History of Native Americans in Texas

• The English and French sent expeditions to the Americas, but it was the Spanish who fully settled in Texas, setting up a network of missions to spread the Christian word and unfortunately sometimes to exploit the natural resources. Spanish explorers first encountered the tribes near the Gulf of Mexico in southeastern Texas, most of them known as the Caddo. Mispronouncing the Caddo word for friendship, "tayshas," the Spanish began to refer to the area as "Los Texas." Texas became a crossroads and a battlefield as more Spanish arrived and Anglo-American settlers pushed westward. Tribes and settlers clashed as resources diminished and the Native Americans were eventually pushed to reservations set up by the U.S. government.
  
  

The Comanche Chief

• The most famous Native American in Texas is Quanah Parker, a Comanche chief who was the son of a warrior and captured a white settler named Cynthia Ann Parker. He reigned over the plains of Texas uncontested as he and his warrior Comanches hunted buffalo and raided settlements. Buffalo hunters and the U.S. Cavalry ultimately defeated his tribe, but he remained chief on their Oklahoma reservation and flourished by combining the Comanche traditions with the ways of the white man.
  
  

Famous Tonkawas

• Two notable Tonkawa chiefs led their tribes in Texas in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The first, El Mocho, resisted peace as the Spanish fought to defend their missions and remain in control. Wanting freedom, he is known for uniting with other warrior tribes like the Apaches and Comanches and leading raids against the Spanish settlements, kidnapping people and stealing horses. He was assassinated at a peace conference in 1784. Chief Placido, a friend to Texas greats like Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, first fought the Spanish army, then became a Texas Ranger and fought to defend the frontier against Comanche warriors. Later in his life when he and his tribe were forced onto a reservation they had to flee and take refuge at a fort where tribes they once fought against with the Rangers did not reside.
  
  

Famous Kiowas

• In the late 1800s, most Native American tribes were forced to become hostile toward the white settlers, simply for survival. The Kiowas were no exception, with many of their leaders getting captured and imprisoned. Kicking Bird, a chief who wanted peace, negotiated the release of the other warrior chiefs, Lone Wolf, Dohasan, and Satanta, to name a few. While they wanted to continue to fight, Kicking Bird remained friendly to the white settlers, eventually becoming what the Kiowa considered a traitor and dying mysteriously after drinking a cup of coffee.
  
  

Famous Apaches

• Cueglas de Castro, an Apache chief who also fought the Spanish and the Comanches, worked as a scout for the Texas Rangers and tried to fight for peace. He eventually took part of his tribe and fled to Mexico, however, taking up with the Kickapoo. Flacco, a chief in the early 1800s, was also a friend to Texas settlers and worked with Sam Houston to battle the Comanche warriors. He was unfortunately murdered for his horses near San Antonio in 1842, creating another rift between the Apaches and the white settlers that was never mended.