Texas Almanac, 1941-1942 Page: 39
[578] p. : ill. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this book.
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HISTORY OF TEXAS.
Tribes of the Rio Grande Plain.
Extending southward along the sea
coast, and spreading inland from the Rio
Grande Plain as far as the present Del
Rio, and beyond into Mexico were the
Coahuiltican tribes. Whether these were
related by blood, or linguistically, to the
Karankawas seems doubtful, but some
ethnologists include both groups in the
Pakawa family. The Coahuiltican
tribes apparently were not bound by
any sort of confederacy, as were the
Caddo groups, and the individual sub-
tribes were usually small. Along the
coast lay the Pakawas proper, the Come-
crubos, Cotonanis, and farther inland
were a large number of weak tribes, in-
cluding the Pajalates, Orejones, Pacaos,
Tilijayos, Allsapas, Pausanes, Pacuaches,
Mescales, Pampopas, Tacames, Chayop-
ines, Venados, Pamiquis, Pihuiques, Bor-
rados, Sanipaos, Manos de Perro and
many others.
The Coahuilticans are generally ad-
judged as of low cultural level, though
under training of the early missionaries
they showed themselves capable of ap-
preciable advancement. It was among
the Indians of this stock that the San
Antonio missions were most successful
in their *christianizing and civilizing in-
fluence.
Central Texas Tribes.
Lying northwest of the Karankawas
and to the west of the Didais was a small
group of Indians, including the Tamique,
Xaraname and possibly several other sub-
classifications. Records give scant evi-
dence to show whether these tribes were
related or not to the surrounding pow-
erful groups, the Karankawas and Coa-
huilticans to the south, the Comanches
to the west, Tonkawas to the north or
Didais to the east. They dwelt primarily
along the lower and middle course of the
Guadalupe, and a series of possibly re-
lated small tribes extended westward
and northwestward between the San
Antonio and Colorado Rivers, including
the Tojo, Cantuna, Cava and others.
Lying to the north of these tribes and
sandwiched between the Caddoes on the
east and the Apaches and Lipans on the
west were the Tonkawa tribes. Their
field lay in what might be designated as
present East Central Texas, extending
from Ellis County southward to Bastrop
and westward as far as Mills and Co-
manche Counties. Among these tribes
were the Tonkawas proper, the Yoju-
anes, the Mayeyes and Ervipiames.
The Lipan Apaches.
During the early mission period in
Western Texas, from the present site of
San Antonio as far north as the Pan-
handle, the Apache stock held sway.
These were not the true Apaches of New
Mexico, but cousins that were desig-
nated usually as Lipan Apaches. They
extended from the region of the Karan-
kawas and Tamique westward across
'The editor of the Texas Almanac is indebted
to Dr. Carlos E. Castaneda, author of the four
published volumes of "Our Catholic Heritage," for
much information presented in this chapterthe Trans-Pecos. As distinguished from
the settled and seminomadic tribes of
East Texas and the coast, they were a
roving people possessing fine physiques
and certain moral characteristics but
sustaining a culture considerably below
that of the Caddoes.
Conquest by the Comanches.
To the north of the Lipan Apaches lay
the Comanches. During the early mis-
sion period apparently the Comanches,
who were an offshoot of the Shoshoni,
occupied not more of Texas than the up-
per Panhandle. They advanced rapidly
southward, however, in sharp conflict
with the Apaches, as well as eastward
against the Wichitas. By 1750 they had
established themselves as far east as the
Blackland Prairies and as far south as
San Antonio, driving the Lipan Apaches
southwestward and westward across the
Rio Grande and Pecos Rivers. These
fierce, nomadic Indians, who early be-
came expert horsemen, were destined to
play the leading role in the long conflict
between red and white man in the ter-
ritory lying between the Red River and
Rio Grande. With a culture somewhat
like that of the Apaches, they were a
people of fine physique and great cour-
age, but sustaining a relatively low cul-
ture, and never yielding to civilizing in-
fluences.
Other Early Tribes.
Probably at this period there were
some other Indians along the borders of
Texas, notably in the extreme western
art of the Trans-Pecos, who may have
een members of the Ute tribes. Fairly
recent traces of Pueblo or kindred cul-
ture are found min this territory. Mystery
surrounds the Jumanos of the High
Plains mentioned by Coronado and other
early explorers. Possibly these were an
extreme westward extension of the
Wichitas. They were undoubtedly driven
eastward by the Comanches who came
from the northwest. A small group of
Jumanos was eventually settled on an
Indian reservation in Oklahoma. There
is evidence that the Lipan Apaches dom-
inated Northwest Texas at this early
period, and moved southward during the
following century to center about the
Edwards Plateau and middle western
Texas during the early mission period.
The foregoing is an approximate
bird's-eye view of Indian distribution in
Texas as it was found by the first white
men. There is, of course, a good deal
of deduction and some guesswork en-
tailed in such a picture. Furthermore, a
description of the kind must be in gen-
eralities for the reason that boundary
lines between tribal territories were very
indefinite.
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 aboriginal Indian pop-
ulation of Texas seems to have been from
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Texas Almanac, 1941-1942, book, 1941; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117164/m1/41/: accessed March 29, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.