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Neighboring IndiansTaken from Loose Leaves of the History of Lamar County Yoakum is our authority for saying that practically all if not all the Texas Indians were worshipers of the sun. It should be borne in mind, however, that the Indians in anything like close proximity to North and Northeast Texas were not, with the possible exception of the Quapaws, among what would be called the aborigines. This is especially true of the beginning of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In 1818 the United States acquired by treaty and purchase from the Quapaws practically all or at least the larger part of the domain which afterwards became the Indian Territory. The Caddos were by far the most populous tribe along the Texas side of Red river from where Shreveport now stands up to the mouth of Bois d'arc. It must be remembered however that only in rare instances does Indian occupation mean exclusive occupation. While the Caddos were preponderant in numbers there were
other tribes in the same region. There were a few Kickapoos, one settlement
of them in Red River county near the present town of Annona. There were
also some villages of Cooshattas. When Claiborne Wright came up Red
river in his boat, the Pioneer, in the year 1816, he passed one of their
villages which was located on the bank of the river some distance above
the Raft.1 He was attacked by them and his boat was robbed of several
hundred dollars worth of supplies of which he stood much in need in
the next very few weeks. The Muskogee tribe and consequently Cooshattas
were a branch of kin to the Choctaws, Chickasaws and Seminoles. The
Choctaws were moved principally from Mississippi to the reservation
which the government had purchased for them from the Quapaws, in the
early thirties. They were moved up Red river in boats under government
contracts, and were landed at or near Fort Towson on the Oklahoma side
of the river. In 1836 about five hundred of the Choctaws had some misunderstanding
with the national government about their location in the Indian Territory
and refused to go there until the adjustment could be made. They landed
on the Texas side of the river or crossed over after they had been landed
and camped for several months on Bee Bayou just east of Pattonville.
Their presence was greatly appreciated by the few settlers who were
living in what is now Lamar and Red River counties. They were friendly
and helped hold the more war-like tribes in the vicinity in check. |
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Special thanks to Jeff Kemp for designing the Lamar County banner. |
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