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 7
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A Spanish missionary-priest, Father Juan de Salas, was escorted to the Sierra Jumanos (Wichita Mountains) by an expedition
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which marched from Santa Fe for the purpose of establishing a mission among the Indians in 1629. For a period of nearly twenty years thereafter Spanish Catholic missionaries were engaged in working among the Indians of that region. This is the first re- corded instance of mission work among the Indians of Oklahoma. It did not prove to be permanent in its character as did the mis- sions of New Mexico and Southern Texas, however.
The Wichita Mountains were again visited in 1650, an expedi- tion under the command of Don Diego del Castillo spending six months there, the object being to prospect for gold and silver. Pearls were found in some of the neighboring streams but gold and silver were not discovered. The stories of "lost Spanish mines" in the Wichita Mountains, which persisted in the minds of the credulous down to a very recent period, doubtless dated from that remote incident.
RELATIONS WITH THE INDIANS
The Spanish colonists had comparatively little difficulty in securing and retaining control over the Indians who lived in fixed villages, like those of the pueblos of New Mexico .. With the wild, roving tribes of the plains region it was different, for they were naturally impatient of any restraint, even before they became possessed of horses. After they learned to use horses in hunting and raiding they naturally became still more intractable. The Comanches were probably the first of the Indians of the plains to become skilled in the use of horses on the hunt and foray. From that time on, they became a menace to the Spanish settlements of the Rio Grande. During the early part of the eighteenth century such predatory raids were very frequent.
In 1717 a Spanish force of 500 men was raised at Santa Fe and the neighboring settlements for the purpose of punishing the Comanches. Under the command of Don Juan de Padilla, this force marched eastward across the Llaño Estacado (the present Texas Panhandle) to a point near the western boundary of Oklahoma where a great Comanche village was found. The Spaniards attacted the village at daybreak and a furious battle followed.2 A great
2 In those days the Spaniards, like the Indians, allowed their hair to grow long but it was tied at the back of the head. In pre- paring to attack the Comanche Camp, they let their hair down and painted their faces red so that they might look like Indians. At the dawn of the morning they saw the great Comanche Camp, with
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many of the Comanches were killed and 700 of them were taken prisoners. Many Spanish captives from the settlements on the Rio Grande were found and rescued. The return of Padilla's vic- torious expedition was made the occasion of great rejoicing and a general celebration throughout New Mexico, special religious serv- ices being rendered in all of the churches as a token of devout thanksgiving for the triumph of Spanish arms and valor over the hosts of the enemy.3 The Comanches were reported to have been so badly humiliated by this crushing defeat that they did not again make war on the Spanish settlements for more than fifty years.
hundreds of lodges in sight. At the word of command, the Spanish forces charged the enemy, shouting the war cry of Santiago as they did so. Many of the Comanches thought it a return of one of their own war parties from a successful raid but they were soon unde- ceived. Although they stoutly defended themselves, they did not recover from the effect of the surprise.
3 The seven hundred Comanche prisoners, consisting of men, women and children, were sent under escort of a company of sol- diers commanded by Don Pedro Pinto, to the port of Vera Cruz, whence they were shipped to Spain. Upon their arrival in that country they were presented to the Queen of Spain, whose sympa- thies were touched by their evident distress. By her command, the Comanche captives were sent to Cuba, where lands were given to them and every provision was made for their comfort. But the un- healthfulness of a tropical climate, combined with the hopelessness of broken hearts which pined for the freedom of the Great Plains, soon finished the work of extermination and in a few years not one of the Comanche prisoners was left to tell the tale.
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CHAPTER IV
FRENCH EXPLORATIONS
The first permanent French settlements in America were made in Canada, along the valley of the St. Lawrence River, which served as a base of operations for the exploration of the interior of the continent. The valley of the Mississippi was finally reached by way of the Great Lakes and the Wisconsin and Illinois rivers. The explorations of Father Marquette, the Jesuit missionary, and of the Chevalier Robert de la Salle, during the latter part of the seven- teenth century, gave to France her claim for dominion over the val- ley of the Mississippi and those of its tributaries. The colonization of Louisiana, which followed in due course of time, was the legiti- mate outgrowth of this claim. The fact that Oklahoma is drained by two of the principal tributaries of the Mississippi put it within the scope of the French exploring expeditions which followed the settlement of Lousiana. Even before the settlement of New Orleans, Saint Denis, a most intrepid French explorer, had traversed the lower valley of Red River and had crossed Texas to the valley of the Rio Grande in 1714. Within ten years thereafter Oklahoma had been reached and partially explored from at least two quarters.
LA HARPE'S EXPLORATIONS
Bernard de La Harpe commanded an exploring expedition which ascended the Red River to the mouth of the Kiamitia in 1719 and spent some time in the southeastern part of Oklahoma. Two years later La Harpe ascended the Arkansas River and visited the eastern part of Oklahoma. He found the Indians of Southeastern Oklahoma already in possession of horses at that time. In 1722 La Harpe re-established the French military station at Arkansas Post, fifty miles above the mouth of the Arkansas River, which had first been planted by Henri de Tonty, La Salle's lieutenant, in 1686. Henceforth Arkansas Post was the base of all French opera-
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tions in the valley of the Arkansas as was Natchitoches for the valley of the Red River, the latter post having been established by Saint Denis in 1714.1
OTHER FRENCH EXPLORERS
The French were very active in exploring the region immediately west of the Mississippi at the time La Harpe was engaged in visit- ing the hitherto unexplored wilderness in Southern and Eastern Oklahoma. In 1719 Lieut. Claude Charles Du Tisné, a French officer and trader, ascended the Missouri River and penetrated Northeastern Kansas as far as the villages of the Pawnees, visiting also the Osage and Kansas Indians as he passed. Five years later the Sieur de Bourgmont, who had meanwhile (1722) established Fort Orleans, on the Missouri River, led an expedition into the north central part of Kansas, where he visited the Padouca (Comanche) Indians, to whom he made presents in an endeavor to win them from their supposed attachment to the Spaniards. The Pa- doucas, Pawnees, Kaws (or Kansas) and Osages all possessed some horses at that time, their warriors being mounted, but the trail- ing poles of the lodges, upon which the buffalo skin coverings and other movable property were packed for transportation, were still dragged by the women and dogs.
It is probable that large areas of Oklahoma were first visited and explored by French trappers and traders who kept no journal or other written records of their itineraries and who rendered nothing . more than a verbal report, if any, to their superiors or factors.
1 It is a fact worthy of note that the earliest French explorers of the valleys of the Mississippi and its lower tributary rivers came by way of the Great Lakes from Canada, where the canoe was the universal means of transportation and travel. The means of travel to which they were thus accustomed was quite naturally adopted for use in exploring the regions adjoining the Mississippi, though the light birch-bark canoe of the northern lake region had to be replaced by the heavier craft which was made by hollowing out the trunk of a large tree and reducing it to the required shape and size. The Spanish explorers, on the other hand, came from Mexico, where the rivers were neither plentiful nor navigable, hence they traveled on horseback with pack-trains of mules and chose their course re- gardless of rivers and valleys. The exploration of Oklahoma by the French during the eighteenth century was therefore carried out with the navigable channels of its two principal streams, namely, the Arkansas and Red rivers, as avenues of approach and communi- cation.
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The most conclusive evidence as to the thoroughness with which the greater part of Oklahoma was visited and explored by the romantic rangers who scoured woodland and prairie in search of beaver and other furs is to be found in the French names which, either in the original or in corrupted form, still appear on the map of Oklahoma to distinguish rivers, creeks, mountains and hills.2
In 1739 the brothers Mallet, Pierre and Paul, with four com- panions, ascended the Missouri River to the mouth of the Platte the course of which was followed to the eastern base of the Rocky Moun- tains. Thence, turning toward the south, they skirted the mountains to New Mexico. After spending the winter at Santa Fe they returned as far as the Arkansas River, where the party divided, three members returning overland to the valley of the Missouri and three descending the Arkansas to its mouth in a canoe. The year after their return (1741), an expedition under the command of a French naval officer, Fabry de la Bruyere, attempted to explore the Canadian River in canoes but had to abandon it as unnavigable.
2 The names of Point de Sucre (Sugar Loaf), Cavaniol ( Cava- nal) and Sans Bois mountains are plainly of French origin as are those of the Poteau, Illinois, Canadian, Grand, Verdigris, Grand Saline (Salt Fork of the Arkansas), and Faux Ouachita (Washita) rivers. Likewise the name of the Fourche Maline, Bayou Manard and of Salaison (Sallisaw), Viande (Vian), Dardenne (Dirty), Chouteau and Cache creeks are reminders of French activities in Oklahoma during the eighteenth century. As will be noted in the foregoing list, several of these French geographical names have been corrupted with the course of time until they are almost unrecogniz- able in their present form and no doubt many of the original French names were translated into English even as the former was trans- lated from the original Indian appellation. Thus, for instance, the Osage Indians called a stream in the north central part of the state Ne-Scua-Tonga, which, literally interpreted means "River Salt Big." The first French explorers named it Grand Saline, as a mat- ter of course, and later on came the American pioneer who called it Salt Fork, yet all three have the same meaning.
CHAPTER V
RIVALRY OF FRANCE AND SPAIN
The appearance of the first French explorers and settlers in the valley of the Mississippi was regarded with jealous eyes by the Spanish authorities in Mexico, who promptly began to extend the scope of their own operations to the eastern part of Texas. Espe- cially did they resent the occupation of the valleys of the Red and Arkansas rivers by the French. The feeling of enmity thus en- gendered was usually manifest in the form of an armed truce between the outposts of the French and Spanish colonies, but there were also hostile clashes, as in the case of the Villazur expedition which met with defeat and destruction at the hands of the French and their Indian allies.1 This spirit of strife was stilled for the time by the cession of the Province of Louisiana to Spain, in 1763, but its final settlement came only when the entire region had passed under the ownership and control of the United States of America.
THE FUR TRADE
The natural wealth in the way of fur-bearing animals, furnished much of the incentive for the colonization of Canada by France and it also was the basis of the material prosperity of Canada throughout the period of its history as a French dependency. It was the fur trade which beckoned to the adventurous French ex- plorers and led them to seek out the waterways, tread the forest paths and tramp over the trackless prairies of the interior of the
1 Some versions of the story of the surprise and massacre of the Villazur Expedition locate its scene on the Missouri River, presum- ably in Northeastern Kansas. John B. Dunbar (Kansas Historical Society Collections, Vol. XI, pp. 397-423) locates the scene of this tragedy at the forks of the Platte River, in Western Nebraska. That it might have occurred in the valley of the Kansas River, or even that of the Arkansas, would seem to be more probable. The date of its occurrence was in August, 1720.
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continent before the English colonists reached the crest of the Alle- ghenies. When the first French settlements were made in the valley of the Mississippi it was to open up a virgin field for the trade in furs with the Indians of that region. True, the furs and peltries of the lower Mississippi region were not equal in quality to those of the regions farther north but they had a value and, moreover, they were plentiful and could be secured at a cost which yielded a large margin of profit.
As stated elsewhere, the first French explorers, being navigators of canoes, generally followed the rivers. Likewise, the traders and trappers traveled by water. There were therefore, two chan- nels of trade in Oklahoma during the eighteenth century, namely, the Arkansas and Red rivers. The trade of the valleys of the Arkan- sas and its tributary streams centered at Arkansas Post, which was situated fifty miles above the mouth of the Arkansas, while that of the valleys of the Red River and its tributaries was directed from Natchitoches, the principal pioneer settlement in the lower valley. In the case of the Red River valley, it is known that there were trading posts established at various points above Natchitoches. It is not improbable that one or more of these may have been located within the present State of Oklahoma, but, if so, there is no record or trace of such settlement. Even less is known of the operations of traders and trappers in the valley of the Arkansas though, as already stated, the geographical names which date from that period bear conclusive evidence as to their extensiveness.
The fur hunters of that period were as a class both picturesque and venturesome. Usually they made their expeditions in small parties, though some of. the more self-reliant among them would venture on long expeditions alone and unattended. Generally the leader of such a party was a native of Canada or of France and was regarded as the representative of the factor or company that owned and operated the trading depot, which, as the base of such opera- tions, was maintained in the lower river country. The employes, or engagés, were mostly of Creole and mixed French-Indian blood. Kneeling, paddle in hand, in the bottoms of their canoes, or pulling at the cordelle (rawhide towing line) they laboriously ascended the courses of the rivers and of the tributary beaver streams, penetrating hundreds of miles into sections and regions which were hitherto unknown except to the native Indian tribes. Almost always there was carried a small stock of knives, trinkets, beads and other articles suitable for the Indian trade as well as traps which were to be used directly in snaring and taking the beaver, otter, mink or other
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fur-bearing animals of which they were in quest. Such expeditions were fraught with dangers and risks, yet the profits were usually sufficient to allure any but the most timid.
Although some of the Frenchmen who came to these outposts brought their families with them, a large proportion of the individ- ual trappers and employes (some of whom were themselves of mixed Indian blood) were single men who married Indian .women. Many of the descendents of such unions were ultimately assimilated by intermarriage with the whites while others may be found among the Indians of the Osage and Quapaw tribes, among which families with French names (dating back to the period when the Province of Louisiana was a colony of France) are not uncommon.
THE FRENCH ON RED RIVER
That the French inhabitants of the lower Red River region were fairly well acquainted with the southern border of the present State of Oklahoma is conclusively proven by the description of the Red River which was written in 1805 to Gen. Henry Dearborn, secretary of war, by Dr. John Sibley, who had been recently ap- pointed United States Indian Agent for the tribes living in the lower valley of that stream, and who seemingly gathered much if not most of his information from some of the French people who had lived a lifetime in that country and were familiar with the channel of the river and with the land on both sides. The following account is extracted from his letter, beginning at a point a few miles below the eastern boundary of Oklahoma :
"You now arrive at the mouth of the Little River of the right. This river is about one hundred and fifty yards wide; the water clear as crystal; the bottom of the river stony, and is boatable, at high water, up to the great prairies, near two hundred miles by the course of the river; the low grounds generally ten to fifteen miles wide, abounding with a most luxuriant growth of rich timber, but subject to partial inundation at particular rainy seasons. After leaving this river, both banks of the Red River are cane, as before, for about twenty miles, when you come into the Round Prairie, right side, about five miles in circumference. At this place, Red River is fordable at low water, a hard, stony bottom, and is the first place from its mouth where it can be forded. This round prairie is high and pleasant, surrounded by handsome oak and hickory uplands; left side, cane as before, and then the same on both sides for twenty miles, to the Long Prairie, left side, forty
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miles long; opposite, cane as before. Near the middle of this prairie there is a lake about five miles in circumference, in an oval form, neither tree or shrub near it, nor stream of water running in or out of it; it is very deep and the water so limpid that a fish may be seen fifteen feet from the surface. By the side of this lake the Caddoques have lived from time immemorial. About one mile from the lake is the hill on which, they say, the Great Spirit placed one Caddo family, who were saved when, by a general deluge, all the world were drowned; from which family all the Indians have originated. To this little natural eminence, all the Indian tribes, as well as the Caddoques, for a great distance, pay devout and sacred homage. Here the French, for many years before Louisiana was ceded to Spain, had erected a small fort, kept some soldiers to guard a factory they had here established for the Indian trade, and several French families were settled in the vicinity, built a flour mill and cultivated wheat successfully for several years; and it is only a few years ago that the mill irons and mill stones were brought down. It is about twenty-five years since those French families moved down, and fourteen years since the Cad- doques left it."
It thus appears that, possibly as early as 1750, a small French settlement, with a garrison and a trading post, had been planted on the Texas side of the Red River on the border of Oklahoma, where it was maintained until about 1780. The description is sufficiently definite to warrant the belief that the vicinity if not the exact site of this settlement can be identified, even at this late date. Doctor Sibley continues his description of the river as it was ascended along the southern border of Oklahoma as follows:
"Here is another fording place when the river is low. On the opposite side a point of high oak, hickory and pine comes bluff to the river for about a mile; after which, thick cane to the upper end of the prairie; then the same on both sides for about twelve miles; then prairie on the left side for twenty miles; opposite side cane; then the same for thirty miles; then an oak high bluff three miles; cane again for about the same distance on both sides; then, for about one league, left side, is a beautiful grove of pecans, intermixed with no other growth; after which cane both sides for forty miles; then prairie, left side, for twenty miles and from one to two miles only in breadth, about the middle of which comes in a bayou of clear running water about fifty feet wide; then cane again, both sides of the river for about forty miles; then on the right side, a point of high pine woods, bluff to the river, for
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about half a mile; cane again fifteen or sixteen miles; then a bluff of large white rocks for about half a mile, near a hundred feet high ; cane again for about forty-five miles, to a prairie on the right side, of about thirty miles long and twelve or fifteen miles wide ; there is a thin skirt of wood along the bank of the river that, when the leaves are on the trees, the prairie is, from the river, scarcely to be seen. From the upper end of this prairie it is thick cane for about six miles, when we arrive at the mouth of Bayou Galle, which is on the right side, a beautiful, clear, running stream of wholesome, well-tasted water; after passing which it is thick cane again for twenty-five miles, when we arrive at a river that falls in on the right side, which is called by the Indians Kiomitchie, and by the French La Riviere la Mine, or Mine River, which is about one hundred and fifty yards wide, the water clear and good, and is boatable about sixty miles to the silver mine, which is on the bank of the river, and the ore appears in large quantities, but the richness of it is not known. The Indians inform of their dis- covering another, about a year ago, on a creek that empties into the Kiomitchie, about three miles from its mouth, the ore of which, they say, resembles the other. The bottom land of this river is not wide, but rich, well timbered, well watered and situated. Above the mine the current of the river is too strong for boats to ascend it, the country being hilly. After passing the Kiomitchie, both banks of the river are covered with thick cane for twenty- five miles, then, left side, a high pine bluff appears again to the river for about half a mile; after which nothing but cane again on each side for about forty miles, which brings you to the mouth of a handsome bayou, left side, called by the Indians Nahaucha, which, in English, means the Kick; the French call it Bois d'Arc, or Bow-Wood Creek, from the large quantity of that wood that grows upon it. On this bayou, trappers have been more successful in catching beaver than on any other water of the Red River; it communicates with a lake, three or four miles from its mouth, called Swan Lake, from the great number of swans that frequent it. It is believed that this bayou is boatable, at high water, for twenty or thirty leagues, from what I have been informed by some of the hunters with whom I have conversed, who have been upon it. The low grounds are from three to six miles wide, very rich; the principal growth on it is the bois' d'arc. The great prairies ap- proach pretty near the low grounds on each side of this creek; leaving which it is cane both sides for about eight miles, when we arrive at the mouth of the Vazzures, or Boggy River, which is
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about two hundred yards wide, soft, miry bottom, the water whitish but well-tasted. Attempts have been made to ascend it in pirogues, but it was found to be obstructed by a raft of logs, about twenty miles up it. The current was found to be gentle and the depth of water sufficient; was the channel not obstructed, might be ascended far up it. The low grounds on this river are not as wide as on most of the rivers which fall into Red River, but are very rich; the high lands are a strong clay soil; the principal growth oak. After leaving this river the banks of the Red River are alternately cane and prairie; timber is very small and scattered along only in places; it is now only to be seen along the water courses. From the Boggy River to the Blue River is about fifty miles, which comes in on the right side. The water of this river is called blue from its extreme transparency ; it is said to be well-tasted, and is admired, for its quality, to drink. The bed of this river is lined generally with black and greyish flint stones; it is about fifty yards wide and is represented as a beautiful stream; pirogues ascend it for about sixty or seventy miles. The low grounds of Blue River are a good width for plantations, very rich; the growth pecan and every species of walnut. The whole country here, except on the margin of the water courses, is one immense prairie. After passing this river, copses of wood only are to be seen here and there along the river bank for about twenty-five miles, to a small, turgid river, called by the Indians Bahachaha, and by the French Faux Ouchita ; some call it the Missouri Branch of the Red River; it emits a considerable quantity of water, runs from north to south and falls into Red River, nearly at right angles, and heads near the head of the Arkansas, and is so brackish it cannot be drank. On this river and on a branch of the Arkansas, not far from it, the Indians find the salt rock; pieces of it have often been brought to Natchi- toches by hunters who procured it from the Indians.
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