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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. 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.
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
Learn about Texas Indians from Texas Parks and Wildlife
Texas Beyond History
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