T H E NATIVE TRI B ES ABO UT TH E

EAST TEXAS M ISS IO N S

H E RB E RT E E OLT ON , Ph . D .

Adl u nct P rofessor of H isto ry in th e U n iversity of Texa s

Re n ted from th e u arterl o f th e T e a s State His o ica Ass c a t n pri Q y x t r l o i io ,

Vol . ] N o . 4 1 908 X , (April , )

AUSTI N ; T E XAS

T H E NATI VE T RI B E S AB OU T T H E E AST T E X AS

M I SSI ONS .

H E E T B OL TON RB R E . .

I N ODU C O Y TR T R .

The history of the Spanish régim e in the Southwest is very

n largely the history of an India policy in its military, political, i and religious phases, and to understand it ar ght it is manifestly necessary to know something of the people over whom the Spaniards extended their authority and upon whom they tried to impose their faith and their civilization . The purpose of this paper is to furnish a partial introduction — to the early history of the Spaniards i n eastern Texas the scene of their first systematic activities between the M ississippi and the — u pper Rio Grande by presenting some of the main features of the organization of the compact group of tribes living in the upper A Neches and the ngelina River valleys, the first and the most important group with which they came into intimate contact . These tribes furnished the early field of labor especially for the e Franciscans of the College of Santa Cruz de Quer taro, who worked for fifteen years in the region and founded in it five missions, while one was founde d there and maintained for more than half a century by the Colleg e of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de Zaca n tecas . It is hoped that this paper will throw ew light on the all n too obscure history of these i teresting establishments, particularly

- 1 with respect to their location s.

” Th e N a m es T exas a n d

i n io x s The tribes quest n commonly have been called the Te a , but more properly the H asinai . Concerning the meaning and

‘ The a uthorita tiv e presenta tion of the genera l history of the begi nnings of s a m a o a the e est blish ents is th t c nt ined in the excellent a rticles by Dr .

- - R . a . a Vol . 1 7 1 205 a n d Vol . 1 2 6 . C Cl rk, published in this "ourn l , V, , VI , In their bea rings upon Indi a n orga niza tion a n d triba l na m es they a re m a rred t o som e extent by the u se of corrupt copies of the sources instea d of a a s m a m a the origin ls , will be seen by co p ring the with wh t follows . It b u t a to a a v a n d e of a is f ir st te th t in the re ision ext nsion these rticles, a o to a a a s a o v f U of a . a h a s b ut ppe r Bulletin the ni ersity Tex s, Mr Cl rk m of corrected so e the errors . Fo r fa cts concerning the indi v idua l tribe s mentioned in the course of d bo o m r / I a n s a a n ok e a n n d W . this rticle , see the H f A ic i , edited by F . m of a of a N o . 30 a Hodge ( Bulletin the Bure u A eric n Ethnology, , P rt I , 1 907 a ; P rt II in press ) . T exas H istori cal Associa ti on ua rt rl Q e y . usage of these terms I Shall only present here somewhat dogm ati cally part of the results of a rather extended study which I have of s 1 made these point and which I hope soon to publish . The testimony of the sources warrants the conclusion that before x r the coming of the Spaniards the word Te as , va iously spelled by w the early riters, had wide currency among the tribes of eastern Texas and perhaps over a larger area ; that its usual meaning was “ ” “ ” friends , or more technically, allies ; and that it was used by the tribes about the early missions, at least, to whom especially it later became attached as a group name, to designate a large num A ber of tribes who were customarily allied against the paches . x f In this sense, the Te as included tribes who spoke di ferent lan guages and who were as widely separated as the Red River and the

- A Rio Grande . It seems that the Neches ngelina tribes designated did not apply the term restrictively to themselves as a name, but

' u n tech m cal i that they did use it in a very way as a form of greet ng, “h ” like ello, friend, with which they even saluted Spaniards after sa their advent . I may y, in this connection , that the meanings “ fl ” “ ” “ ” land of owers , tiled roofs , paradise, etc . , sometimes given x for the name Te as , I have never seen even suggested by early observers, or by anyone on the basis of trustworthy evidence . x The name Te as has been variously applied by writers , but it was most commonly used by the Spaniards, from whom the French

E e . and the nglish borrowed it, to designat those tribes of the upper A n Neches and the ngelina valleys, and this in spite of their k ow ing full well that among the natives the word had the wider a ppl i

- cation that has been indicated . There are many variations from this usage in Spanish writings , it is true, but this, nevertheless , is As the ordinary one . a tribal name the term was sometimes still

to . further narrowed to apply a single tribe When this occurred , H it was most commonly used to designate the ainai , the head tribe s of the group in question , but ometimes it was applied to the Nabe As x ex dache tribe . a geographical term , the name Te as was first tended from these Neches - Angelina tribes to th eir immediate coun

. T try hus for the first quarter of a century of Spanish occupation , “ ” the phrase the Province of Texas referred only to the country east of the Trinity River ; but with the founding of th e San Anto nio x settlements the term was e tended westward, more in harmony

‘ The presen t p a per embodies some o f the results of a n in v estiga tion of the history o f the Texa s tribes which the write r is m a king for the Burea u of m a A eric n Ethnology . i s n T h e N a ti ve T rfii es Abou t th e E ast T exas M s io s. 251

M wi th its native meaning, to the edina River, and then gradually x to all of the territory included within the present State of Te as .

x . th e a e While the name Te as, as used by the tribes in e st rn por t tion of the State, was hus evidently a broad and indefinite term w a applied to many and unrelated tribes occupying a ide rea , it is clear that the n a tive group name for most of the tri bes about N ech eS A H the missions in the and ngelina valleys was asinai , or A 1 H sinai . Today the term asinai is used by the Caddoans on the reservations to include not only the survivors of these Neches A ngelina tribes, but also the survivors of the tribes of the Sabine and Red River country . It seems from the sources , however, that in the early days the term was more properly limited to the former

. i n group In strictest usage, indeed, the earliest writers did not l d A s c u e all of these . tudy of contemporary evidence shows that at the first contact of E urope ans with these tribes and for a long time thereafter writers quite generally made a distinction between A 2 H . Ka doh a da ch o the asinai ( sinai , Cenis, etc ) and the ( Cad d oda ch o ) group ; these confederacies , for such they were in the I r ndian sense of the term , were separated by a wide st etch of unin habited territory extending between the upper An gelina and the Red River in the neighborhood of Texarkana ; their separateness s of organization was po itively affirmed , and the details of the inner constituti on of both groups were more or less fully described ; while in their relations with the E uropeans they were for n earl v a century dealt with as separate units . Nevertheless , because of the present native use of the term and some early testimony that can not be disregarded, I would not at present assert unreservedly that the term formerly was applied by the natives only to the

- A . Neches ngelina group If, as seems highly probable, this wa s r the case , in order to prese ve the native usage we should call these

H n H a tribes the asinai ; if not, then the Souther sinai . H x The name asinai , like Te as, was sometimes narrowed in its H application to one tribe, usually the ainai . But occasion ally the notion appears that there was an H asinai tribe distinct from the

1 S a a a l a m a o r A si n a a n d th e The p ni rds ordin rily spel ed this n e Asin i y , e . M wh French writ rs Cenis ooney , the ethnolog ist , o knows intim a tely the v v of e v on v a sur i ors thes people li ing the reser tions , writes the n a m e by n ow a m v a a or H a sin i a which they c ll the sel es H sin i , , prefer bly the form er . h a s His spelling been a dopted a s the st a nd a rd on e by the Burea u o f m a o . S ee Fo t A eric n Ethnol gy the u r een th A n n u a l R eport of t h e B u rea u o m eri a n t h n ol o f A c E gy , 1 092 2 1 u se a here lso the s pelling a dopte d by the Burea u o f Am erica n Eth n o1 ogy . e tori l Asso ti on t Q 252 T xas H is ca cia Q l .

As w a . H ainai . This, ho ever, does not seem to have been the c se H i H s e n ow used by the surviving as nai and Caddos, a inai m ans “ “ ”1 our own folk, or, in another sense, Indians .

E thn ol o i a R el a ti on s " H i stori ca l I m orta n ce g c l p .

H The asinai belonged to the Caddoan linguistic stock . This e family, which was a large one, was divided into thre principal " geographic groups of tribes the northern, represented by the A rikara in North Dakota ; the middle, comprising the Pawnee a confeder cy, formerly living on the Platte River, Nebraska , and to i the west and southwest thereof ; and the southern , ncluding most s x of the tribes of ea tern Te as, together with many of those of 2 western Louisiana and of southern Oklahoma . Of this southern group the tribes about the Q u eréta ran missions were one of the most important subdivisions . They, together with the related

Caddo tribes to the north, represented the highest form of G native society between the Red and the upper Rio rande rivers, a stretch of nearly a thousand miles . This fact gave them from the outset a relatively large political importance . While it has been clearly shown by writers that the immediate motive to plant ing the first Spanish establishment within this area was French encroachment, little note has been made of the fame and the rela tive advance ment of the Ha sinai Indians as factors in deter ’ f L a al l e s o . S mining the choice the location colony, which first x brought the Spaniards to Te as to settle, was established on the Gulf coast ; and had the natives of this region been as well or a n i zed fl H g and as in uential among the tribes as the asinai , and, i n therefore, as likely to become the theater of another French u tr sion, the logical procedure for the Spaniards would have been to establish themselves on the ground where the first intrusion M x had occurred, and within relatively easy reach from e ico both Kara n kawa n by water and by land . But the tribes of the coast a proved hostile to the French and Sp niards alike, and , while their savage life and inhospit'able country offered little to attract the fl missionary, their small in uence over the other groups of natives rendered them relatively useless as a basis for extending Spani sh political authority . These considerations entered prominently into

1 i t S ee o . c . Mooney , p 2 “ ” a L a m S ev en th A n n ua l R e ort O Powell , Indi n inguistic F ilies, in the p f t h e B u ea u o m eri ca n th n o l o m a H a nd book o A meric a n r f A E gy , with p ; f m a I d a h . . 2 a ns of u l N O 1 8 . n i ( Bure u A eric n Et nology, B i n si s. Th e N a ti ve Trib es Abou t th e E ast T exas M s o 253

’ th e Spaniards decision to establish their first Texas missions far M x in the interior, at a point difficult to reach from e ico by land E and wholly inaccessible by water . vents justified their estimate of the importance of the H asinai as a base of political operations .

But, while the control of these tribes and their Caddo neighbors remain ed for a century or more a cardinal point in the po litics of

- the Texas Louisiana frontier, it was soon learned that the less A o advanced and weaker tribes of the San ntoni region, nearer M exico and farther removed from the contrary influence of the

florded . French, a a better field for missionary labors

I N I A I B S T H E P R C P L TR E .

Since Indian political organization was at best but loose and shi fting and was strongly dominated by ideas of independence, and since writers were frequently indefinite in their use of terms, it would not be easy to determine wi th strict accuracy the con stitu en t elements of this Neches - Angelina confederacy at difleren t

H - times . owever, a few of the leading tribes those of greatest historical interest— stand out with distinctness and can be followed for considerable periods of time . 1 689 N ab eda ch e De Le on learned in from the chief of the tribe, m the western ost of the group, that his people had nine settle

" 1 M Casaii a s 1 691 ments . Francisco de Jesus aria , writing in near ’ N abed ach e re the village after fifteen months residence there, . “ ” ported that the province of Asen ey comprised nine tribes

( n aci on es) living in the Neches - Angelina valleys within a district

- about thirty five leagues long . It would seem altogether prob able that these reports referred to the same nine tribes . Those M ff named by Jesus aria, giving his di erent spellings , were the N ab a dach o Yn eci N ab a d a ch o N ech au i or ( y ) , Necha ( Neita) , , Na N aca ch au N az a da ch otzi C ach aé Ca ta e cono, , , ( y ) , Nabiti , and Na 1 sayaya ( N a sayah a ) . The location of these tribes Jesus M aria

d efin iten ess an d six a re points out with some , of them at least we M able to identify in later times without question . oreover, his description of their governmental organization is so minute that t one feels that he must have had pret y accurate information . The testimony of a number of other witnesses who wrote between 1 687

1 “ ’ a . L o f M a 1 8 1 689 a m Sm Pobl ciones etter y , , printed in Buckingh ith s D ocu m en t os pa ra la Hi st ori a d e l a Fl ori d a ; ev idently th a t cited by a M em ri e d u eu s a na o s e a 1 7 9. Vel sco , in N E p , XXVII, Concerning the M em ori a s see 3 . 256 . , note , p z" R el a cion 1 5 1 6 91 M 0 , , S 1 7 1 08 1 1 2 . August - , , , , exas H istori ca l Asso ia tion ua rterl T c Q y .

1 692 i n M a rti cu and the main corroborates that of Jesus aria, p l a rly in the important matter of not including the Nason i tribe H 1 within the asinai . It so happens that after 1 692 we get little intimate knowledge of 1 7 1 5 the H asinai until . When light again dawns there appear ’ in common usage one or two additions to Jesus M aria s list . Whether they represent an oversight on his part or subsequent accretions to the group we can not certainly say . Of those in his six N aba d ach o N aco doch e a ca ch au N acon o list , the , Neche, g , N , , and Nabiti are mentioned under the same names by other writers . ’ a ch a é M H C is evidently Jesus aria s name for the well known ainai, ’ e as will appear later, while the Nabiti se m to be San Denis s ’ ou l N oa di h N h or ike Nabiri and may be J te s c e ( a d ) . For the ’ N ec h a u i we can well afford to a ccept Jesus M aria s explicit state 1 7 1 6 ment . Besides these nine, the Spaniards after always treated

i H a da co . as w thin the asinai group the Nasoni , N , and the Nacao

a Judging from the localities occupied and some other circumst nces , it is not altogether improbable that two of these may be old tribes H ain aii under new names, as seems to be clearly the case with the N a sa a a M The y y , named by Jesus aria, may answer to the Nasoni , w N a d aco well kno n after and the Nabiti may possibly be the ,

k . t also well nown after that date If both of these surmises be rue , M ’s i we must add to Jesus aria list at least the Nacao , mak ng ten tribes in all ; if not , there were at least eleven or twelve . Putting r " first the best known and the most impo tant, they were the H abeda ch e N a co doch e N a d aco N a con o ainai , N , g , Nasoni , , Neche, , N e h a u i a s N s c a a a a , , N cao, and , perhap , the Nabiti and the y y This H is not intended as a definitive list of the asinai at any one time ,

1 l r ou v er t s ’ S e e Jou t e M a r é 34 1 344 e t se . , in g y , D c e , III , , , q ( French s ’ v o f Jou t el s a i sto a l o l l e ti ons o ersion Journ l , printed in the H ric C c f L ou i s a n a v a n d m a i , is ery corrupt , ust be used with the gre test c a re ) ; a De scri c i cm M em d e N u cv s a na . a 48 t se . Ter n , p , in E p , XXVII , , e q 2 The N a sa y a y a a re pl a ced by Jesus M a ri a in a loca tion corresponding v t o a a a . Yet a ery closely th t l ter occupied by the N soni , the fa cts th t though Jesus M a ri a n a m ed the Na soni he did n o t include them in the a a N a sa a a a n d a a H sin i group while he did include the y y , th t Ter n ex l i citl a m a a m a m a a t p y excludes the N soni fro the H sin i , ke it see prob ble th a a n d N a sa a a the N soni the y y were distinct . The strongest ground f or re"ecting this conclusion is the fa ct th a t the l a tter tribe nev er a ppea rs ' a a n a a a m a re N a ca xe w h o a e g in u der recogniz ble n e , unless they the , l t r a a n o S a . a m N a d a co ppe r the bine The N biti ight possibly be the , b u t o n ot m for a d o n ot s v this d es see likely , the loc tions corre pond ery closely , while a s l a te a s 1 7 1 5 S a n Denis ga ve the Na biri a n d N a d o co as tw o a a sep r te tribes . s T h e N a ti ve Trib es Abou t th e E as t T exas M is i ons. 255 but it does include those known to have been within the com pa ct area about the Qu erétaran missions and commonl y treated as within the H asinai group . By following the footnotes below it “ ” “ ” “ a coch es oa ch es Asi n a will be seen that N , N , and y, which i have been given, with result ng confusion, as names of tribes where m “ ” early missions were established, are si ply corruptions of Neche, “ ” “ ” a son i A m r i N , and i ai, as the fo ms appear in the orig nal manu s e script , whos whereabouts are now known . Ai s E A The , or yeish, a neighbor tribe living beyong the rroyo A Z acatecan 1 7 1 7 ttoyac, at whose village a mission was founded in , H re seem to have fallen outside the asinai confederacy . Only cen tly have they been included by ethnologists in the Caddoan stock, and, although they are now regarded as Caddoan, there are indications that their dialect was quite different from that of their s western neighbors, while their manner and customs were always i 1 M regarded as nferior to those of these other tribes . oreover, there is some evidence that they were generally regarded as aliens , and that they were sometimes even positively hostile to the H asi M nai . Thus Jesus aria includes them in his list of the enemies H E e of the asinai ; spinosa, a quarter of a century aft r Jesus M k “A aria wrote, spea s of them as friendly toward the ssi ” x nay, from which by implication he e cludes them , but says that the H asinai medicine men “make all the tribes believe that disease origi nates in the be witchment which the neighboring In ” B id ai s A s Ya cdoca s dians, the , y , and , cause them, a belief that 2 e e M e clearly implies hostility b tween the trib s concerned, while zieres wrote in 1 7 7 9 that the Ai s were hated alike by their Spanish 8 and their Indian neighbors . A Ad The daes, or ai , in whose midst the mission of Nuestra Sefi ora 1 7 1 7 de los Dolores was founded in , lived beyond the

th e Sabine, and belonged to Red River group of Caddoans, or the

. d o t Caddo They, therefore, not fall wi hin the scope of this paper .

H I L O I ON T E R CAT .

For determining the location of these tribes our chief materials are the Journal of Jou tel the Relacion of Fra ncisco de

1 On the sub"ects of their l a ngua ges see the H a n d book of t h e Ameri ca n “ ” I n d i a n s , under Eyeish . 2 ' ro'n/i a ostol i a 428 C c Ap c , . 3 o M em . d e u ev a E s a/fia 240 Expedici n , in N p , XXVIII , . o ti o rt rl Texas H istori cal Ass cia n Qua e y .

’ Jesus M aria Casanas De Leon s diary of the expedition of ’ 1 690 T eran s 1 691 - 2 E , for that of , those of Ramon and spinosa ’ x 1 7 1 6 A for the e pedition of , Pena s for that of guayo ’ ’ vi i t 1 7 27 Rivera s for his s a of , Solis s for that made by him in ’ 1 7 67 - 8 M ezieres s ac , and counts of his tours among the Indians 1 7 2 1 7 7 8 in 7 , , and Two only of these are in print, while 1 t wo of them have not before been used . Besides these and 1 numerous supplementing documentary sources, there are ( ) the

LLAGES.

”mat "

A early surveys showing the Camino Real , or Old San ntonio Road , whose windings in eastern Texas were dete rmin ed m ai nl y by the

‘ Of the di a ries o f De M 611 a n d E spinosa I cite only the m a nuscripts in

v a P u . v a re n ot the Archi o Gener l y bl ico, Mexico These, I belie e , other e a va a a n d ha v n o t R 0 . a wis il ble, e before been used except by Mr . Cl rk , ’ w h o h a s h a d a a a o recently ccess t o my tr a nscripts . Of Jesus M ri s R el a ci n a n a a m a v a a to a o I follow utogr ph nuscript , which , howe er , ppe rs be c py a a inste d of the origin a l . Of the di ries o f Teran a n d R a mon I h a v e h a d a t o a a n d of e a c t o ccess the origin ls , the Mezi res m nus ripts either the orig i n a l s or to ofii ci a o v certified l copies . My copy f the R i era di a ry is from 1 3 6 F na h the edition printed in 7 . or the Pe a n d S oli s di a ries I h a v e a d to c0 i es e m r depend upon the p in the M o i a s . On comp a ri n g M emo ria s a a a a v a a re v tr nscripts , in gener l , with the origin ls I h e found th t they ery a n d a m m a u se B u t corrupt th t nu erous ist kes h a v e resulted from their . a a re n o a M m or a s in c ses where there essenti l differences, I cite the e i a a re m a a copies , bec use they ore gener lly ccessible ; otherwise I cite the a origin ls . Th e N a ti ve Trib es Abou t th e E ast T exas M i ssi on s. 257 location of the principal Indian villages where the Spaniards " had

s 2 settlement , ( ) certain unmistakable topographical features, such as the principal rivers and the Neche Indian mounds, and ( 3 ) geographical names that have come down to us from the period of Spanish occupation .

It will be interesting, before studying the location of each one of the tribes separately, to read the general description of the group G M 1 691 . given by Jesus aria in Speaking of the reat Kinesi, he “ " N aba da ch o said, To him are subject all of these nine tribes The ,

Yn eci . which, for another name, is called Within this tribe are founded the mission of Nuestro Padre San Francisco and the ’ Y E x s one which I have founded in our cellency name, that of o E l Santissimo Nombre de M aria . The sec nd tribe is that of the A Necha . It is separated from the former by the Rio del rcangel 1 t . San M iguel [the Neches] . Both are between north and eas At one side of these two, looking south, between south and east,

N ech au i u is the tribe of the , and half a leag e from the last, m bd e a th e . a v nother, called Naco o Toward the north , where the B m e N a ca ch au . e ention d Necha tribe ends, is the tribe called

e azad a ch otzi tween this trib and another called N , which is toward the G the east, in direction of the house of the reat Kinesi , which 2 tw two i e is about half way be een these tr b s , comes i G another, which beg ns at the house of the reat Kinesi , between d h A an Ca c a é. t north east, and which is called the end of this tribe, looking toward the north, is another tribe called Nabiti,

i N asa ah a r b and east of th s a tribe called the y . These nine t i es embrace an extent of about thirty - five leagues and are all subject ” 3 ni to this Great Kinesi . This description wi ll be conve ent for reference as we proceed . It may be noted here that th e average league of the old Spanish x xas diaries of e peditions into Te was about two miles . This should be kept in mind when reading the data hereafter presented .

1 a n a n d a of h w a s a S a n Me ni g north e st the point where e writing, ne r

o a s a a . Pedro Creek , Houston C unty , will ppe r below ” M t 3 . 25 6 m a . a a y text ( see no e , p ) y be correct here It re ds q est , ” l m i e i Como a ed od i a y enel M d c de l a s d os N a ciones . It is possible tha t the Copyi st first wrote a lm ed/i odi a by m ista ke f or en el M edi c d e a n d then t a b u t e t o a wro e the l tter correctly, neglect d er se the words writte n by m a . a a m to a ou t ist ke Other d t see be r this supposition . ‘ R a o 1 0 - 1 0 el ci n , 7 8. T exas H istori ca l Associa ti on u a rterl Q y .

T h e N a co doch e ribe a n d th e M i ssion o Gua da lu e g T f p .

A starting point or base from which to determine the location of most of the tribes is the foun ding of the mission of N u estra Senora

G i aco doch es 1 7 1 6 de uadalupe at the ma n village of the N g in , for it can be shown that this mission remained on the same site until it was abandoned in 1 7 7 3 ; that the modern city of N acog t doches was built at the old mission site ; and, herefore, that the location of this city represents the location of the principal Na fl cogdoch e village . The evidence brie y stated is as follows x u e Ramon, whose e pedition fo nded this mission, wrot in has

Derrotero that nine leagues east - southeast of the principal H asinai

th e H A l v village ( ainai) , on the nge ina River, he arri ed at the “ a x vill ge of the Nacogdoches, and that on the ne t day he ” set out from this mission, implying clearly that the mission h l N a co doc e . was located where he was writing, at the g village As s is well known, all of the mi sions of this section were aban d on ed in 1 7 1 9 because of fear of a French invasion . Pena reports in

A x 1 7 21 A his diary of the guayo e pedition of that guayo, who rebuilt “ s a the abandoned mi sions, entered the pl ce where stood the mission ” N o o h es d c . . G a c of N . S de uadalupe de , and rebuilt the church

s a The inference is that the ite was the old one, more especi lly since in one instance in the same connection where a mission site ii 2 was changed P e a mentions the fact . This mission was continued

1 7 7 3 . without any known change till , when it was abandoned

1 7 7 9 n o t 1 7 7 8 t A to Gil But when in ( , as is commonly sta ed) n nio Ybarbo laid the foundations of modern Nacogdoches with his

n band of refugees from the Tri ity River settlement of Bucareli ,

s he found the Nacogdoches mission buildings still tanding, settled 8 his colony near them , and apparently reoccupied some of them . H ence it is clear that the city of Nacogdoches represents very

x th e N aco closely , perhaps e actly, the site of the main village of g h doche tribe at the opening of t e eighteenth century . If more

1 a v G a u o . Derrotero, origin l in the Archi o ener l y P blico, Mexic The

. e eu E S a fi a l v M em d u a Vo . s copy in N p , XXVII , is ery corrupt . At thi

a a 1 8 . point a generous ddition is m de by the copist . S ee folio 5 2 i P eiii a a o . c t . 40 4 3 44 . , Di rio, p , XXVIII , , , ‘ Yb a t o M a 1 3 1 9 M S ee THE n 7 7 S . A tonio Gil rbo Croix , y , , Bolton in A RTE R L N 2 fo g m N a c U Y o . r th e o f e o f Q , IX , , story the b inning odern h ogd oc es . N a ti rib e A o i s n T h e ve T s b u t th e E ast Texas M s i o s. 259

e N a o evidence were nec ssary , the presence within the city of c g doches till recent times of four ancient Indian mounds would 1 strengthen the conclusion . With this as a starting point, it is not difficult to indicate the approximate location of the most prominent of the remaining tribes . Starting with the N a cogdoch e n a i volves the disadvant ge of reading the diaries backwards , it is true, but has the great advantage of enabling us to proceed from

- a well established point .

i i o Th e H a in a i T rib e a n d the M iss on of C on cep c n .

A e r On the east bank of the ngelina River, a littl no th of a

N a co d och e direct west line from the g village, was that of the 2 A H . ainai This tribe , whose lands lay on both sides of the nge 3 H lina, was the head of the asinai confederacy, and for that H s . rea on was sometimes called asinai It is to this tribe, also, that the name Texas was usually applied when it was restricted to a

wa s th e single one . Within its territory the chief temple of group, 4 A . t presided over by the great Kinesi , or high priest its main village the mission of La Purissima Concepcion was founded in

1 7 1 6 .

A M r fter the Relacion of Jesus a ia , our first sources of

Specific information on the location of this village are the diaries . “ ” Ramon tells us that h e entered the Pueblo de los Aimai just

A a - - east of the ngelina River, and that nine leagues e st south east “ ” 5 of this village he reached the Pueblo de los Nacogdoches . The

‘ m a 1 90 a l a o . . M fie of 7 . . d Infor tion furnished in by Dr J E y , N cogd ches “ " m a m a t a a He writes Four si il r ounds once existed N cogdoches , loc ted upon a bea utiful site a bout three hundred y a rds northea st o f the ol d stone f ort or stone house th a t h a s recently been rem oved from the m a in

a a . a v n T o city pl z These h e been r a zed a d a lmost oblitera ted . the ea st of them is a hole o r exca v a tion from which the ea rth m a y h a v e ” a f o been t ken r the construction of these m ounds . 2 I o of M h a s a a foll w the spelling ooney , which been dopted by the Bure u o f m a m n a A eric n Ethnology . The m ore com on S p a nish form s were Ay y a n d ma . r Ai i English w iters frequently spell it Ioni . a E s i n o sa roni a ostoli a 425 a 1 1 6 M fo u 7 S . r p , C c Ap c , ; Di rio, ; entry J ly ‘ 1 2 e a M e m u e ua a rl a a . d c E s 24 1 . ; Mezi res , C rt , N p , XXVIII , ‘ M a ri a a r n i t li a R o o a os o a 423 . Jesus , el ci n ; Espinos , C c Ap c , l‘ De rr t r o e o for 7 a n d 8 . a v G a , entries July Origin l in the Archi o ener l

u M . M em o i a s d c u ev s a n y P blico, exico The copy in r N a E p a ( XXVII “ ” “ ” “ ” “ 1 5 - 8 7 ) cha nges Aima i t o A si n a y a n d Na cogdoches t o N a cod och es . a s m v a a v t o a a It is such errors the for er , e idently, th t g e rise the ide th t exas H i stori ca l Ass cia ti n ua rterl T o o Q y .

in missionary fathers who accompanied Ramon, their Representa tion made at the same time reported the distance as eigh t leagues

- - 1 7 21 c east south east . Pena ( ) says the distan e was eight leagues — - resi di east north east from the p o founded near the mission, and 1 7 27 nine from the mission . Rivera ( ) found the mission just ” A n a s A east of the Rio de los y y , or the ngelina , and nine leagues 1 west of the Nacogdoches mission . These witnesses tally in the ’ e e main with each other and also, be it not d, with the t stimony of A the San ntonio Road, as its route is now identified in the old A a surveys . ccording to the best information obt inable it ran from

a co doch es An N g a little north of west to the gelina, passing it 2 E about at Linwood Crossing . spinosa tells us that he founded the mission of Concepcion a mile or two east of the place where A the highway crossed the ngelina, near two springs , in the middle of the H ainai village . This site could not have been far from 3 Linwood C rossing . H This ainai tribe, as has been stated, was evidently the one

M Ca h aé a H e be which Jesus aria called the c or C taye . said that

a cach au a co doch e tween the N and the N g , about midway, was the

G — i f e lodge of the reat Kinesi , and we get his meaning her

’ i a h a that immed ately n ortheast of this lodge was the C c é tribe . ’ From other data we learn that the X in esi s house was within or on

H b s the borders of the ainai territory, a out three league from the ‘ l A . Concepcion mission, and apparent y west of the ngelina The

C a ch a é t an d H hus correspond, in location relations, to the ainai , while, moreover, the latter are the only tribe that appear in 1 6 this locality after 7 1 . Considering with these facts the proba bil ity that Jesus M aria would hardl y have left the head tribe u n i ment oned in so formal a description as is his, and the fact that

n h w a s a n A si a . S m a M emori a s o f R e re t ere y tribe i il rly, the copy the p “ ” sen t a ci bn of a M a e J 22 1 7 1 6 Vol the P dres isioneros d t d uly , ( . XXVII “ 1 63 a a m o f o wa s for A si n a s ) st tes th t the ission Concepci n founded the y , ’ a a of a m a s o f a a a where s the origin l th t docu ent , Espinos s di ry , re ds “ ” A i n a i . Th h a s C n a is error been opied a d popul rized . ' Ra mb n te M e mori a s d e u eu a E s a/ri a 1 58 , Derro ro , in N p , XXVII , ; the ” a R e re sen t a ci bn . 1 63 P efi a a I b d . P dres Misioneros , p , Ibid , ; , Di rio, i , 4 3 - 44 R v a a . 2 1 42 . XXVIII , ; i er , Di rio, leg ” a of d e a n a . W a M p s Cherok e N cogdoches counties by I . C lsh , o n mi ssi on er of a La O o f a m m a the Gener l nd ffice Tex s, co piled fro offici l ia ga . “ E a a for 6 a n d Ra m o 7 . . spinos , Di rio, entries July ; n , Derrotero, op cit ‘ a ron a ostoli a 42 4 i M em M . st T x as S , . Espinos C ic Ap c , ; Morf , Hi e , Bk . II, . i s n Th e N a ti ve Tribes Abou t th e E as t T exas M s io s. 261

H e the ainai is cl arly the head tribe, it seems reasonably certain

' that the C a ch aé and the H ainai were identical .

i e Th e N ech e Trib e a n d th e M iss on of S a n Fra n cisco ( S econ d Si t ) .

H i Southwest of the a nai village, nearly straight west of the

o doch e th e N ac g , was Neche village, near the east bank of the

R i ver . Neches , and near the crossing of the Camino Real The diaries usually represent the distance from the Neche to the H ainai as about the same as that from the H ainai to the Na cog — 1 doche some eight or nine leag ues . The air line distance was evidently somewhat less in the former case than in the latter, but A the route was less direct, since between the Neches and the nge lina rivers the road bowed quite decidedly to the north . The usual crossing of this highway at the Neches, as now identified , i ’ 2 W l l i am s s . was at Ferry, below the mouth of San Pedro Creek Archaeological remains help us to identify this crossing and give

x certainty to the appro imate correctness of our conclusions . These

s remains are the Indian mounds ea t of the Neches River . The M e 1 7 7 9. first mention of them that I have seen is that by ezi res , in i H s record is important . Passing along the Camino Real on his

ab eda ch e way to the N , he noted the large mound near the Neches

1 0 River, raised , he said , by the ancestors of the natives of the “ cal it y in order to build on its top a temple , which overlooked the

s —a pueblo near by, and in which they worshiped their god monu ment rather to their great numbers than to the industry of their ” 3 i u m n indiv duals . This mo nd and its two less conspicuous co p a ions still stand in Cherokee County about a mile and a half from

L Fl ap i n osa tells u s tha t the m ission w a s nea r a spring a n d a lso nea r a a a fl a v a n rroyo th t owed from the northe st . He ga e the dist nce from the m m a m a R v a s on e a a n d a t o ission fro the c p ne r the Neches i er le gue , th t m of o a of a a the ission Concepci n , e st the Angelin , eight le gues , going a a a a e fo r u 2 a n d R a m o northe st by e st , then e st ( Di rio, entri s J ly n a v a t o m of C on ce cib n m a m a g e the dist nce the ission p , fro the c p ne r the a a b u t o s m m a s a a Neches pp rently , p s ibly fro the ission , nine le gues e st a M em v a na t . d c u e a s 1 57 northe s ( Derrotero , in N E p , XXVII , 2 S ee m a s a v a n d a M a o f p cited bo e, lso the p Houston County, copied m a a m G eo . S U a m a G en fro p by Aldrich , by H . . pshur , Dr ughts n in the a L a 1 84 1 er l nd Office, . ‘ L t o M a 1 6 1 7 7 9 S . vo etter Croix , August , , , in the Archi Gener l y u M “ . w a s a t a Sn . P blico , exico This letter written the Vill ge o f Pedro ” l os N a ved a h os M emori a s c a e a m u . de , "ust fter Mezi res p ssed the o nds The o f v a m o f a S a n copy the letter gi es the n e the pl ce, erroneously, Pedro ” N ev a d a ch os Vol ( . XXVIII, r l A o ia ti on ua r t rl 262 T exa s H isto i ca ss c Q e y .

A the river and five miles southwest of lto, in a plain known to

M e t M some as ound Prairie, undoubt dly the rue ound Prairie whose whereabouts has been debated . They are on land now the M property of the orrill Orchard Company, once a part of the E original grant made to the romantic Pedro llis Bean . The Old A ’ San ntonio Road, as identified in the oldest surveys, ran about three hundred yards north of the largest, which is also the north 1 ern m ost . n mound This mound, standi g by the old highway, is an important western landmark for the location of the early tribes and missions, just as the site of Nacogdoches is an important eastern landmark . With the evidence of these mounds, the name San Pedro attached to the creek joining the Neches just above the crossing, and the early maps of the Camino Real , there is no

to x doubt as the appro imate location of the old crossing , and , con

t N abed ache v sequen ly, of the sites of the Neche and the illages , with their respective missions, on opposite sides of the river .

x e The mission of San Francisco de los Te as , re stablished in 1 7 1 6 at the Neche village" appears from the diaries to have been — — some one or two leagues from two to four miles from th e cross ’ P efi . a s h i s ing diary puts it at two leagues . The entry in diary “ A 3 1 7 21 " for ugust , , is as follows The bridge [over the Neches] having been completed, all the people, the equipage, and the drove ,

- crossed in good order, taking the direction of east northeast, and camp was made near the mission of San Francisco, where the

resi di o 1 p was placed the second time it was moved in 7 1 6 . The ”8 march was only two leagues . Rivera gives the distance from the 4 crossing as more than a league . The other diaries are indefinite on this point, but the conclusion is plain that the mission and the

‘ m a J. E . M a fi l . e d o f N a . Infor tion furnished by Dr y , cogdoches The a m a 1 829 S a i a m M origin l Austin p ( ) in the ecret r de Fo ento, exico, shows m on o a the ound the north side f the ro d . 2 On a ’ the uthority o f the corrupt copy o f R a mon s itinera ry in the M em o r ia s 1 5 7 h a s a t a m ( XXVII , ) it been st ed th t this ission w a s founded “ ” a t N a coch es v a a a a m o the ill ge , trib l n e n where else encountered . The a o f a v v a m origin l the itiner ry , howe er , gi es the n e thus a gree i n g with the other origin a l reports a n d clea ring u p a troublesom e u n ce r a . a a m o f m w a s S a n a l o s a t inty The offici l n e the ission Fr ncisco de Tex s , b u t a o f a a t t h e v a a m t o a , bec use its loc tion Neche ill ge, it c e be c lled , a S a n a os popul rly , Fr ncisco de l Neches . a ' Di a M m r e . d c u e v a s a rt a 3 es , 8 . o y in N E p , XXVIII , The pr id i h a d been m a a 1 7 1 6 on o f a m a te por rily pl ced in the west side the Neches , ne r a s ll a , a n d m v a v l ke then o ed cross the ri er . ‘ R v a a 1 2 7 7 . 2 1 40 i er , Di rio, , leg .

exa s H istori ca l Ass cia ti on ua rterl 26 4 T o Q y .

this river, the former adding that it was right across the stream 1 Jou l from the Neche tribe . te and Ramon cal led the distance te 2 from center to cen r of the two villages about five leagues . In comparing these estimates with those that follow we must remembe r that it was somewhat further from the village to th e t i crossing of the river han to the r ver at its nearest point, for as early as 1 691 it w as found that the best crossing was 3 w a do n stre m a league or more . Keeping th eSe things in ’ o e mind, it may be n t d that Pena s diary makes the distance from San Pedro to the crossing four leagues . In his entry 2 7 1 7 21 “ Y for July , , he says, The Father President F . sidro

x E a x Feli de spinos went ahead with the chief of the te as, who wished to go to arrange beforehand the reception i n th e p la ce

h er th r mi h x w e e fi st ssi on a d b een . In his entry for the ne t day “ s - he says , Following the same direction of ea t northeast, the th journey was continued to the place of S . Pedro wh ere e P residio a n d M issi on ha d b een p l a ced (for th e S p a n ia rds di d n ot g o beyon d this p oi n t) i n th e yea r H ere the reception was s A held, and present were made to guayo by the Indians of the ” ’ a ranchos which are near by, the point being, according to Pen s t 4 diary, fif een leagues northeast from the crossing of the Trinity ,

' e and four from the crossing of the Neches, passing by the sit of ’ r i the p es di o as it was first established in 1 7 1 6 . Rivera s diary makes the dista nce from San Pedro to the crossing something over i six . H s four leagues, or to the mission on the other side record “ H e A 5 is . interesting writes , on ugust , I camped this day near a

N abidach os prairie which they call San Pedro de los , formerly occupied by Indians of the tribe of this name, but at present by A n a s the Neches tribe, of the group of the y y , head tribe of the ” “ x H i s x x Province of Te as . ne t entry begins, This day, the si th ,

continuing the march in the same direction [east - one

- si x fourth northeast] I traveled leagues, crossing the Rio de los

‘ R a o 2 6 . el ci n, , 2” R a M a r r é o u v e tes 34 1 - 344 Ra rflé n el tion , in g y , D c r , III , ; , Derrotero, o i t p c . ‘ ‘f i m a l e ran De sc ri ci é n a a De ma rca c on . M e . dc u va E s i i a , p y Di ri N e p ,

47 6 1 . XXVII , , ‘ - a M e m dc u va E s a/fi a 34 35 . a a re Di rio, in . N e p , XXVIII, The It lics I m a a n a n R v a v m m l m ine . t y be note d th t Pe a d i er gi e quite co on y shorter lea gues th a n the others . ‘ i E a i s n s T h e N a ti ve T r b es Abou t th e ast Tex s M s i o . 265

N At ’ eches . more than a league s distance from it I found some e huts where a religious of the Cross of Q uer taro resides, destined to minister to these Indians with the name of San Fran ” 1

N s . cisco de echas, that is, the mission having thi name Solis,

r 1 7 67 going no theast in , tells us that San Pedro de los Nabe H d a ch os was beyond the San Pedro River . e may possibly have meant that it was on the north side, but I am inclined to think 2 that h e meant that it was cast of one of th e southern branches . _ Our inference from the diaries would thus be that the first site

bf in N abedach e of the mission San Francisco, the village of the , — was from one and a half to three leagues from three to si x miles h o distant from the Nec es River at its nearest p int, a league or more o — i n farther from the crossing, and still an ther league all some ten — miles from the Neches village on the other side of the river . The information of the diaries is here supplemented by geo graphical names and the old surveys of the Camino Real or the A San ntonio Road . San Pedro Creek, which joins the Neches River in the northern part of H ouston County still bears the name that was early given to the vicinity of the N ab edach e village an s and the first mission of S Franci co . This occurred as early as 1 7 1 6 from the fact that E spinosa and Ramon celebrated the feast of San Pedro there . The celebration took place at a E spot which, according to both Ramon and spinosa was thirteen 3 leagues northeast of the crossing of the Trinity . That the name was continuously applied to the place until after the middle of the eighteenth century is sufficiently established by the citations u se is already made . To show its continued thereafter there 4 an abundance of evidence .

‘ ’ R v a a o R a mb n s o m a a i er , Di ri , leg . Derroter kes the dist nce four lea gues from Sa n Pe dro to his ca mp nea r the Neches or to the mi ssion a v b u t n ot a a m site cross the ri er , it is cle r which , lthoug h the for er is

M em . d u e s a/ii a a m a . c v E 1 55 prob bly his e ning ( N a p , XXVII , ’ R a m on s Re p rese n ta ci é n m a kes the dist a nce between the first m iss ion o f Sa n a a n d of a m a v a five Fr ncisco, the second this n e, t the Neche ill g e, i a I b d . 1 59 le gues . , . ’ M m u a na a e . d e er a s 279. Di rio, in N E p , XXVIII , ‘ ‘ R a mo R e r s n t a ci é n M em u e va s a rta 1 59. e e . de n , p , in N E p , XXVII ,

R a mb E a - n a n d a fo J 2 9 30. spinos , Di ries, entries r une

-See R a m a n d E s a a for on, Derrotero, spino , Di rio entries June

- 29 30 na a M em . d e u ev a E s a fi a 34 ; Pe , Di rio in . N p , XXVIII , ; R v a a 2 1 40 E recion S a n a v 5 i er , Di rio leg . ; de X ier , u eva So Verm u d ez v a 1 752 S i ia o M om . d c De to , In estig tion ( ) ol s , D ri , in N exas H istori ca l Associa ti on ua r T Q terly .

x Ne t comes the testimony of the Camino Real , or the Old San

Antonio Road . There seems to be no good topographical reason why this old highway should not have run directly from Crockett ’ Wil l i am s s v to the Neches at Ferry, and the long cur e to the north between these points must be explained as a detour to the Nabe dache village and the missions located nearby . The surveys rep re i sent th s highway as running always south of San Pedro Creek,

never crossing it, but definitely directed toward it at a point some ix 1 s or eight miles west of the Neches crossing . The point cor responds closely to that designated in the diaries . Near here ,

N ab ed ach e quite certainly, were the village and the first mis

S a n sion of Francisco, while not far away, but nearer the Neches, E l was the second mission established in that region , that of San tissim o M u a Nombre de aria, fo nded bout October,

T N a ch N n a o i e h e ca a u ech a u i a d N c no r b s. , , T

A N abed ach e f ew cross the Neches from the , only a leagues away, and adjoining the Neche tribe on the north , was the relatively little

M aca ch au H known tribe called by Jesus aria the N , and by idalgo N M the aca ch a o. We have seen that Jesus aria described the Neche tribe as being separated from the N ab edach e only by the Neches

- River . Later he says, Toward the north , where the above men ” i on ed t N acach au . t Necha ribe ends, is that called the The Neche and N a ca ch au villages were thus close together . Near them 1 7 1 6 the second mission of San Francisco was founded in . Ramon

N a ich es says that the mission was founded in the village of the ,

1 8 M om dc N u eo a E s a na 27 9 e a a 7 7 . p , XXVII , ; Mezi res , C rt s ( in

Fa a/ha 2 70 a t o M u n m 8 1 7 93 . e a p , XXVIII , ; Cordob oz, Dece ber , B x r

- h v a h 1 7 5 8 1 7 93 . m a a Arc i es , N cogdoc es , It y be noted th t while the post f v a S a n v a m o f a a o fice ill ge of Pedro preser es the n e the gener l loc lity , it is t oo fa r west to a nswer t o the site o f the m ission o f S a n Fr a ncisco a n d the

N a be d a c he v ill a ge . l ’ h r a v S ee U s u s m a . p p , cited bo e 2 o This m ission w a s close to or on the ba nk f the Neches R i ver . Accord ’ ing t o T eran s itinera ry ( 1 691 ) it w a s a lea gue u p strea m from the cross ing a n d a lea gu e a n d a h a lf northea st of the m ission o f S a n Fr a ncisco i i on M e m de u e s a fi a a i a d De scr c . v a E 45 47 6 1 J a ( p , in N p , , , ; esus M r s i a wa s o n a o v R a o th t it the b nk f the ri er ( el ci n , T h N a ti ribe Abo t th E ast ex i s n e ve T s u e T as M s i o s. 26 7

“ “ M i ssi on eros and the Padres say that it was for the Naicha, a h ” 1 N abeitdache ocon o N a c c a o. , N , and

N abed ach e Southeast of the Neche and the villages , according to

M u Jesus aria, were two villages half a leag e apart, called the

N a on o N e h a u i N ech au i c . c and the Of the we do not hear again,

1 7 21 N a con o but from Pena ( ) we learn that the village, which

E l M e w as N he called cono, five leagues below the eches crossing . This would put the N ech au i and the N acon o villages five leagues th " down e Neches River, perhaps one on each side

' i h e The N ason i Tr b e a n d t e M issi on of S a n Jos .

A H A bove the ainai , on the waters of the ngelina, were the

ou tel 1 687 Nasoni . J , in , reached their village after going from

N ab edach e the twelve leagues eastward , plus an unestimated dis a 1 691 we tance north . Ter n, in , found it t lve leagues northeast of 3 N abedach e . the Neche crossing below the village The founding, 1 7 1 6 N ad aco i in , of a mission for this tribe and the g ves us more definite data for its location . The missionaries who took part in

x r the e pedition , in their joint repo t , called the distance from the

H N a co doch e - ainai to the g eight leagues east southeast, and that

P eii a H to . from the ainai the Nasoni mission seven northeast ,

l - who cal ed the former distance nine leagues east northeast, esti

’ a i a R a o 1 691 1 07 - 1 08 Ra mb n Jesus M r , el ci n , , ; , Derrotero in M em dc u eva s a na 1 58 a M issi on ero s R a . N E p , XXVII , ; P dres , epresent

i d na I bi d - 41 6 I b 1 63 a . 38 ci n . , ; Pe , Di rio , XXVIII, ;

’ m en d i o H E R v a a l e . 2 1 40 a B reo e o 1 77 2 T i er , Di rio g , ; Bonill , C p , , in U A RTE RL Y a M em ori a s 3 5 38 . a v e a v of Q , VIII , , As I h e indic t d bo e, the copy ’ Ra m On s itinera ry sta tes tha t the mission w a s founded in the vi ll a ge of “ ” “ ” N h m N i T h a a 2 6 a s a coc es a fo r a ch es . e m on 5 w the , iscopy p p ge m a v o h a d t . de before I disco ered this error in the c py , which I firs used O n ow a n ot My pinion is th t , with this correction , the sources would be v iol a ted by pla cing the N a ca ch a u tribe somewh a t fa rther north tha n I a v h e there represented it . 2 e M a i t R a o na c i . 6 a 1 08 a o 3 . J sus r , el ci n , ; Pe , Di rio, p . , N a con o v a on a v As the isited Agu yo the west side of the Neches , I h e v a on a h a a m m . represented the ill ge th t side in y p Of course, t e re son is a v n ery slight o e . Espinosa in his di a ry sa ys th a t the Na soni m ission w a s founded f o r N a con o b u t m t o a m of a s for the , this see s be for N oni , by others it n m a m o a r f N a d a co or o f is u ifor ly c lled the ission f the N soni o o the ,

o . S ee a t o M es u i a 6 1 7 1 6 vo b th , Hid lgo, letter q , October , , in the Archi G enera l . a Jou t el R a M a r r Dé ou v ert s 1 1 1 337 - 340 a Descri , el tion , in g y , c e , ; Ter n , p ' 6 M e m u e E / a . d e va s a ri ci n , in N p , XXVII , T exas H istori cal Associa ti n u a rterl o Q y .

E ll mated this as eight north . spinosa put it at seven northeast . Thirty years later E spinosa said that the mission was founded in the Na son i tribe and ten leagues from mission Concepcion " This increase in his estimate of the distance may be due to lapse of time and his long absence from the country . The direction of the N ason i mission from that of Concepcion was , therefore, evidently northeast, and the distance about the

fl N o d h th e ac oc e . same, perhaps a tri e less, than that to g village E 1 7 1 6 H spinosa, who in went over the route from the ainai to the Nasoni to establish the mi ssion of San José recorded in hi s diary that on the way there were many Indian houses “ ra n ch os s u ( ) , and that the mission was it ated on an arroyo with ” plentiful water running north . We must look, therefore, for a point some fifteen or more miles northeast of the H ainai on a stream running northward . These conditions would be satis

fied only by one of the southern tributa ries of Shawnee Creek ,

Na o d h es c oc . near the north line of g County In this vicinity,

1 7 1 6 . clearly, was the Nasoni settlement in It seems not to have changed its location essentially since it had been visited by Jc u te] a and Ter n, a quarter of a century before, and it remained in the t 1 7 52 same vicinity another third of a cen ury, for in De Soto

' Verm u dez found the Ne soni village eleven leagu es northward 8 of osé a n from the Nacogdoches mission . The mission San J rem i ed 1 7 29 near the Nasoni until , when, like those of San Francisco, at H the Neche village, and Concepcion, at the ainai village, it was removed to San Antonio .

Th a o e N dac .

For the rest of the tribes in this group our information is less

N a d o r . ac definite The , though a prominent t ibe , can not be located 1 7 87 with certainty until , when they, or at least a part of them, t were on the Sabine River, apparently in the northern par of 4 1 7 1 6 Panola County . But in they were clearly near the Nasoni,

‘ ‘ a e M i ssion eros R e resen t a cié n 1 1 6 M om . d e u ev a E s a ria P dr s , p , 7 , in N p , 1 63 na a 2 1 id a a 1 7 I b . 44 E XXVII , ; Pe , Di rio, , , XXVIII , ; spinos , Di rio, 1 1 6 r or J 1 0 7 , ent y f uly . 2 i s t l i ron a A o é ca 4 1 8. C c p , ' v a 1 7 52 M S . In estig tion , , ‘ a a v a a i n a L a fi Fr ncisco X ier Fr goso, Di ry , the Gener l nd O f ce, Austin ,

a R Vol 68 . 1 4 T 7 . ex s , ecords, . , p a ti i i n Th e N ve Tr bes Abou t th e E ast T exas M ssi o s. 269

an d sometimes the two tribes seem to have been considered as one .

H n h e idalgo, who must have k own, for was on the ground , dis ti n ctly states that the mission of San José was founded for the

N d 1 A was comm on l v Nasoni and the a aco . lthough the mission

a son i known to the Spaniards as that of the N , the French writers, 2 N a d aco in particular, including San Denis , sometimes called it the

e H 1 7 1 9 mission . Frequent referenc s made by La arpe in to the N a daco show that he is either speaking of the Nasoni or of a tribe in their immediate vicinity, more probably the latter, since in other instances the tribes are so clearly distinguished . For

Ka doh a dach o on instance, he tells us that when at the village the “ x x Red River, not far from Te arkana, they assured me that si ty

N ad a cos leagues south was the village of the , where the Spaniards a A had a mission, and that they had another mong the ssinais , in

Am edi ch e N a bedach e the [ ] tribe, which was seventy leagues south

— - one fourth southwest from the N a sson ites [which were near the In 1 7 52 were only a short distance

‘ L t t o M es u i a et er q , October de Mexico, ’ M em ori a o m n a M S . Th e s f R a é s a 1 58 copy itiner ry ( XXVII , ) c lls this “ ” “ ” m ss ha N o a ch i s i a a N a son i s of b u t i a . i ion t t the , the or g n l re ds pl inly 2 L a a n a a S a n w h o Thus , H rpe noted in his "our l th t Denis , conducted “ e of 1 7 1 6 a m s m m the exp dition th t founded the issions proposed , o eti e a a va a of m a t o fter his rri l , th t he should be the conductor nine ission ries ” e of Ad a es A ch es N a cocod och a a n d N a d a co the trib s the y , y , y , In y ( Ex tr a it d u Journa l m a nuscrit d u v oya ge de l a L ouisia ne p a r l e sieur de L a ’ a e e t é v e a l a a l u e s H rp de ses d cou ert s d ns p rtie de O t de cette colonie , in M a r r Décou v ert es S a n m a m g y , , VI , Denis hi self reg rded the ission a s ha v N a m ing been founded in the d a co tribe . This is the inference fro a a on 1 7 35 - 1 736 w h im a n d S a va ov correspondence c rried in bet een ndo l , g

u ct o f a . S a va t o S a n on a 1 0 1 7 36 a o er Tex s ndo l wrote Denis M rch , , a of e m e 2 1 7 3 5 S a n e h knowledging letter D ce b r , , in which D nis outlined t e a o f a m t o u h m b sis French cl i s co ntry west o f t e R ed R ive r . Judging fro ’ S a ndova l s summ a ry of the letter ( I h a v e not seen the letter ) he a lleged a v h a d fa r a a s 1 02 th t , with Bien ille, he explored the country a s b ck 7 ; “ ” ha 1 7 1 5 h a d m a e M on t t in he "ourneyed fro the Asin i to exico, seeing the w a y only v estiges of the old S pa nish settlem ents ; th a t he conducted “ R a mb n of h w a a of into the country, the result w ich s the found tion [ m w issions ] , which it as requested o f your lordship should be esta blished a m a N a d a co ma a n d a a a d u ong the N cogdoches, , Ai is, N ich , n the subseq ent a m a n d a m a t a m of ones ong the Ays Ad is, in ining the inisters the Gospel a t ’ . a of S a v a v n your expense ( Triplic te ndo l s letter , in the Archi o Ge a S o a Vol . 24 m a . er l , ecci n de Histori , , for erly in Indiferente de Guerr W e h a re v ith this lett r t ere se era origina l letters of Sa n Denis . f fl a R a a M a r du 0 i t . r . o 262 . See a H rpe, el tion Voy ge, in g y , p , VI l so I b1 d 266 . T exas H istori ca l Associa tion ua rterl Q y .

a son i northward from the N , apparently northeast, and the two 1 tribes then had a single chief . Supposing the N a da co and the Na son i to have lived in clearly

N a d aco distinct settlements at the early period, the could hardly

ason i Ka doh a dach o have been near the highway from the N to the , s for, as we have seen, the Na oni always figure as the last station

K doh d h a a ac o . on the way to the It seems more probable, con sideri n g this last fact with the statements made about the mission osé in of San J , that the two tribes lived a settlement practically continuous, to which sometimes one and sometimes the other

An A name was given . upper branch of the ngelina is now called

A Na d aco t nadarko ( ) Creek, and it is possible, in spi e of the above

a d a co considerations , that this stream was the home of the N at

n the coming of the Spa iards and the French , but it seems more probable that it was applied in later times as a result of the removal of the tribe to that neighborhood .

It is clear, at any rate, that in the early eighteenth century the

N a d a co village was very near that of the N a soni .

Oth er T rib es .

Of the location of remaining tribes we know even less than of the the last, and can only record few statements made of them by

r ou tel the ea ly writers . Three leagues west of the Nasoni J entered 2 N oa di ch e N ah ordike the village of the ( ) who, he said, were allies of the Cenis , and had the same customs . This location corresponds

s M with that a signed by Jesus aria to the Nabiti, and the tribes may have been identical . The site designated was apparently west of the Angelina River and near the southwestern corner of Rusk

N sa a M . a a County Similarly, the y y , put by Jesus aria east of the m a . Nabiti , y possibly have been the Nasoni If they were a separate tribe they must have been in the same neighborhood . If separate, too, they early disappear from notice , unless possibly they may be

Na ca xe the , who later are found in the same latitude, but farther

Al l h o . t e east _ that we can say of location of the Naca is that N a co doch e they were northward from the g , and probably closer

‘ This is on the well - founded as sum ption th a t the N a d o te discussed by S Verm u d ez sa m a s N a d a co S Ve rmu de z I n De oto were the e the ( De oto , st a ion ve ig t , MS ) . 2 R a M r r o t a . c i . 388. el tion , in g y , p , III

T exas H istori ca l Associa ti on ua rt rl Q e y .

1 687 h abeda ch e us, in , t at from the edge of the N village, west of ’ to the Neches River, the chief s house in the middle of the settle “ ” a ment, it was a l rge league, and that on the way there were “ ” hamlets of from seven to fifteen houses each, surrounded by patches of corn . From this village to that of the Neche tribe on the other side of the river it was some five leagues, but in “ ” fertile spots between them there were similar hamlets, sometimes

wa s a league apart . So it with the country to the northeast . When he left the Neches River at a point above the Neche village he “ wrote , We pursued our route toward the east, and made about ‘ ’ five leagues, finding from time to time cabins in hamlets and ‘ ’ s cantons, for we ometimes made a league and a half without ” 1 finding one . Between the Trinity River and the main Nabe

1 6 90 e . dache village De Leon , in , encount red only one settlement “ It consisted of four farms ( h a ci en das ) of Indians who had planted crops of maize and beans, and very substantially built houses, . ” 2 on with high beds to sleep . On the edge of the N abeda ch e “ village he arrived at a valley occupied by many houses of Texas

Indians , around which were large fields of maize, beans, calabashes, and watermelons . Turning to the north by a hill of oaks, about a quarter of a league further on we came to another valley

x of Te as Indians, with their houses , their governor telling us that his was very near . We pitched our camp on the bank of an ” 3 x s . arroyo, and named this settlement San Francisco de los Te a “ ’ ” The govern or s house was about half a league from the camp . a 1 691 “ Of the country beyond the Neches Ter n wrote in , We continue our march [from the Neches] . The country is very rough with frequent open groves, but no openings larger o than a short musket shot across . In these openings , s me in the ”4 l lbwl an ds in u . ou te , and some the sand , their ho ses are located J , in describing his passage from the lodge of one Nasoni chief to “ that of another, says, Those who had escorted us went ahead and conducted us to his house, about a quarter of a league away, where his cabin was located . Before reaching it we passed several others , and on the way found women and children cultivating their

’ R a M a r r o ci t . 34 1 344 387 . el tion , in g y , p . , , , 2 M S f a 20 or M . Derrotero, . , entry y 'I bi d f 2 or M a 2 . . , entry y ‘ n m a ci ci t . Descri ci o a a De a rc on o . 48 . p y Di ri , p , Th e N a ti ve Tri bes Abou t th e E as t T exas M i ssi on s. 273

” 1 7 1 6 to H fields . In Ramon referred the ainai settlement on the “ A as th e Ai n a i ngelina River pueblo of the , where there is an

ra n ch s infinite number of houses ( o ) with their fields of corn, A . s watermelons, melons, beans , tobacco, etc we have already H 1 7 1 6 E seen, in his passage from the ainai to the Nasoni in spi 1 nosa noted many houses on the way . ’ A e E fter s veral years residence among these tribes, spinosa, hav i min d ing n the dismal failure to reduce them to civilized life, “ described the H asinai settlements in general thus " These natives th e do not live in congregations reduced to pueblos, but each of four principal groups where the missions are located are in ra n ch os f [separate houses] , as it were, apart from each other . The chie cause of this is that each household seeks a place suitable for its ”2 c l crops and having a supply of water . In another pla e he tel s us that in their ministerial work among the Indi a ns the p a dres had to travel si x or seven leagues in all directions from each of the four missions " It is thus evident that the H asinai settlements by no mea ns

d in correspon ed to the Spanish notion of a pueblo, built close T . o s order induce the natives to congregate in uch pueblos , as a means of civilizing them , was a chief aim of the government and the missionaries, and failure to accomplish this was a primary t ff cause of the abandonment, af er fifteen years of e ort, of all but one of the missions of the group .

N U M B ERS .

It is easy to gain an exaggerated notion of the numerical strength of the native tribes . Popular imagination, stimulated by the e hyperbole of writ rs for popular consumption , has peopled the f . t s primitive woods and prairies with myriads o savages S udent , d however, have shown that this is an error, and that the In ian

S se population has always been, in historical times , relatively par ,

f e x i n In their ef orts to counteract thes e aggerated notions, they, deed, have leaned too far in the opposite direction .

‘ u t el M a r r o ci t . 92 mo Jo . 3 Ra v , in g y , p , III ; n , Derrotero, in the Archi o a u nM ex i co for 7 E s i n soa a f or Gener l y P blico, , entry July ; p , Di rio, entry

July 1 0. 2 on i ostoli a 44 Cr ca Ap c , 0 aI bid . exas H istori ca l Ass ia ti on ua rter T oc Q ly .

H o u The asinai , apparently one of the most compact native p p l ati on s within an equal area between the Red River and the Rio G rande, numbered only a few thousands at the coming of the E uropeans . What I have already said about the nature of their villages has , perhaps, prepared the reader to believe this asser

- tion . While our statistical information on this point does not constitute entirely conclusive evidence, it does, nevertheless, give us

tu a basis for plausible conjec re . T h e earliest estimate that might be called general is that con

i n ed m m i 1 699 t M ar r s a ta in a é o re of , prin ed by g y, and ba ed p p a ren tly upon the report of one of the survivo rs of the La Salle “ m e - s expedition . The ém oi re stat s that from B ay Saint Loui

[ M atagorda B ay] going inland to the north - northwest and the northeast there are a number of diff erent tribes . The most

C en s Asen s numerous is the y and y , which, according to the opinion of a Can adian who h as lived several years among

s . H e e them, form but one village and the ame nation estimat s that they do not exceed si x hun dred or seven hu ndred men . The

u él a n cou ch i s a on Q [K rankawa] , who live the of the sea _ shores — ” 1 about Bay Saint Louis, are four hundred men . “ It would seem that i n this passage the term C en ys et Asen ys

s H corre ponds closely with the term asinai as I have used it, unless , x as is p robable, the Nasoni are e cluded ; but, since this is not cer

x tain, the estimate, though based on long e perience, would not be 6 1 7 1 . conclusive wi thout corroborating testimony . This we get in

a m é n x s R tells us that the four missions founded by his e pedition , “ which were within easy reach of all the tribes described , would comp rise from four thousand to five thousand persons of all ages and ” 2 E both sexes . In the same year spinosa recorded in his diary his opinion that the Indians grouped around the three Q u erétaran mis

N a co doch e sions , not including the mission among the g and the

Nacao, would number three thousand ; and after a residence there of some years he estimated the number of persons within range of each mission at about one thousand " This estimate must have

’ 1L o i l a t u a d u M M ém re de Coste de l a Floride e d ne p rtie exique , in i t M a r r o c . 3 1 6 g y , p . , IV . ’ t M em . d e u eva s a na 1 60. Derro ero , in N E p , XXVII , ' on i ostoli a 4 39 C r ca Ap c , . i o i s n Th e N a t ve T rib es Ab u t th e E ast T exas M s io s. 275

a dres had a good foundation, for we are told that the p kept lists of 1 all the houses and of the persons in each .

A m m oi re E ssuming that the é , Ramon, and spinosa include the sam e tribes in their estimates, it will be seen that the first is some what the more conservative . This fact strengthens the probability

i m m oi r that, l ke other early reports, the é e did not include the

Naso ni in the H asinai .

So much for general estimates for the whole group . Detailed information concerning some of the individual tribes appears in

A re- 1 7 21 . When guayo in that year established the missions that

a had been abandoned some two years before, he m de a general distribution of presents and clothing among the Indians at the At different villages . the mission of San Francisco de los Nech es

baston he gave the Neche chief the Spanish , token of authority, “ - and clothed entirely one hundred and eighty eight men, women, ” “ and children . Never before had they received such a general ” A distribution . West of the Neches guayo had been visited by

n A a hundred N a co o from down the river . t the mission of Con ce cion H Ch eocas a p he requested the ainai chief, by n me, to collect all his people . This took some time, as they were widely scat te red A , but several days later they were assembled , and guayo gave clothing and other presents to four hundred, including, possibly,

Ka doh a d ach os a eighty , who h ppened to be there on a visit . Simi “ l a rl a co d och e y, at the N g mission he provided clothing for the ” a n d chief and all the rest, a total of three hundred ninety ; and " at the N a son i mission for three hundred This gives us a total of less than fourteen hundred Indians who came to the missions dur ’ ing Aguayo s en tra da to take advantage of the ever welcome pres ents . This number apparently included the majority of the five most important tribes , and probably included some from the neigh boring smaller tribes attached to the missions .

E o The conclusion is that the estimates of Ramon and spin sa , which put the total number of inhabitants included in 1 7 1 6 in the ten or more tribes about the four missions at four or five thousand are sufficiently liberal . If this conclusion is true, the tribes could not have averaged more than three or four hundred persons each.

1 ' ' ron i ostoli a a 43 . C c Ap c , 9 it ' P ena M e m a E s a/fi a 4 a o . d c u ev 3 6 3 9 4 1 43 4 . , Di ri , in N p , XXVIII , , , , , T exas H istori ca l Associa ti on ua rterl 276 Q y .

The territory then occupied by perhaps four thousand Indians now 1 e supports one hundred thousand pe pl e . Kept down by epi

x e demies, crude means of getting food, and to some e t nt by war, the

i n com number of these natives was small . But few then, they are

arabl d p y fewer to ay , for the descendants of all these tribes, now i x e liv ng on the reservations, do not e ceed two hundred or thr e hundred souls "

1 The surv iv ing C a ddo a n d H a si n a i together num bered 55 1 persons in mm 1 906 a a v . a a of 2 3 ( D t gi en by Dr Mooney in co unic tion April , 2 Estima te ba sed on the U nited S ta tes Census for 1 900.