Texas Almanac, 1939-1940 Page: 53
[514] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
The nomadic Comanches cared for no such permanent abodes and industries as are evi-
denced by the picture of the Caddo village. (See page 51.) Qua-ah-do camp of the Co-
manches in Northwest Texas shown above is from a print of the early seventies. Repro-
duced from a photograph in the A. B. Stephenson collection in the library of the Uni-
versity of Texas.manche or Apache, more likely the lat-
ter. There is evidence that the Lipan
Apaches dominated Northwest Texas at
this early period, and moved southward
during the following centur- to center
about the Edwards Plateau and middle
western Texas during the early mission
period.
Tribal Migrations.
It must be kept in mind, too, that the
tribal boundaries shifted constantly and
rapidly. The picture above was vastly
different at the time of arrival of Aus-
tin's colonists in Texas. The principal
thrust against the aborigine Indian pop-
ulation of Texas seems to have been from
the north as the Comanches and the
Osages drove down against the Lipan
Apaches and the Caddoes, respectively.
At a fairly early date, however, the im-
pact from the east became noticeable as
the expanding white population of the
Atlantic seaboard drove the Indians of
that region westward. Among the tribes
that crossed the Texas border on the east
were the Cherokees, Alabamas, Coushat-
tas, Seminoles, Delawares and Kicka-
poos. The total Indian population of
Texas in these early years is a matter for
speculation. Various estimates of histo-
rians and government agencies have
ranged from 25,000 to 130,000.
Something of the fate of these original
Texans is told on the following pages,
which relate the history of white man on
Texas soil.COMING OF THE WHITE MAN.
Probably the Spanish explorer, Alonzo
Alvarez de Pineda, and his followers were
the first white men to set foot on what is
now Texas soil. In 1519, Gov. Francis de
Garay of Jamaica sent Pineda to explore
the coast of the Gulf of Mexico from the
Florida peninsula to Panuco. Pineda
drew a fairly accurate map and marked
the vast territory Amichel.
Another expedition was made a year or
two later, and there is dependable evi-
dence that a settlement was established
at the mouth of the Rio de las Palmas,
now the Rio Grande. The exact location
is not known. If it was on the north
bank, Texas has the distinction of hav-
ing the location of one of the very ear-
liest white settlements in what is the
United States today. The project of
Garay proved unsuccessful, however, and
the settlement was soon abandoned.
It is probable that another attempt
was made to place a settlement at the
mouth of the Rio de las Palmas about
1526 while Nuno Beltram de Guzman
was Governor of Panuco, a post which
he held prior to his removal to the west
coast of Mexico, where he established
for himself a place in history by his
ruthlessness in exploiting the Indians.
The first visit of white men to the
Texas coast took place only twenty-
seven years after the discovery of the
Western Hemisphere by Columbus. At
the time Cortes had just landed in Mex-
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Texas Almanac, 1939-1940, book, 1939; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117163/m1/55/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.