THE RED RIVER IN SOUTHWESTERN HISTORY By CARL NEWTON TYSON Bachelor of "Arts Wichita St~te University Wichita, Kansas 1971 Master of Arts Wichita State University Wichita, Kansas 1973 Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate College of the Oklahoma State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY July, 197 5 lk~ 19'15]) T Cj ''-I ri ~ . ..2- I ,, (JKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY LJBRARY MAY 12 1976 THE RED RIVER IN SOUTHWESTERN HISTORY Thesis Approved: Deann of nthe GraduateJP~--= College---- 939015 ii PREFACE Great rivers hold an intriguing ~llurement to the author. Like people, their personalities are changeable; however, unlike people, a river can be radically different at the same time, depending on the po­ sition from which one views it. Cold hearted indeed is the individual who can gaze at a mighty river wending across the earth without feeling twinges of wanderlust. Certainly the author can claim no such grasp of reality. Of all the rivers which grace the North American continent, few have had as varied and significant a history as the Red River. Although less well known than others, such as the Mississippi and the Missouri, the Red has enjoyed a central position in the history of the American West. From the time of the arrival of Redmen in North America to the present, some nation, state, or tribe has cherished the river for its advantages, claimed ownership of it, tried to discover the secrets it held, or tried to change it.. From the beginning of the Franco-.Spanish conflict in the Southwest to the end of the dispute between Texas and Oklahoma in the 1920s, the river was the center of controversy. The idea of writing the history of a river is not new; myriad streams have served as the focal point for historical works. However, the approach utilized in this study is somewhat unique. Whereas previous studies have used the river to give unity to diverse events, this study is the history of a river; only events which took place beca,use of the river's presence are chronicled. For example, narration of the Red iii River War of the 1870s is omitted because that campaign was incidental to the stream. It received the river's name only because it took place near its course. Conversely, the Red River Campaign of the Civil War, the various missions of Athanse de M~zi~res, and the journey of Pedro Vial are included because the Red played a vital role in these events. In this manner I have not tried to write the his·tory of a region, but rather to write the story of how this river has had great economic, po­ litical, and social significance in a vast region of the American West. A list of the debts which I owe to Professor Odie B. Faulk, who served as director of this work, would fill more pages than the manu­ script itself. Without his patience, encouragement, and admonitions, this account would not have been possible. Often he ignored his own work in order to assist with mine. Also, I am indebted to other members of my connnittee: Professors LeRoy H. Fischer, Joseph A. Stout, Jr., Neil Hackett, and Peter C. Rollins; each has suffered, contributed, and helped during the preparation of this work. In addition, I wish to thank three members of the faculty of Wichita State University, Profes­ sors Ross M. Taylor, Jimmy M. Skaggs, and William E. Unrau, for leading me to history. Several of my fellow graduate students at Oklahoma State University have aided in the writing of this work, but a special thanks goes to my friend James Thomas. The staff of the Oklahoma State Univer­ sity Library has responded to seemingly unreasonable requests with calmness and cooperation and Vicki Withers has repeatedly lend a helpful hand and sympathetic ear. Finally, my wife Toni and my son Jon have miraculously maintained their love for a grumpy husband and father, and have suffered through iv long days of solitude and long evenings when my typewriter invaded the domain of the television set. To them I owe the greatest debt. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. THE RIVER AND ITS PEOPLE. 1 II. THE STRUGGLE FOR EMPIRE 16 III. THE CONFLICT CONTINUES. 32 IV. SPAIN AND THE RED RIVER 55 v. SPAIN'S NEW FOE •• . .. 91 VI. THE GREAT RAFT •••••• 122 VII. RANDOLPH MARCY AND THE TERRA INCOGNITA •• . 140 VIII. HIGHWAY OF WAR •••• . ' . 156 IX. PEACE AND PROSPERITY •• 194 X. BORDER WAR IN THE COURTS. 206 XI. THE TAMING OF THE RIVER 226 XII. TODAY AND YESTERDAY • 237 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ••••• . • Q • • 239 vi CHAPTER I THE RIVER AND ITS PEO~LE To the weary pilgrim wending his way westward across scores of miles of changeless plains, the Rocky Mountains were a welcome change. Their massive peaks thrust skyward, some capped with eternal snow. These peaks are a continental divide, separating the water that falls there and making it flow in two directions. On the western slope are two major rivers, the Colorado and the Columbia, while on the eastern side the Missouri, the Arkansas, and the Red have their headwaters. Of these the Red is the most southerly--and the one which spans the arid plains of the Southwest. The Red River has no single source. Rather it is born in the foot­ hills of the Rockies from a thousand tiny rivulets. These come together on the Staked Plains--or, as the Spaniards named this region, the Llano Estacada; the semi-arid high plains slope gradually away from the Rockies, decreasing in altitude as they progress eastward. Although this land now is so flat that one can see for miles, its soil once was part of the peaks of the mountains, washed down by the rains of centur­ ies past to form an alluvial plain. In the spring the short gramma grass bursts into growth; as the ceaseless winds of summer blow, this grass tosses and tumbles like a green ocean. An occasional cottonwood tree dots the landscape to denote some small stream bed that wends its way toward the Red River, while dwarf red cedars indicate the underground 1 2 1 water near the surface. The Red crosses this Staked Plain that marks the Panhandle of Texas. As it gathers strength from the tiny streams that flow into it, the river becomes broader and more stately, but everywhere its course winds and curves like the path of some giant snake. Because· the Red has flowed through the plains for so long, it has cut deeply into the sur­ face--five to eight hundred feet in places--to form the Palo Duro Can­ yon; this is a place of canyon walls carved into myriad portraits and escarpments. From the bed of the river, these walls seem to merge as they rise, creating the illusion that the river lies beneath a canopy 2 of rock and sand. As the Red leaves the Llano Estacada, it flows into lower, broken country, eight hundred feet below the Staked Plains. Although animals and plants, such as the prairie dog and the cottonwood, inhabit both areas, the plants and animals of the high plains are more numerous and varied. Here the cottonwood is joined by the mesquite and dwarf oak near surface water, and the prairie dog competes with jack rabbits and ground squirrels for available food. Larger beasts such as the cougar (or puma) and coyotes wandered the land, searching for food and scat­ tering smaller creatures in their wake. Here too roamed the American bison, a hold~over from the days of saber-tooth tigers and mammoths. Wooly and tenacious, the Buffalo had few enemies for its size, strength and ill-temper discouraged all but the most determined predator. Only an occasional black bear could match the buffalo, and then only if the wooly bovine was alone. 3 The buffalo inhabited the plains from the Canadian border to the Rio Grande, moving with the weather and seeking fresh pasturage. 3 Because the herds had no natural predators and because the land was plentiful, the buffalo multiplied quickly. When the first white men came to the American West, there were an estimated 6,000,000 of these shaggy beasts in the southern herd. This herd grazed the plains of present-day Texas and Oklahoma, with the Red River providing a reliable 4 water supply. These buffalo did not stay exclusively on the High Plains wandering to the east in their eternal quest for grass. In this. reg~on the river changed as it flowed off the Llano Estacada. There the land is broken and sandy. No longer does the river cut deep and jagged banks; here it meanders across the land, seeking the course of least resistance. With each freshing of the waters, the river floods the surrounding country, widening its channel and eroding its banks. Because the land is flat and soft, the river often forms "cut offs" and rechannels its waters. The sandy bottom quickly becomes saturated with moisture, creating a 5 deadly trap for any unsuspecting intruder. Some hundred miles after it leaves the Llano Estacada, the Red re- ceives its first major tributary, the North Fork. This stream rises on the northeastern edge of the Staked Plains, on the southern side of the Canadian River's watershed. It runs parallel to the Canadian before turning southward, making a long, gentle arc in reaching the Red. The North Fork is equal in size to the main stream, doubling the Red's bur­ den at this confluence.