This essay should be approximately 1 - 2 double-spaced page long. Correct spelling and grammar are important. Despite the well-known history of racism and bigotry in early Texas, ethnic relationships

Artifact recovery in modern times, such as "Midland Minnie" and the Leander, Texas skeleton, prove that humans had migrated as far south as Texas approximately 1 2,000 years ago. 2 By the time of Columbus' discovery of America in 1492, some Native civilizations had developed sophisticated governments, with cities as large as London or Paris. The Aztecs had pyramids, palaces, canals, and zoos. The Incas had developed a sophisticated highway system and had even practiced a form of brain surgery. Others, including some native Texan tribes, were relatively backwards, little removed from "stone age" status. The Indians, themselves, felt little kinship with one another.

How ever, the Europeans, noting the straight black hair, prominent noses, and skin color, at first assumed the natives to be one general society. DISCOVERY OF AMERICA Historians are certain that European Vikings discovered America in the 11th Century, but since nothing significant came of this discovery, it has received little historical attention. Nordic colonies were established in Greenland, Iceland, and Newfoundland, but cold weather and hostile natives brought an abrupt disbandment to the settlement s. The Vikings were not a literate society, so in time, the record of these findings faded from Europe's memory. It was not until the 20th century that scientists knew for certain this contact had ever been made. There is also some evidence suggesting tha t African boatmen made unintentional, one -way journeys to South America, as well, but like the Viking discovery, relatively little came from this interaction. For the next 400 years there was no provable contact between the Old World and the New. CH RISTOPHER COLUMBUS While most seafarers were excited about the prospect of reaching Asia by the southern route, Columbus felt that a circumnavigation of the world would be shorter still. Like most educated Europeans, he believed the world was round, but he vastly underestimated its size (the distance was 12,000 miles, not 4500), and he did not expect a mammoth land mass (America) to block his path. He also thought Asia extended much further east than it actually does. Had he continued without obstruction, he would have run out of supplies long before reaching Asia. For five years he sought funding. Eventually, the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, agreed to provide financial backing in return for 90% of any riches he might find. In 1492, he set out in the NINA, PINTA, and the SANTA MARIA. After 30 days, his crew rebelled, arguing there were barely enough supplies to make it back to Europe.

Columbus persuaded them to journey onward for three more days of travel. On the third day, land was sighted --one of the islands near present -day Cuba (probably San Salvador in the Bahamas). As the story goes, he called the inhabitants of that region, “Indians,” as he thought he had reached India. 3 Courtesy of the Library of Congress Columbus returned 3 more time s to the Western Hemisphere, but never could find his way through this unexpected land mass (America) to the famous trade centers. He eventually died in a debtor prison. Some say he never admitted that it was not Asia that he had reached. Columbus was eve n denied the honor of having the continent named after himself. Amerigo Vespucci , an adventurer aboard later explorations, convinced mapmakers that the land mass across the Atlantic was not the Orient but a new continent. The mapmakers thus named it "Ameri ca," after the man that publicized it. THE TREATY OF TORDESILLAS --1494 Arguably the most powerful person in the Western World, the Catholic Pope Alexander VI, awarded his two most favored nations virtual control of the "uncivilized" world. Spain received all of America, except for Brazil, which went to Portugal. The Portugues e were also given authority over Asia. SPAIN IN SOUTH AMERICA Subsequently, Spain found enormous surface wealth in the form of gold and silver in the parts of South America she controlled. Spain eventually transferred over 200 tons of gold and 16,00 0 tons of silver from America to Spain. For a time, this helped Spain become the leading nation in the world. Most of the gold was acquired by CONQUISTADORS , private entrepreneurs who daringly brutalized the Indians to gain control of the precious metals. Hernando Cortes was the most effective and most brutal, burning cities and temples and destroying the basis of the civilizations he was attacking. War had long been a way of life in Spain. The thirst for gold coupled with religious zeal pulled Spain ever d eeper into the New World. Myths of a Fountain of Youth and the Seven Cities of Gold eventually led the Spanish into Texas. Meanwhile, from the New World to the Old came corn, squash, beans, potatoes, peppers and the turkey. From the Old World to the New came livestock and disease. 4 TEXAS Part of the Spanish holdings included modern day Texas --an area that stretches 801 miles from the Panhandle to the Rio Grande and 770 miles from the Sabine River to El Paso --267,000 square miles. Texas is the only state that contains four distinct natural landform regions in the United States. ROCKY MOUNTAIN SYSTEM --Far west Texas makes up the highest elevation of the state, forming the basis for an elevational slant that runs generally in a northwest to southeast direction. This accounts for the fact that all the major rivers in Texas flow in the same southeasterly direction. The dry climate has led some to believe that West Texas is a very healthy place to live. An old folk saying goes: "If the people there want to die, they have to go live somewhere else." GREAT PLAINS --(Llano Estacado in the north and Edwards Plateau in the south). The Plains area has been described as an ocean of desert prairies often with severe drought problems. It was thought unfit for human habitation for many years. INTERIOR LOWLANDS --This is pa rt of the rolling plains that extend all the way to the Great Lakes. This land is very suitable for human habitation. The COASTAL PLAINS boast rich soil, deep bays, ample rain and a long growing season, very similar to the deep South. The border of the In terior Lowlands and the Coastal Plains is said to be the point where the United States “South” ends and the “West” begins. The region is susceptible to hurricanes brewing from the Caribbean. 5 TEXAS NATIVES Indians of Texas reflected the continenta l diversity. On the east coast of Texas lived the Caddos . The favorable climate encouraged farming, and the Caddos grew crops such as corn, squash, and beans --with the help of a wooden hoe. They also hunted --more as a supplement than as a staple --fished an d gathered plants for food. They used trees, grass, and leaves to make their homes, which were large timbered houses, domed and thatched, furnished with colored rugs, baskets, and pottery. They covered their bodies with tattoos. By the time of Columbus, th ey had domesticated the dog and the turkey, but no other animals. Both men and women worked the soil, and house -raising’s were public affairs. A typical home averaged 45 feet in height and 60 feet in width. Several families dwelled in a single structur e. Villages were of respectable size, reflecting the relatively advanced state of civilization enjoyed by the Caddos. Most Caddo tribes enjoyed an agricultural surplus that permitted the m to trade food for comfort items. The people constructed great eart hen mounds for rituals, much like the Mound Builders of the Mississippi River region. These tribes were very amiable to white men during the first years of contact and engaged in extensive trade with all Europeans and other Indian tribes. In fact, the name , "Texas," comes from the Caddo word "tayshas" or "tejas," which means friends. Over the years, the name was corrupted to the modern pronunciation of “Texas.” 6 The Karankawas (ka -RAN -ka -was) lived along the Coastal Plains of southeastern Texas. Tall and well -built, they fished, and they traveled nimbly in dugout canoes. They stuck pieces of cane through their lower lips and nipples for decoration. They hunted for alligators al ong the coast, and Spanish explorers wrote that these Indians put alligator fat on their bodies to keep mosquitoes from biting them — an odor repulsive to the Europeans. Unlike the Caddo, they lacked formal organization and led a nomadic life , living in read ily moveable wigwams . They caught seafood from the Gulf of Mexico. They foraged for berries, nuts, plants, and game , as they practiced no agriculture, whatsoever . Because of a general scarcity of food, Karankawa children commonly nursed until age 12. As historian T.R. Fehrenbach noted: "the Karankawas avoided all contact with Europeans; they refused to cooperate with them in any way and attacked any incursion of their territory with fury. In return, no Amerind tribe was ever described in worse terms or ex terminated with greater relish or sense of justification." The Karankawa had a reputation as cannibals, although their flesh -eating was more for ritual than for dietary benefit. They felt that to partially consume another human was to deny that enemy ent ry to eternal life. Karankawa’s also felt that this consumption captured the “essence” of the victim (courage, strength) and added such to their own character. It is likely that the name, "Karankawa," means "dog lovers," or "dog raisers." The group was known for the coyote -type canines that served them. Because their location was at the first point of contact with the Spanish, they were the one of the first Texas tribe s eliminated by Europeans. The Coahuiltecans (co -WHEEL -te-cans) lived in the dry pla ins of South Texas. In terms of natural resources, this was easily the poorest region in Texas. They were scantily clad hunters that led a nomadic life. Their homes were usually nothing more than windbreaks. Since buffalo herds did not live that far south due to a lack of thick grass, these Indians hunted deer, rabbit, turkey, and wild pig. In addition, they consumed spiders, ant eggs, lizards, rattlesnakes, worms, insects, rotting wood, and fished when they were near a stream. Fehrenbach notes, "they set [the fish] in the sun for several days, collecting flies and maggots. The enriched food was eaten with gusto. .

. . One peculiar source of food --was known as the 'second harvest.' Whole seeds and similar items picked out of human feces, cooked and chewed." The Coahuiltecans also concocted a drink, mescal, from a plant that was intoxicating — even to the point of hallucinogenic. I t remains the principal intoxicant of the Mexican peasantry even today. 7 The Coahuiltecans did not seek war but fought if their te rritory was violated. They frequently killed the female captives of their enemies, because they felt the land was already over -populated. Additionally, they often threw their own newborn girls to the dogs, lest these girls eventually became kidnapped and came to serve as birth mothers for enemy tribes. For themselves, they purchased wives from other tribes.

Because of their abject poverty, the Coahuiltecans were the group most enthusiastic toward the Spanish missionaries. The Jumano (who MAN o) in far West Texas and New Mexico, were divided into two groups . One focused on farming, while the other specialized in trade. The trading element was quite prolific, extending all the way from the Pueblos of New Mexico to the Caddo in East Texas . The farming branch lived in large structures built half above and half below ground. The surface walls were made of adobe -type bricks. Physically muscular and tall, a ll were well -dressed in tanned leather and possessed ample pottery. They avoided war. The Spanish evidently felt some degree of respect for this tribe, giving them the name that means "human," in Spanish. 8 By the start of the 14 th century, t he teepee -dwelling Apaches lived on the plains of North and West Texas , including the Panhandl e. Historians know the westernmost group as “Mescalero” Apaches and the eastern group as “Lipan.” Both were nomadic, hunting for buffalo, deer, and rabbit. The Apaches were warlike and unusually fierce and were skilled at fighting . They were a savage but fragmented group. Organized around extended families, there was no notion of an Apache nation, for example. Their only socializing acts were hunting and war. The group economy was based as much on theft and plunder as self -sufficiency. Constantly on the m ove, they had no use for pottery or basketry. Water was transported in bags made from the stomachs of dead bison and food was generally wrapped in buffalo robes. They trained large dogs to pull their belongings on a type of dry -land sled. Apache were ofte n infested with lice, but they would bite and lick the lice and eggs off the seams of their clothing as a snack. Comanche Invaders from the North 9 Later would come the invading Comanches --around 1700 -1750 --who would prove to be the toughest challenge of all to the European immigrants. They roamed from the Panhandle to the northwest of San Antonio as nomadic buffalo hunters. The Comanche were highly skilled horsemen and aggressive, deadly warriors. They were the masters of the surprise atta ck and showed little mercy to their prisoners. This was their way of life, and they were a danger to all other groups — European, as well as Native . Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art Texas tribes were by no means static. Over time, various groups rose while others fell. Some groups combined with others. Some are known by different names. It is not within the scope of this book to provide an exhaustive treatment of this topic , but rather to offer a survey of some of the better -known groups. DISRUPTION OF NATIVE LIFE It has been estimated that as many as 120 million Indians inhabited the New World at the time of Columbus' discovery. Many Indians were in a balanced environmental situation, self -sufficient, well -organized, and often l ed by chiefs and medicine men. Yet, it was not long before the European had decimated the Native, swept him aside, and undermined the very basis of the Indian way of life. Several forces combined to accomplish this: DISEASE --As many as 95% of the Indians who encountered Europeans died from European disease from which the Natives had no natural immunity. Smallpox , measles, influenza, cholera, whooping cough, and typhus had never existed in the Western Hemisphere before. This begins to explain how 120 Conqui stadors were able to 10 conquer Mexico. Spaniards reported they saw dead Indian bodies piled so high as to block out the sun. Most of the Indian leaders perished. The leaders who survived suffered a credibility problem, as they had no answers for the devasta ting plagues. It is said that some Conquistadors practiced an early form of biological warfare. They offered to Indian leaders gifts of blankets and clothing that had been worn by those who had perished from disease. Thus, it was likely that large or well -organized tribes could be conquered once the leadership was eliminated in this manner. Nomadic tribes constantly on the move fared the best in surviving these catastrophic diseases , while those tribes with settled lifestyles and regular contact with the Eu ropeans were especially vulnerable . The Caddo population, for example, declined by as much as 90% within 200 years from their first contact with Europeans. VALUE SYSTEMS AND LEADERS DISCREDITED --At this same time, especially in South America, missionaries convinced many Indians that humans lived in a despiritualized world --a world in which the only creatures that possessed souls were humans. Deer and beaver did not have souls. Therefore, Indians could kill as many fur - bearing animals as they wa nted, and there would be no spiritual retaliation. There was no longer a religious reason to practice conservation of animals or other resources. As tribal leaders failed to protect their people from the ravages of disease, both chiefs and shamans suffered a loss of credibility. EUROPEAN TECHNOLOGY --was made available to Indians who would serve the Europeans. In exchange for services and furs, Indians could gain processed flour, metal tools, and European trinkets. To many Indians, it seemed futile to persis t in constructing inferior products from their old traditional labors. This also added to the loss of respect for the environment and further loss of self -sufficiency. European artillery and firearms, were not really that efficient or accurate, but command ed a huge psychological effect,. FRAGMENTATION OF POPULATION --Europeans were often successful at playing one group of Indians off against another. There were century -old traditions of animosity among tribes in many cases, and the Indians hoped an alliance with the whites might rid them of traditional enemies. Quite often, the alliance was of more benefit to the European than the tribe. DEBATE OVER THE “WORTH” OF A NATIVE AMERICAN LIFE Some Europeans believed that Native Americans were human and capable of being Christianized. To them, the Natives were noble savages and children of nature. Some Europeans cited Indians' great works of art, mathematical principals, and engineering marvels as proof of Indian "humanity." Some respected the lessons they had learned from the Indians, concerning new foods, tools, and methodologies. In addition, the Natives could produce offspring with “proven humans ” (Europeans); thus, Native s were obviously human, too, as no member of the animal kingdom could produce offspring 11 with mankind. The American Natives also demonstrated the various human emotions of joy, fear, and love. Some European Christians cited the Biblical passage, "Go ye and teach all nations," as proof of the need to instruct the Natives in religious topics. There was an o pposing view, however, that considered Indians as subhuman, unworthy of Christian instruction or human consideration. As Aristotle once said, "Some men are slaves by nature." According to this line of thinking, such inferior beings were actually improved by slavery. According to this view, one need only look at the "rudeness" of Indian dress and habits as opposed to the "civilized" appearance of Europeans. Besides, the gravity of Indian sins --idol worship, human sacrifice (100,000 sacrifice victims found in one location), cannibalism --merited harsh treatment. The Bible was also used as proof to this point -- "Cast not your pearls before swine." Those who felt the Natives were less than human insisted that Indians could no more appreciate the Sacrifice of Ch rist than pigs could recognize the beauty and value of a handful of pearls. Indian death by disease was seen by many as indisputable proof to disclaim Native humanness, since most European "humans" did not perish from flu, measles, or many other Old -World diseases. 12 From the Virtual Reader : Cabeza de Vaca Encounters the Indians of Texas, 1535 The Spa nish explorer recorded his first impressions of a Caddo Indian tribe that he stayed with for a short time. All those people are archers and well built, although not as tall as those we had left behind us, and they have the nipple and lip perforated. Their principal food are two or three kinds of roots, which they hunt for all over the land; they are very unhealthy, inflating, and it takes two days to roast them. Many are very bitter, and with all that they are gathered with difficulty. But those people are so much exposed to starvation that these roots are to them indispensable and they walk two and three leagues to obtain them. Now and then they kill deer and at times get a fish, but this is so little and their hunger so great that they ea t spiders and ant eggs, worms, lizards and salamanders and serpents, also vipers the bite of which is deadly. They swallow earth and wood, and all they can get, the dung of deer and more things I do not mention; and I verily believe, from what I saw, that if there were any stones in the country they would eat them also. They preserve the bones of the fish they eat, of snakes and other animals, to pulverize them and eat the powder. The men do not carry burdens or loads, the women and old men have to do it, for those are the people they least esteem. They have not as much love for their children as those spoken of before. Some among them are given to unnatural vices. The women are com pelled to do very hard work and in a great many ways, for out of twenty -four hours of day and night they get only six hours' rest. They spend most of the night in Figure 1: Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca. By Pilar Cortella de Rubin. Image Courtesy of City of Houston, Municipal Art Office. 13 stirring the fire to dry those roots which they eat, and at daybreak they begin to dig and ca rry firewood and water to their houses and attend to other necessary matters. Most of these Indians are great thieves, for, although very liberal towards each other, as soon as one turns his heads his own son or the father grabs what he can. They are great liars and drunkards and take something in order to become intoxicated. They are so accustomed to running that, without resting or getting tired, they run from morning till night in pursuit of a deer, and kill a great many, because they follow until the ga me is worn out, sometimes catching it alive. Their huts are of matting placed over four arches.

They carry them on their back and move every two or three days in quest of food; they plant nothing that would be of any use. They are a very merry people, and even when famished do not cease to dance and celebrate their feasts and ceremonials. Their best times are when "tunas" (prickly pears) are ripe, because then they have plenty to eat and spend the time in dancing and eating day and night. As long as these t unas last they squeeze and open them and set them to dry. When dried they are put in baskets like figs and kept to be eaten on the way. The peelings they grind and pulverize. While with them it happened many times that we were three or four days without fo od. Then, in order to cheer us, they would tell us not to despair, since we would have tunas very soon and eat much and drink their juice and get big stomachs and be merry, contented and without hunger. But from the day they said it to the season of the tu nas there would still elapse five or six months, and we had to wait that long. When the time came, and we went to eat tunas, there were a great many mosquitoes of three kinds, all very bad and troublesome, which during most of the summer persecuted us. In order to protect ourselves we built, all around our camps, big fires of damp and rotten wood, that gave no flame but much smoke, and this was the cause of further trouble to us, for the whole night we did not do anything but weep from the smoke that went t o our eyes, and the heat from the fires was so insufferable that we would go to the shore for rest. And when, sometimes, we were able to sleep, the Indians roused us again with blows to go and kindle the fires. Those from further inland have another remedy , just as bad and even worse, which is to go about with a firebrand, setting fire to the plains and timber so as to drive off the mosquitoes, and also to get lizards and similar things which they eat, to come out of the soil. In the same manner they kill d eer, encircling them with fires, and they do it also to deprive the animals of pasture, compelling them to go for food where the Indians want.

For never they build their abodes except where there are wood and water, and sometimes load themselves with the r equisites and go in quest of deer, which are found mostly where there is neither water nor wood. On the very day they arrive they kill deer and whatever else can be had and use all the water and wood to cook their food with and build fires against the mosq uitoes. They wait for another day to get something to take along on the road, and when they leave, they are so badly bitten by mosquitoes as to appear like lepers. In this manner they satisfy 14 their hunger twice or thrice a year and at such great sacrifice as I have told. Having been with them I can say that no toil or suffering in this world comes near it. Major Problems in Texas History by Sam W. Haynes, Thomas Paterson and Cary D. Wintz (2001, Paperback) Practice Questions 1. Which Texas Native tribe in the 1500’s would have had the most use for the white man's plow? a) Coahuiltican b) Apache c) Karankawa d) Caddo e) Comanche 2. With which Native Texas tribe would you least likely accept a dinner invitation in the 1500’s? a) Western Jumano b) Caddo c) Coahuiltecans d) Eastern Jumano 3. England and France likely approved of the terms of the Treaty of Tordesillas. a) True b) False 4. Hernando Cortes is today considered a hero among the native peoples of South America. a) True b) False 5. The “New World” was to HORSE as the “Old World” was to _______________. a) disease b) cattle c) bird d) ice e) corn 6. The strongest evidence at the time of Spanish rule in America that Natives were actually human beings was that the Natives ______________________. a) could build structures. b) could display “human” emotions. c) could communicate. d) produced offspring with known humans. e) generated considerable work under duress. 15 7. The most significant “scientific” evidence available at the time that suggested Indians were subhuman was that they ___________________. a) had very limited intelligence. b) had no immunity to com mon European (human) diseases. c) were “slaves by nature.” d) practiced cannibalism and other barbaric rituals. e) generated considerable work under duress. Please match the following descriptors with the appropriate answers: 8. prolific traders; concentrated around modern -day El Paso and New Mexico 9. cut -throats; thieves; nomadic, with very little formal organization 10. reputation as cannibals; despised by Europeans; lived in Southeast Texas 11. developed villages; traded with Euro peans; "friendly" 12. fierce horse -warriors from the north; nearly unstoppable militarily a) Karankawa b) Jumano c) Caddo d) Apache e) Comanche 13. In general, the nomadic tribes suffered less from European disease than did the missionary Indians. a) True b) False 14. The most troublesome insect bites recorded by Cabeza de Vaca came from a) bees. b) mosquitoes. c) spiders. d) ants. e) fleas. 15. Major disease epidemics among the Native Americans included all the following EX CEPT a) smallpox b) cholera c) mumps d) whooping cough e) measles 16 For Discussion: If given the choice, which native Texan Indian tribe would you belong to in the 1600's? Why? For Discussion: Comment on any Texas -based motion picture, book, or television show. Review, praise, critique such media as The Alamo (new or old version), the Dallas television show, the movie version of Michener's Texas, Comanche Moon, etc.