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Exploration and colonization by European settlers exposed the Native Texas populations to new diseases,
cultures and trade goods. It is estimated that epidemics of European diseases wiped out approximately 95%
of the Native American populations of Texas.
Expansion of the Spanish Colonial Empire to the northeast progressed slowly in the seventeenth century, but
the number of explorations and settlements were increasing by mid-century. In response to the challenges
of the frontier, the Spanish utilized two institutions, the presidio and the mission (“Chroniclers of the
Borderlands,” Stone Fort Museum). During this century, the Spanish were very concerned with French threats
to Spanish land in the New World. It is the aggressiveness of French trading endeavors that eventually
provoked the Spanish into action in East Texas (“Chroniclers of the Borderlands,” Stone Fort Museum).
Spanish missionaries built their missions to convert and provide aid to the Native peoples and many
Europeans attempted to befriend the Native populations and entice them into partnerships to help protect
European land boundaries. Native populations adopted the use of European horses and guns into their
cultures. “Groups able to obtain these two important items had a powerful advantage over others. The
introduction of the horse, especially, produced nothing less than a cultural, technological, and economic
revolution, enabling groups to move their habitats, intensify their raiding and trading activities, and
hunt buffalo more effectively ('Indians,' the Handbook of Texas Online).”
By the late seventeenth century, the explorations of Spanish missionaries and soldiers led them to the home of the Caddo people. After failed attempts to convert and alter the lifestyle of these woodland people, the caddi (chief) of the Caddo people ordered the Spanish missionaries and soldiers to leave their lands. The Spanish returned to the land of the Caddo in the early eighteenth century and their influence, along with the influence of other European settlers, continued to alter the lifestyle of the Native Americans who made Texas their home.
- 1629-1654 Spanish expeditions to Texas from New Mexico
- 1682 Corpus Christi de la Isleta, the first Spanish Mission was established
- 1689 Spanish begin settling and establishing missions in East Texas.
- 1690 Mission San Francisco de los Tejas is the first mission established in East Texas (Mission Tejas)
- 1693 Mission Tejas is closed and the Spanish abandoned East Texas
Caddo Indians in The Handbook of Texas
Apaches in The Handbook of Texas
Jumanos in The Handbook of Texas
Tonkawas in The Handbook of Texas
Coahuiltecans in The Handbook of Texas
Atakapans in The Handbook of Texas
Patarabueyes in The Handbook of Texas
Karankawas in The Handbook of Texas
Map of the location of “Texas Indians”
Corpus Christi de la Isleta Mission in The Handbook of Texas
Nuestra Padre San Francisco de los Tejas Mission in The Handbook of Texas
Presidios in The Handbook of Texas
Spanish Missions in The Handbook of Texas
Mission Tejas State Historical Park
Slavery in The Handbook of Texas
Texas History Timeline
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