the central Coronado. The nearly linear relationship village with indications of trade between Plains groups (Hughes 1991; S. between the Floydada, Texas, campsite the villages of the Odessa phase or Brosowske, personal communication and the crossing near Ford, Kansas, Buried City complex and those of the 16 Smoky Hill phase would provide a more situated on an eroded alluvial fan on the terraces that were unaffected by the linear progression between the two first terrace on the north side of the periodic flooding episodes characteristic culture areas, thereby substantiating the Cimarron River. The site appeared to of the two streams would be visible. existence of a north-south route on the have some integrity and was designated Cutbank exposures within the drainage southern High Plains. based on the presence of a few stone channels could be more closely inspected flakes from a locally available resource to identify deeply buried cultural material and a possible fire-cracked rock. No or features. A second possibility is that Results of the Jones and diagnostic artifacts were found at either river erosion has destroyed the archeo- Plummer Trail site, but the stone was later identified as logical sites. If prehistoric villages existed Day Creek dolomite, likely to be from local along the floodplain and first terrace of Archeological Survey outcrops in southwestern Kansas. the Cimarron River more than 600 years To test our research question, we Although our survey did not locate ago, their remains may have either been conducted a pedestrian survey in the sites with diagnostic artifacts dating to washed downstream or deeply buried summer of 2000 that focused on locations the Late Prehistoric period, the existence beneath alluvial sediments. We can say where the Jones and with confidence that no Plummer Trail intersected evidence of Late Prehistoric two major river drainages: occupation or Coronado’s the Cimarron River and expedition is found on the Crooked Creek in south- surface in these two river west Kansas (Figure 4). drainages in the vicinity of Our crew consisted of the Jones and Plummer volunteers from the Trail. Such evidence, Oklahoma Anthropologi- however, may be present in cal Society, Kansas and subsurface contexts. Oklahoma university graduate students, and interested area enthusi- Conclusion asts. During the four-day Our research suggests survey, we covered two possible avenues for selected portions of the further research: a more landscape, mainly along intensive subsurface the first and second investigation of the areas terraces above the alluvial already surveyed along the flood plains. Jones and Plummer Trail or Our search for Figure 4. Survey areas covered in the summer of 2000. a pedestrian survey of the evidence of a Coronado trail-riverine intersections campsite or a Plains within the western and village site went eastern corridors. Though unrewarded, but we did all three corridors remain record two historic and possibilities for prehistoric two prehistoric sites. The trade routes, we are historic sites date to the convinced that the location early twentieth century of the Coronado campsite and confirmed the east of the Alibates Flint existence of two post Quarries indicates that the offices that served the central and eastern Anglo-American frontier corridors are the most communities of Odee and probable paths for Miles City, Kansas. Both Coronado’s expedition. post offices were located The contribution of directly on the Jones and this research is not the Plummer Trail, indicating definitive identification of a the continued importance Figure 5. Alluvial floodplain and terrace deposits near the Cimarron River. north-south trade route but of this route for American in the development of a settlement following the method for locating such development of the Texas cattle economy. of such sites in the study area cannot be prehistoric highways. The use of historic One of the two prehistoric sites occurred ruled out. No subsurface testing was documents to guide archeological near an artesian well on the second performed on this pedestrian survey. research is not a novel idea, but it is an terrace above the south bank of Crooked Investigations of the cutbanks along the approach that we believe is well suited for Creek. The site was poorly preserved as a Cimarron River and Crooked Creek locating the trails that linked the emerging modern structure obscured what seemed revealed that the surface sediments in Late Prehistoric trade economy of the to be a substantial portion of the site. many locations along the floodplain southern High Plains and, by extension, Chipped stone debris of local origin was consist of a thick layer of recently the routes of European-Native American found in the vicinity of the building. The deposited sand (Figure 5). Therefore, contact. other prehistoric site was a campsite only those sites located along prominent 17 References Cited and Colonists, edited by K. A. Spielmann, pp. 89-106. University of Baker, T., and B. Harrison Arizona Press, Tucson. 1986 Adobe Walls: The History and Archaeol- ogy of the 1874 Trading Post. Texas National Park Service A&M University Press, College Station. 1992 Coronado Expedition: National Trail Happenings Study/Environmental Assessment. 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