USA > Oklahoma > A standard history of Oklahoma; an authentic narrative of its development from the date of the first European exploration down to the present time, including accounts of the Indian tribes, both civilized and wild, of the cattle range, of the land openings and the achievements of the most recent period, Vol. I > Part 6
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PLANT AND ANIMAL LIFE
The eastern third of the state, which is a humid region, is char- acterized by a flora that is similar to that of other states imme- diately contiguous to the lower valley of the Mississippi River. A relatively large proportion of this section of the state was originally covered with forest growth, interspersed with smaller areas of prairie land. In the central part of the state the timber areas are generally limited to the fringing growth along the channels of streams and to soils which are peculiarly favorable for tree growth. In the plains region there is practically no tree growth except scat- tering specimens of a few species which occur along streams and water courses on sand dunes. The most common species of trees in Oklahoma include oaks (of possibly a dozen species), elm (three species), cottonwood, hickory (five or six species including pecan), walnut, juniper (two species), pine (three species), hackberry, maple (two species), box-elder, ash (two species), sycamore, gum, bois d'arc, besides a great many others of less importance. Of wild fruits there are a number of species, including plums, cherries, blackberries, raspberries, dewberries, huckleberries, currants, goose- berries, grapes, crab-apples, persimmons, and strawberries. In the central and western portions of the state some of the tree forms tend to become dwarfed because of climatic conditions. Thus there are at least four species of dwarf plums indigenous to Oklahoma, while dwarf species of hackberry, walnut, oak, buckeye, pine and cedar may also be found in certain localities.
The most common wild grass in the central and eastern sections is the ordinary bunch grass, though bluestem, goldentop and other species are by no means uncommon. In the western part of the state the above mentioned species are largely replaced by buffalo grass, mesquite grass and the several species of grama grasses. These grasses of the sub-humid and semi-arid plains regions are very hardy and persistent and furnish excellent pasturage. They
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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
have the capacity of drying when matured and yet preserving most of their nutritive properties, thus affording valuable winter pas- turage. In the western part of the old No-Mans-Land country the character of the vegetation becomes even more strikingly that of the arid region, the yucca, bush cactus and sagebrush being prominent features in the landscape.
In the character of its animal life, Oklahoma is not materially different from other states in the Mississippi Valley. Originally it was a veritable paradise for the hunter. Buffalo, elk, deer (both blacktail and Virginia), antelope, rabbits and jackrabbits of at least four species, black bear, cinnamon bear (in Cimarron County), raccoon, opossum, timber wolf, coyote, fox (two or three species), beaver, otter, mink, muskrat and prairie dog were the principal animals. Birds of every species inhabiting the country from the humid region of the Mississippi Valley across the plains to the sub- mountainous region may be found in Oklahoma. Buffalo were com- mon in all parts of the state, though they did not gather in immense herds in the timbered region as they did on the treeless plains. Major Bradford found them in the Valley of the Kiamitia in 1819 and the Leavenworth Expedition found them near the site of Eufaula in 1834. Wild horses were also found in the eastern part of the state in early days. Game birds were also numerous. In- deed, it is doubtful if there was any other area of like size on the continent in which wild turkeys, prairie chickens and bobwhite quails were as plentiful as they were in Oklahoma. Most of them have long since disappeared, however, and unless careful protection is afforded several of the species are doomed to early extermina- tion. In the days of the pioneer settlement in the central part of the state prairie chickens were brought to the railroad shipping points by the wagon load and quails by the bushel. Now the quails are comparatively scarce while it is probable that there are whole counties in which there is not a single prairie chicken. Wild tur- keys are still fairly common in some of the remote areas in the wooded region of Eastern Oklahoma but in the central and western parts of the state where they once swarmed in countless thousands, they seem to have followed the buffalo to extinction.
CHAPTER II THE INDIANS OF OKLAHOMA
PREHISTORIC TRIBES
There is abundant evidence to prove that certain parts of Okla- homa were inhabited by people of the Indian race long before the discovery of America by Columbus. The traces of their former presence and the relics and remains of their simple arts and indus- tries may be found in many parts of the state. It is altogether probable that there were several distinct stocks or tribes.
THE EARTH-HOUSE PEOPLE
The prehistoric stock which was by far the most numerous, if the conclusion is to be reached by ruins and remains which give evidence of its activities was one which during a period of many generations' duration inhabited the region now embraced by over twenty counties in the eastern and southeastern parts of the state, as well as the entire State of Arkansas and parts of several other adjacent states. The implements and utensils of these people indi- cate that they were sedentary and agricultural in their habits and that they were well advanced in the scale of civilization. They espe- cially excelled in the art of making pottery. They dwelt in strongly built, timber-framed, dome-shaped houses, which were covered with sod or turf. When the supporting posts and poles of one of these houses became so far decayed as to render it unsafe it was aban- doned and another house of the same general character was built, usually within a convenient distance. When such a structure finally collapsed the heavy layer of earth with which its walls and roof were covered naturally fell in the form of a low, circular mound. These mounds still remain to this day in numbers so vast as to cast serious doubts in the minds of many as to the possibility of their being of human origin. Evidence as to this is conclusive, however. The wide distribution and common occurrence of these earth-house mounds affords abundant opportunity for archaeological investiga- tion and exploration.
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EARTH HOUSE MOUNDS.
EARTH HOUSE MOUNDS IN LEFLORE COUNTY
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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
CAVE AND LEDGE PEOPLE
Another prehistoric stock entirely distinct from that whose monuments remain in the form of the prairie mounds was a tribe of people who made their homes or abodes under the shelter of projecting rock ledges and in the open mouths of caves. The people of this stock lived in a more restricted area in the northeastern part of the state, though further investigation may result in showing a more extensive habitat. As might be expected the cultural develop- ment of these Cave and Ledge People was not equal to that of the Earth-House People. They were not nearly so numerous, and it is probable that they lived almost exclusively by hunting and fishing, whereas, the Earth-House People gained a large part of their liveli- hood by cultivating the soil. These facts are abundantly evidenced by the kitchen refuse, such as bones broken to extract the marrow and the shells of several species of bivalves, and also by their im- plements, utensils and weapons.
THE MOUND BUILDERS
In the valleys of the Red, Arkansas, Grand, Illinois and other Oklahoma rivers there are large mounds similar to those found in the valleys of the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers, and it seems not improbable that they were built by the same race of prehistoric people. These mounds are in various forms, some being conical, some pyramidal, both being truncated more often than complete. The several pyramidal mounds thus far described, both rectangular and square, were apparently built with due regard for the cardinal points. It is probable that they are more ancient than the earth- house mounds, which generally abound in the same localities. Whether they are exceeded in antiquity by the remains of human occupancy in the caves and under the ledges has not been ascer- tained.
OTHER PREHISTORIC PEOPLES
Evidences of prehistoric life and activity are far less numer- ous in the central and western parts of the state, though it is pos- sible that future developments in this line may result in bringing to light much more than has been suspected. A flint arrow-tip was taken from a sand pit, six feet beneath the surface of the ground, in the Valley of the Deep Fork of the Canadian, near Oklahoma City. A granite metate, or mealing stone was excavated
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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
from a depth nearly as great on a hillside near Colony, in Washita County. In neither of these instances was the overlying layer of soil of such a character as to indicate that it could have been readily disturbed or transported by the action of wind or water, so it seems evident that they are relics of a very ancient life. Throughout the western part of the state, flint implements and other remains of prehistoric life may be most commonly found in the immediate vicin- ity of springs of water, which quite naturally afforded the most con- venient village and camp sites.
. SURVIVING INDIGENOUS TRIBES
Although a number of Indian tribes which are still in existence · may be classed as having been indigenous to Oklahoma, most of them ranged far over the borders of neighboring states from time to time. In the prehistoric period, as well as in more recent times, Indian tribes were wont to change their habitats, usually because of pressure of superior force on the part of some other tribe, though possibly there were other impelling motives in some instances. In- deed, most of the tribes now listed as indigenous in Oklahoma may be traced from other sources either within the historic period or within a comparatively brief epoch before its beginning. Thus, it is a well established fact that all of the tribes of the Siouan linguistic stock, including the Osages and Quapaws of Oklahoma, came origi- nally from the Atlantic seaboard, in Carolina and Virginia, while the Comanches, Kiowas and Apaches of the Plains, long allied but unrelated, all came from the far Northwest. On the other hand, the Caddoan tribes, including not only the Caddoes proper but also the Wichitas and other related tribes, which, within the historic period, occupied or ranged over the greater part of the state, south of the Canadian and lower Arkansas rivers, have lived in that region from time immemorial. Indeed, there is a possibility that these Cad- doan tribes are the direct descendants of the prehistoric Earth- House People.
THE CADDOAN TRIBES
The Caddo Tribe, which now represents a consolidation of sev- eral closely related subtribes or bands, originally inhabited the val- leys of the Sabine and Red rivers, in Texas and Louisiana, and ex- tending northward into the southeastern confines of Oklahoma. Above this tribe, along the Valley of the Red River was the Keechi
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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
Tribe, though its range extended southward to the Valley of the Trinity River in Texas. Still farther west in the vicinity of the Wichita Mountains and in the Valley of the Upper Red River and those of its principal tributaries lived the Wichita and kindred tribes, the Waco and Towakony. The people of these tribes were always more or less sedentary in their habits, living in fixed villages and depending upon the cultivation of the soil for a large part of their sustenance.
THE SIOUAN TRIBES
The Osage and Quapaw tribes are closely related, their language being the same with slight variations. As a part of the Great Sioux
GRASS THATCHED HOUSE OF THE WICHITAS
or Dakota stock, their ancestors migrated from the East and it is believed that they arrived in the Trans-Mississippi country about 600 years ago. The Osages lived in Missouri, Eastern Kansas, Northern Arkansas, and Northeastern Oklahoma. The Quapaws lived south of the Osages, along the Valley of the Arkansas and in the eastern part of Oklahoma. The Osages retained a distinct tradi- tion to the effect that their ancestors had driven out and dispos- sessed the Caddoan tribes when they came into the Arkansas Val- ley. Both Osages and Quapaws sold their lands in Oklahoma to the Government over ninety years ago, though each afterward ac- cepted reservations in this state.
THE SHOSHONEAN TRIBES
The Comanches were an off-shoot of the Shoshones of Wyoming and Idaho, with whom they maintained fraternal relations until
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a comparatively recent period. They are supposed to have drifted out on the Great Plains about the time of the first Spanish explora- tions and they are known to have occupied or overrun the region between the Arkansas River and the Lower Rio Grande for at least two centuries past. They were a type of the nomadic Indian of the Plains, in that they lived entirely by the chase and roamed over a
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GROUP OF KIOWA WARRIORS
vast region in search of game and in making war. A relatively small area in the Valley of the Upper Cimarron, in the western part of Cimarron County was included in the habitat of the Utes, who were mountaineers. The country bordering upon the Valley of the Cimarron in that part of its course is semi-mountainous, thus mak- ing it possible for the Utes to penetrate farther into the buffalo
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HISTORY OF OKLAHOMA
range in that vicinity than elsewhere along the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, while at the same time they were in a region whose topography enabled them to easily act upon the defensive when attacked by their hereditary enemies of the Plains tribes.
THE KIOWAS AND PLAINS APACHES
Like the Comanches, the Kiowas were from the Rocky Moun- tains, and were living in the region at the source of the Missouri River at the beginning of the historic period. Thence they had drifted out on the Great Plains in the vicinity of the Black Hills of South Dakota. About the time of the American Revolution, the Kiowas were driven south of the Platte River by the Cheyennes, who in turn were giving way before the pressure of superior num- bers on the part of the Sioux. Within a few years the Kiowas began to range south of the Arkansas River, where they came into conflict with the Comanches. Eventually, about 1795, they made peace with the Comanches and entered into an alliance with them which has been maintained ever since, the two tribes acting in unison in all matters of common interest, such as the making of war and entering into treaties. With the Kiowas (who have no known linguistic affi- liations with any other tribe) came a small band of Indians of Athapascan stock, who, because they spoke a language somewhat similar to that of the Apaches of New Mexico and Arizona, were called Apaches, though it is evident that they have been separated from any other tribe of that stock for hundreds of years. They have always lived and acted with the Kiowas.
In addition to the foregoing tribes there were probably several others which ranged into Oklahoma at rare intervals but such incur- sions were so infrequent and so brief that the inclusion of such bands in the list of indigenous tribes would scarcely be warranted. It is worthy of remark, however, that all of the indigenous tribes with one exception are still residents of the state. The last of the Utes left the Cimarron Valley about the time that the big buffalo herds disappeared from that region, removing thence to join the main body of their tribe in Southwestern Colorado.
FIRST PERIOD FRENCH AND SPANISH EXPLORATIONS
CHAPTER III
THE SPANISH EXPLORERS IN OKLAHOMA
The written history of Oklahoma properly begins with the advent of the first European exploring expedition within the limits of the state. Within less than fifty years after the discovery of America by Columbus, the Spaniards had explored and colonized the West India Islands, Mexico, Central America and parts of South America. They had also explored Florida. In 1528, a well equipped expedition under the command of Narvaez attempted to explore the region embracing the present Gulf Coast states. Eight years later the four survivors of this ill-fated expedition reached the Spanish settlements on the coast of the Gulf of California. The greater part of the intervening period had been spent by the mem- bers of this forlorn remnant in a state of captivity among the Indian tribes near the Texas coast. Finally they had made their escape and, under the leadership of Cabeça de Vaca had found their way across desert and mountain to the settlements of their own people in Mexico. In the course of their wanderings they heard rumors of a land of gold far to the north. This led to the dispatch of two ex- peditions in that direction. The second of these, commanded by Francisco de Coronado was the one which reached and crossed the present State of Oklahoma and with the narrative of which the written history of this state begins.
THE CORONADO EXPEDITION
Coronado was provincial governor of Nueva Galicia when he organized an expedition to explore the region to the north of Mexico. During the first year of his wanderings (1540) he pene- trated the present states of Arizona and New Mexico with a force of 300 Spaniards and 1,000 (Mexican) Indians. His winter en- campment was at a place called Tiguex, on the Rio Grande, near the present Town of Bernalillo, New Mexico. Thus far the expedi- tion had proven to be a disappointment, the rich cities which had Vol. I-2
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been the object of its quest having been found to be only mud- walled pueblos in which there was no gold. During the unusually severe winter in the encampment at Tiguex, the slender supply of provisions was insufficient for the needs of such a large force of men. In this emergency recourse was had to the Indian corn which had been stored in the neighboring pueblos or Indian villages. Naturally the owners resented such inroads upon their own food supplies and an uprising followed, only to be subdued by the supe- rior force and skill of the invaders. It was then that the people of the pueblos hit upon an expedient that ultimately led to the de- parture of such undesirable neighbors. The Spaniards were con- stantly in search of gold, of which the pueblo Indians of the Rio Grande Valley had little and for which they cared less. In one of their villages near Coronado's encampment was a prisoner or slave who belonged to one of the tribes far away on the Great Plains. Probably on the promise of his liberty he was persuaded to tell the Spaniards a fanciful tale of his own country where, he said, gold was very plentiful. At any rate, the effect of his story was to stimu- late immediately a desire for further exploration, for the Spaniards were quick to believe almost any tale that promised the possible acquisition of great wealth. Every member of Coronado's com- mand was therefore eager to march still farther into the unknown land despite the fact that privation and danger and hostility had been their only reward thus far.
Setting forth from the winter encampment at Tiguex, in April, 1541, Coronado's command marched eastward to the Rio Pecos where a halt had to be made until that stream could be bridged. Thence the line of march led out across the southern portion of the Great Plains, which the Spaniards called Llano Estacado, meaning "staked plains," because it seemed to them that it was necessary to mark their trail with stakes or other signs so that it might not be lost on the return journey. After journeying many days across the treeless plains, on which they met Indians of two nomadic tribes which lived among the buffalo herds, Coronado finally became sus- picious of his guide. Upon being pressed the latter finally admitted that he had deliberately led the Spaniards astray with the intention causing them to perish for lack of food and water. The Indians who were met among the buffalo herds were of tribes known as the Querechos and Teyas-probably known in later times as Apaches and Wichitas respectively. They told Coronado that Quivira was far to the north, as also did another Indian who had accompanied his command from the Rio Grande. However, because his supplies
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were already running short, Coronado found it impossible to pro- ceed farther with his entire command. He accordingly selected thirty mounted men and six footmen to accompany him on his further search, together with several Indian guides. The rest of his force was ordered to return to the Rio Grande.
Coronado marched for many days toward the north and north- east and claimed to have reached 40º north latitude, which is the present boundary between Kansas and Nebraska.1 It is believed that he visited that part of Kansas where the Kansas, or Kaw River is formed by the junction of the Republican and Smoky Hill forks. Quivira proved to be a great disappointment to the Spaniards in that gold was unknown among its inhabitants. Coronado recog- nized the agricultural possibilities of the country but, because he could not duplicate the achievements of Cortez and Pizzaro, his expedition was counted a failure. After spending several weeks in Quivira he returned to the Rio Grande by a more direct route, some of the Indians of Quivira accompanying him as guides.
OTHER SPANISH EXPLORERS
The fact that they were not permitted to accompany Coronado on his final march to Quivira was a matter of keen disappointment to many of his men who were compelled to return with the main
1 Shortly after his arrival on the Rio Grande, Coronado wrote a letter to the king of Spain, telling briefly the result of his expedition to Quivira. This letter was of course almost devoid of detail. The accounts of this expedition by Pedro de Castenada and Juan Jara- millo, from which the greater part of the information concerning the journey, to Quivira has been secured, were both written some years afterward. For this reason they are characterized by a degree of vagueness which makes it practically impossible to locate the route followed by Coronado with even an approximate accuracy. Some authorities incline to the opinion that he passed northward across the central part of Oklahoma. Others hold that his route was in a northeasterly direction across the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma and, again, there have been some very plausible argu- ments advanced in support of the theory that the line of march was northward near the 100th meridian. Numerous maps have been drawn, showing the probable route traversed by Coronado but prac- tically every one of them is valueless for the reason above stated. Had one of the chroniclers of the expedition kept a daily memoran- dum or journal telling of the distances traveled, the streams crossed, and other topographical features observed in passing, it would now be possible to locate the route without much difficulty. Unfor- tunately, this does not seem to have been done.
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part of his command to the Rio Grande. Although he found no stores of golden treasure the romantic story of Quivira appealed strongly to their imagination and its traditions remained persist- ently current in Mexico for half a century or more. Eventually it led to other exploring expeditions which crossed Oklahoma. These, however, were even more barren of results than was that of Coro- nado in the way of additions to geographical knowledge, though they were otherwise interesting.
The first of these subsequent expeditions was that of Capt. Fran- cisco Leiva Bonilla, who in 1594 was commissioned by the governor of New Viscaya to raise a force for the purpose of subduing some hostile Indians in Northern Mexico. Afterward, although he had no orders to do so, Bonilla marched his command in search of the fabled Quivira. This expedition is believed to have gone as far north as the Platte River in Nebraska. Bonilla was killed by his lieutenant, Juan de Humana, as the result of a personal dispute. Humana succeeded to the command of the expedition which finally ended most tragically. The Indians of a tribe known as the Escansaques (probably the same as that which was later known as the Kansas, or Kaw) surrounded Humana's Camp one night and, at daybreak, set fire to the grass on all sides and then killed the panic stricken Spaniards as they attempted to escape. Two children, who had been held as captives or slaves by the Spaniards were all that were spared from the slaughter.
Seven years later Governor Don Juan de Oñate, of New Mexico, led an expeditionary force of eighty men in search of Quivira. Oñate's guide was a Mexican Indian who had been a deserter from the Bonilla-Humana command. Meeting with the Escansaque In- dians, which will be remembered as having been the tribe which massacred the Humana Expedition, Oñate was persuaded to accom- pany them on a visit to the Indians of Quivira, professedly for the purpose of making peace. When they arrived, however, they cast all pretense aside and attacked the Indians of Quivira. When Oñate and his men remonstrated, the Escansaques were so angered that they turned upon their Spanish allies. The latter gave a good account of themselves in the fight which followed, killing a large number of their adversaries. As already stated the Escansaques were really the Kansas, or Kaw, Indians, while the Indians of Quivira were the same that afterward became known as the Pawnees.
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