The Exodus of a Nation, the Caddo of East Texas
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ต.ค. 2024
- When I first started studying Texas history some of the big questions I had were "What happened to all the Native Americans of Texas?" and "Where did they go?" This video is a summary of how and why the Caddo, once the largest and most powerful group in what is now Texas, left the state after losing a large percentage of their population.
I live 10 miles from this site, it has been severely damaged by direct hits by tornadoes twice in the last decade. I encourage everyone to give it a visit if in the area, and maybe make a small donation so they can keep this study of the Caddo alive.
What city is it in?
@@BORN-to-Runnear Alto Tx
There's two shallow meteor craters in Rusk County that were used by the Caddo for tribal meetings since the speaker in the center at the bottom could be heard by everyone sitting around on the sides.
It was actually a tornado in April of 2019(?) That caused damage to the Caddo mounds, not a hurricane. That set of tornados pretty much destroyed the city of Alto but didn't destroy the city's will to survive. Local residents of cherokee county banded together to help with the clean up and rebuild of the town.
I’m a Texan who thought the word Texas was Aztec. I’ve never heard of the Caddo before. I didn’t go to HS here though so I missed out on Texas History in school. Very cool to learn about the Caddo and how they gave us our name. How sad that they got forced out, especially after giving this land a name meaning “friend”.
Archeologists figured that the Caddo were influenced by Mayan and Aztec traders since the first Spanish explorers reported that the Caddo was the only tribe that made and used benches and chairs with legs plus raised wooden platforms for beds. The archeologists also pointed out the finely crafted items found in burial mounds that were identical in design to what was found in Mexico to similar objects made by the Caddo that were much cruder.
They're still trying to figure out where all the different tribes originated from. Archeologists believe that the Sioux built the Serpent Mound complex in Ohio then wound up living on the Northern Great Plains for some reason. Then the Caddo showed up in Ohio building mound complexes until the Iroquois tribes ran them off across the Ohio River into Kentucky. The Caddo resided there for a number of years before neighboring tribes ran them out to turn Kentucky into a hunting preserve. The Caddo crossed the Mississippi into Arkansas to end up along the Red River in SW Arkansas, NW Louisiana, SE Oklahoma and East Texas. The Pawnee tribe that lived in the Kansas/Nebraska area spoke a Caddo dialect so the archeologists think the tribe migrated east from there to learn about mound building from the earlier cultures.
@@billwilson3609 that’s fascinating. Thanks for the info!
they were forced out, but the millions of Mexicans that live in southern Texas, especially the ones that have been there for centuries, many of them descend from Native Americans from the region, Apaches, Caddo, etc.
@@sabinoluevano7447 A good number of wild bands from different tribes became trapped between the Comanches and the settlers pouring into the newly formed East Texas counties. Many managed to get all the way south into Mexico to reside by local tribes. Bands of Caddo found themselves cut off so some might of made their way down there. One displaced Northern Woodlands tribe was the Potawatomi that lived in Eastern Wisconsin. Illinois and Indiana. They were forced out to Kansas where some bands kept moving south to live in NE Texas with the Caddo. They were on the western fringe of Caddo territory and found themselves cutoff so traveled south into Mexico. Later on some moved back across the Rio Grande to settle in Eagle Pass and had their small community made into a reservation. The tribe's main reservation is in Oklahoma.
I have lived 2 miles from the Caddo mounds all my life and have only been there once as a small child and that was with the school on s field trip. I live less than 10 miles from mission tejas and I just went there for the first time a few months ago.
We often take for granted the things that are right next door
I grew up 10 miles north and my father has lived 90% of his 90 years in the alto region. I loved exploring the Caddo mounds as a child. When we took a field trip to the Caddo mounds, I took over leading the class instead of the employee of the Caddo mounds. Kinda felt bad about doing their job for them except for the fact they didn't really know much about the location.
Take a bicycle ride over there!!
Thank you for showing Binger and Anadarko. Im Caddo and this just kinda showed up. Was nice to hear a lil history.
Hello. I also am Caddo.
Nice to meet you, Kinfolk!!!
Great video, love learning about the caddo Indians, and the great state of texas.
My husband and son are decendants of the Caddo. I would love to learn more about it.
What an awesome and beautiful scenery. Support and greetings from Poland :)
Thanks and welcome
Born and raised in Texas. It is still my home today. I have traveled all over Texas in search of history and yet I still learned something today. Texas is unlike any state in the union, in my opinion. It’s people, it’s customs, it’s weather and it’s landscape. It is a country within itself with an economy larger than Canada. The big cities Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio are changing, and not for the better, to me. The best folks and towns, for the most part, will be found outside the urban areas.
I've been enjoying your videos. I really like the history and information you provide.
Thanks, I'm digging a little deeper into the history than in some of my earlier videos.
I learn something new every time I watch one of your vids. It has long been my desire to see Caddo Lake but I didn't know about the burial mounds. Both the mounds and the traditional huts are exceedingly reminiscent to me of the burial mounds and traditional huts I saw in South Korea, particularly in Gyeongju, Gongju and Gimhae. Now if there were some dolmens in the Caddo area, too, I might start to make wild connections! Thanks for the informative vid.
That is interesting considering how the Native Americans originally came to this continent.
@@secretsoftexas6872 how is that?
From east Asia
There's no mounds to see by Caddo Lake. The Caddo had small villages along the Big Cypress Creek then had to abandon them after a log jam on the Red River block the flow of water so it flooded up the creeks to submerge the bottomlands into what's now Caddo Lake. There are mound complexes in Caddo Parish (LA), Cherokee County (TX) SE Arkansas and Eastern Oklahoma.
Amazing video. Greetings from Poland👍
It's a great place to visit. The tornado was the worse I've ever seen for this area. The people in the town of Alto said there were actually two tornadoes that day. Lives were lost.
I grew up in Caddo Mills, Texas. It's about an hour north of Dallas
Good video. The Caddoans were great civilizers and stewards of the land. They negotiated in good faith with the Spaniards, Mexicans, and early Texians. It was the arrival of the mounted Comanche that changed the lives of all in Texas in the mid 1700's until the defeat of the Qwahadi Comanche and Quanah Parker in the late 1870's. The Comanche raided and killed everybody, and unless and until they were dealt with, no group was safe in Texas. Texas would have evolved very differently if the Comanche had not shown up.
The Comanche became expert horse and cattle breeders so would trade those for goods with frontier settlers that were brave enough to do business with them.
It’s a really beautiful structure. CADDO homes. Thanks for sharing.⭐️
We drove over to watch the sun go down at the bluff last week (30 min.). Caprock Canyon this week! (6 Hrs.) 😁I enjoy watching your adventures, close to home and abroad! Very cool. ✌Have fun!
@Secrets of Texas The El Camino Real extended past Natchitoches to Savanah Georgia. Loved your presentation.
Thanks for another fine tour, with some reasonably unbiased commentary - that's good stuff which is hard to find these days!
Thanks for the history lesson and tour. I’ve read Gone to Texas…
I ❤ this Channel.👍
Beautiful video! Very informative and very well done.
That Was Incredible, & so Much History All Though VERY SAD & Unfair as Usual, & That To Is Sad But True
Thank you for talking about the keto people. I didn’t know there were mounds In Texas. This was very interesting
Hello! I would like to say Mission San Francisco de los Tejas was the first mission in Spanish “Tejas” but not in what is todayTexas. That is near El Paso and was established 1680, ten years before the east Texas missions. Love your videos !
I really appreciate the history discussion to compliment the travelogue. It sets you apart from other sites
Do you use a GoPro to film these?
Yes I use a GoPro now. My earliest videos were actually shot mostly with a cell phone. Thanks for the great compliment. It really means a lot.
A tract just down the road from the Mound City site has been in my family for generations. It's not uncommon to pick up bone beads and arrowheads just laying on the ground. We hosted an archeological team from SF Austin one year. They dug some exploratory pits but didn't find much.
I would recommend for reading John Wilbargers "Indian depredations in Texas" for some interesting insight into the settlers interactions with the noble Comanche people among other peaceful tribes.
It was a tornado that did the damage not a hurricane.
PS...1st time I hear this genleman..a breath of fresh air.
Thanks for sharing your stories! Just watched the one about deserted towns in W. Texas. Good overview, from an American Studies grad, U. of. Md. 😊
Thanks for visiting. I hope that you found it useful.
Another great video with insightful history. We take it for granted that nowadays we can stroll relatively safe and sound, food available whenever we want it, and climate control at the touch of a button.
Hey ChucoHiker! Thanks for watching. This was the most challenging video that I've recorded so far.
@@secretsoftexas6872 What made it extra challenging?
@@ChucoHiker the amount of research and I had to go to 4 locations including central Oklahoma to record it
@@secretsoftexas6872 That is a lot of work :). It paid off though!
@@secretsoftexas6872 just wanted to add that the history was for me the most interesting thing :)
5:30. Nice of you to stop by and visit the Alabama-Coushatta indian reservation, home to the luckiest spot in texas, which is naskila gaming.
I am a Alabama-coushatta indian here.
I really enjoyed this video, keep it up! Can you normalize the audio? as the music is sometimes to loud on your videos, i'm not complaining though as you have great content!!
Respect to the Caddo people.
Yah bless Texas!
@Secrets of Texas Also don't forget through the mounds historical site there was a big Tornado that killed people that were taking shelter inside not exactly hurricane damage.
You sound like Matthew McCaughey to me....I love it!! You can just talk to me and I'll be happy! Great video!!!
I did a very similar video of some peoples that lived in NC in these same style of huts it was at a Occoneechee native village.
Thnxs 4 sharing 🇺🇸
Thanks for stopping by
The Caddo Indians lived in the Caddo Nation. When the state of Texas came into existence, the end of the Caddo Nation was at hand. I think saying the Caddo Indians of Texas ie wrong, what we should say is this is how Texas decimated the Caddo Nation.
We should ask who did the Caddo decimate when they migrated into the Ark-La-Tex? They were Woodlands natives that were ran out of Kentucky by the powerful Iroquois so migrated down the Mississippi River into Arkansas then over towards Texas where they became the dominate tribe.
@@billwilson3609 if there were no other tribe there, then they didn't decimate anyone.
@@andyleo8418 Tribes and their clans were found where there was good springs and agricultural land. That region was heavily forested so the Caddo probably encountered small bands that were allowed to stay since it was a smart political move due to the Caddo's reputation as traders. The Caddo allowed the Cherokee, Delaware, Alabama, Coushatta and other eastern tribes to settle in their territory after the tribes sold their land to the encroaching settlers before heading west across the Mississippi River. The more numerous Cherokee displaced the Caddo who ended up in small villages around the Caddo Lake region and in Oklahoma. A good number of Caddo intermarried with the settlers and eastern tribes that were doing the same so didn't go away when the Texas government and Feds ran the tribes out to Oklahoma.
Those huts Did you say were damaged in the hurricane in 2020 were in bad shape to begin with. It was pretty sketchy to even walk in them.
We have some mounds over here in Leon county tx on pvt property.
Just to clarify... it was not a hurricane but I half mile wide tornado that ripped apart the Caddo Mound area. Guess it doesn't really matter a storm is a storm LOL I just happen to be very close when the tornado Come Thru
Yes you are correct. I was misinformed at the time.
Archeologists believe the Caddo Nation numbered around 250,000 members at it's peak well before the Europeans arrived then shrank in size due to droughts, famine and disease. The Caddo also allowed the Delaware and Cherokee to settle in NE Texas while the Alabama and Coushatta tribes chose to reside in less populated Deep East Texas. The Cherokee basically pushed out the weaker Caddo into Oklahoma and remote regions of NE Texas and NW Louisiana before they were forced out by Gov. Lamar to Oklahoma. A fair number of the Caddo residing in those remote regions stayed there because nobody wanted the land they were on and wound up intermarrying with the settlers. Nobody bothered to oust the Alabama and Coushatta because they lived in The Big Thicket, which was a virgin forest of gigantic pine trees that had an extremely dense undergrowth like a jungle that only had a few trails crossing thru it. Nobody wanted the land since it would've been too difficult to clear for farming.
My wife and I visited the Caddo Mounds site in Alto a number of years ago and found it to be a very interesting site. Are they the same tribe that made the Cahokia Mounds World Heritage site in Illinois? We have been there as well and there are many similarities.
The Caddo were in East Texas, Western Arkansas, NW Louisiana, East Oklahoma, and extreme SW Missouri
Our woods are so beautiful but so cold and mysterious aswell they hokd alot of history and secrets, its so humiyin the summer its the texas jungle
The effect of disease and colonization on Native American peoples is the closest thing to an apocalypse as I can imagine. It’s like a genocide most know happened but don’t usually think about.
Gotta love east Texas
My grandfather chief caddo George Washington aka little boy my main man
Im not too far from the Caddo park and the reservation also love being in this state
Inaccurate. No volume control? 😢
Off hwy 565 near i 10 theres LAKE CHARLOTTE THE CADDO NATION WAS THERE AS WELL AMAZING AREA LOTA GATORS
I think it is interesting to think about this scenario. I will try to be brief. Hispanics have Spaniard names but Indian blood. Spaniards are like complected sometimes with blue and green eyes even blonde hair. Very pure-blooded Spaniards still live in Mexico City. Spaniards brought another religion that was consistent. They brought language mathematics writing and horses modern weapons. Dark straight hair high cheekbones are dominant features and when the Warriors were decimated the women found them attractive with their ability to provide a better life. They lost their names they lost their religion much of their history in just a few Generations they also learned how to live independent of the reservation. And for various reasons scattered to become farmers raising cattle and larger crops. Many of the cities in Texas have Spanish names with Hispanic citizens bearing the dark skin dark hair and high cheekbones. Firearms for hunters work quickly replaced Flint napping and having to be within possible Danger to collect Wild game at Point Blank Range. The Indians did not take the names from the England Ireland Scotland Germany Etc what I presume happened is the Indian warrior was decimated protecting their land and their women but I also believe they had simply more to offer the women. This would only take a few Generations to change all of the Indians to Hispanic names religion culture farming business housing education communication all of which created a better life for them. There is a gap in history for these huge Indian populations went such as the Anasazi for example I don't believe they just disappeared I believe they assimilated. The few Calvary forts had an effect the few that I knew of in Texas I can count them with one hand and that was Far later protecting settlements and railroad expansion into Texas. There is areas of Central America in South America that still have conflicts with neighboring communities over Indian traditions. I think my beliefs are plausible but I do not have a timeline. Perhaps the timelines are fluid depending on the region. My theories are particularly pointed at Texas history
I had no idea that the cado people gave Texas its name
Knowing that history can/is tweaked a bit…… I wonder if some kind of dark magic was performed on those mounds??? Who REALLY knows?? Really cool area though and lived not very far from there for years 👍👍👍
Are there any remnants of Caddo in east Texas? I've never seen any.
No we are in Oklahoma . We have survived
My family roots are DEEP in east Texas!
Ancestry goes back many generations to the Caddo peoples.
MILLIONS OF White, Black, and Mixed Americans have
Native American ancestry. It's part of who we are.
They are part of us, and we are part of them.
Native American history is OUR HISTORY.
The El Camino Real goes all the way to Savanah Ga.
Really good video till the rude ending.
Caddo got driven out of their own land. What a travesty.
The Caddo used to live in Ohio then were driven out to Kentucky by the Iroquois. After a while the Caddo were driven out of Kentucky by neighboring tribes that wanted to turn the region into an unpopulated hunting ground. The Caddo drifted across Arkansas to end up in the Ark-La-Tex. There the Caddo allowed the Cherokee migrating in from the east to settle on their territory and wound up getting pushed out by them into Oklahoma and remote regions of East Texas.
@@billwilson3609 Caddo were pushed out by the white settlers. Don't try to gloss over that.
I’m African American and my ancestry includes African, European and Native American. I have strong East Texas roots and would be interested to find out if we are descendants of the Caddo.
The little houses at the end of the video are beautiful. I imagine myself living there with my family. My kids would have destroyed it pretty quickly. Swinging of those wooden beams and playing tag around them. The natives must have had very well behaved and calm children 🙃
You sound like Matthew McConaughey
Indian city USA Oklahoma baby 💯
Im a little bit caddo
1500 years ago?? that's funny but not true, been here much longer, already documented. also maybe try googling the caddo treaty of 1835. weird how texans think we just disappeared.
All tribes are from GADUDA'ATCU/KADOHADACHO/ CADDO....the EXODUS JUST LIKE THAT KJV BOOK TALKS ABOUT..IT IS US THE CADDOANS OF SHREVEPORT LOUISIANA..
(Cad-Do)
Kae-d,Doe
I'm caddo . I have no home.
@@WXYZ9998 no . I'm sorry
@@WXYZ9998 very pleased to meet you
ur bad
As a child I would pick through these mounds which wasn't nothing but a cow pasture. They were there longer than 1500 years ago, possibly ten thousand years.They weren't pyramids either, this is a American Indians didn't build much of anything but reinhabited them. They were busy trying to find tunis and berries, nuts and bugs to eat when Cabeza de Vaca came through Texas. The retelling of the false narrative is evasive to the uneducated. I've trampled through these East Texas hills all my life and know that my grandmother, which was Comanche , told me that the Indian was half starved and naked most of the time. There was a pre history culture here long before what's deemed history today, which is all bullshit passed on by the peddlers of yet more horse hockey.