While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Caddo (contracted from Kä'dohädä'cho,
'Caddo proper,' `real Caddo,' a leading tribe in the Caddo confederacy,
extended by the whites to include the confederacy).
A confederacy of tribes belonging to the southern group of the Caddoan
linguistic family. Their own name is Hasínai, our own folk.' See
Kadohadacho.
History According to tribal traditions the lower Red
river of Louisiana was the early home of the Caddo, from which they spread
to the northwest, and south. Several of the lakes and streams connected
with this river bear Caddo names, as do some of the counties and some of
the towns which cover ancient village sites.
Cabeza de-Vaca and his companions in 1535-36 traversed
a portion of the territory occupied by the Caddo, and De Soto's expedition
encountered some of the tribes of the confederacy in 1540-41, but the
people did riot become known until they were met by La Salle and his
followers in 1687. At that time the Caddo villages were scattered along
Red river and its tributaries in what are now Louisiana and Arkansas, and
also on the banks of the Sabine, Neches, Trinity, Brazos, and Colorado
rivers in east Texas. The Caddo were not the only occupants of this wide
territory; other confederacies belonging to the same linguistic family
also resided there. There were also fragments of still older confederacies
of the same family, some of which still maintained their separate
existence, while others had joined the then powerful Hasinai. These
various tribes and confederacies were alternately allies and enemies of
the Caddo. The native population was so divided that at no time could it
successfully resist the intruding white race. At an early date the Caddo
obtained horses from the Spaniards through intermediate tribes; they
learned to rear these animals, and traded with them as far north as
Illinois River (Shea, Cath. Ch. in Col. Days, 559, 1855).
During the 18th century wars in Europe led to
contention between the Spaniards and the French for the territory occupied
by the Caddo. The brunt of these contentions fell upon the Indians; the
trails between their villages became routes for armed forces, while the
villages were transformed into garrisoned posts. The Caddo were friendly
to the French and rendered valuable service, but they suffered greatly
from contact with the white race. Tribal wars were fomented, villages were
abandoned, new diseases spread havoc among the people, and by the close of
the century the welcoming attitude of the Indians daring its early years
had changed to one of defense and distrust. Several tribes were
practically extinct, others seriously reduced in numbers, and a once
thrifty and numerous people had become demoralized and were more or less
wanderers in their native land. Franciscan missions had been established
among some of the tribes early in the century, those designed for the
Caddo, or Asinais, as they were called by the Spaniards, being Purísima
Concepción de los Asinais and (for the Hainai) San Francisco de los Tejas
(q. v. ). The segregation policy of the missionaries tended to weaken
tribal relations and unfitted the people to cope with the new difficulties
which confronted them.
These missions were transferred to the Rio San Antonio
in 1731. With the acquisition of Louisiana by the United States
immigration increased and the Caddo were pushed from their old haunts.
Under their first treaty, in 1835, they ceded all their land and agreed to
move at their own expense beyond the boundaries of the United States,
never to return and settle as a tribe. The tribes living in Louisiana,
being tints forced to leave their old home, moved southwest toward their
kindred living in Texas. At that time the people of Texas were contending
for independence, and no tribe could live at peace with both opposing
forces. Public opinion was divided as to the treatment of the Indians; one
party demanded a policy of extermination, the other advocated conciliatory
methods.
In 1843 the governor of the Republic of Texas sent a
commission to the tribes of its north part to fix a line between them and
the white settlers and to establish three trading posts; but, as the land
laws of the republic did not recognize the Indian's right of occupancy,
there was no power which could prevent a settler from taking land that had
been cultivated by an Indian. This condition led to continual
difficulties, and these did not diminish after the annexation of Texas to
the United States, as Texas retained control and jurisdiction over all its
public domain. Much suffering ensued; the fields of peaceable Indians were
taken and the natives were hunted down. The more warlike tribes made
reprisals, and bitter feelings were engendered. Immigration increased, and
the inroads on the buffalo herds by the newcomers made scarce the food of
the Indians.
Appeals were sent to the Federal Government, and in
1855 a tract near Brazos river was secured and a number of Caddo and other
Indians were induced to colonize under the supervision of Agent Robert S.
Neighbours. The Indians built houses, tilled fields, raised cattle, sent
their children to school-lived quiet and orderly lives. The Comanche to
the west continued to raid upon the settlers, some of whom turned
indiscriminately upon all Indians. The Caddo were the chief sufferers,
although they helped the state troops to bring the raiders to justice. In
1859 a company of white settlers fixed a date for the massacre of all the
reservation Indians. The Federal Government was again appealed to, and
through the strenuous efforts of Neighbours the Caddo made a forced march
for 15 days in the heat of July; men, women, and children, with the loss
of more than half of their stock and possessions, reached safely the banks
of Washita river in Oklahoma, where a reservation was set apart for them.
Neighbours, their friend and agent, was killed shortly afterward as a
penalty for his unswerving friendship to the Indians (Ind. Aff. Rep.
18.59, 333, 1860).
During the civil war the Caddo remained loyal to the
government, taking refuge in Kansas, while sonic went even as far west as
Colorado. In 1872 the boundaries of their reservation were defined, and in
1902 every man, woman, and child received an allotment of land under the
provisions of the severalty act of 1887, by which they because citizens of
the United States and subject to the laws of Oklahoma. In 1904 they
numbered 535.
Missions were started by the Baptists soon after the reservation was
established, and are still maintained. Thomas C. Battey, a Quaker,
performed missionary work among them in 1872. The Episcopalians opened a
mission in 1881, the Roman Catholics in 1894.
