TEXAS HISTORY

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TEXAS HISTORY

• How did we get to the Alamo?

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About 12,000 years ago, people first land in the
Western Hemisphere.
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About 11,000 years ago, early Native
Americans reach Texas. (Remember that Texas was
not named Texas at that time. The land they
arrived on was unclaimed at that time.)
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Indian Tribes

• Caddos, Karankwas, Coahuiltecans, Tonkawas, Lipan
  Apaches, Comanches, Kiowas, Pueblos, Jumanos,
  Conchos, and Tiguas were some of the tribes that
  inhabited Texas. Some were hunters and gatherers
  and some were farmers, depending on how they
  could meet their needs.

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1582 Europeans Arrive Spain wished to make the
lands of present day Mexico and southwestern US
theirs.
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Spanish Explorers

• The first explorer Spain sent was Alvarez de
  Pineda. He sailed along the coasts of Florida,
  Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and Mexico and then
  reported to Spain.
• In 1528, Spain sent Panfilo de Narvaez to claim
  all the lands along the Gulf of Mexico for Spain.

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Narvaez

• He led an expedition to Florida . He and his crew
  of 300 got stranded on the coast of Florida.
  They built rafts and tried to leave but disaster
  struck. A storm wrecked their rafts and only 80
  crew members survived. Only 4 of them would
  reach Mexico. (Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, Alonso
  Castillo Maldonado, Andres Dorantes de Carranza
  and a n African slave Estaban. Cabeza de Vaco
  soon became separated. He and the other
  survivors learned much about the Native
  Americans and heard many legends. One was about
  a city of gold called Cibola.
• They spent seven difficult years in Texas. They
• were sick, had little food, and were enslaved by
  the
• Karankawas. They later escaped and reached
• Mexico.

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City of Gold
In 1529 Spain sent a small group of explorers
from Mexico to search for Cibola. They consisted
of soldiers, a priest, Marco de Niza and Esteban.
The mission was unsuccessful. In 1540 Spain
sent another expedition in search of Cibola.
Francisco Vasquez de Coronado led the way. They
found a Pueblo, but there was not any gold.
They decided to continue traveling. They met an
Indian who told them of a place called Quivira, a
land of riches. After traveling for months and
months, they reached Quivira, in the center of
what is today Kansas. It turned out to be an
ordinary Indian village. How do you think this
myth got started? What could the scientific
explanation be??
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Juan de Onate

• Onate led an expedition to the lands north of
  Mexico in 1598. He too was unsuccessful in
  finding gold. However he did name the place we
  now call El Paso, El Paso del Norte which means
  pass to the north. Spain did not send any more
  expeditions to Texas for 75 years.

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France Stakes A Claim

• In 1682 France sent explorer Robert Cavelier,
  known as Sieur de La Salle, down the Mississippi
  River to the Gulf of Mexico, claiming land for
  France along the way.
• In 1685 he started a colony in present day Texas
  called Fort St. Louis. (Between Galveston and
  Corpus Christi.)

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La Salles Colony

• Problems at the colony
• 1. Crops did not grow well.
• 2. Settlers became sick and died.
• 3. Karankawas attacked.
• Settlers blamed La Salle for these problems and
  ended up killing him

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Spain gets angry!

• When Spain found out that France was trying to
  settle on land it had claimed, they sent soldiers
  to for the French to leave. They did not want
  their lands settled by other countries. By the
  time the Spanish reached Fort St. Louis, it had
  already been destroyed.

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Spain Has a Plan

• Even though Fort St. Louis was destroyed, Spain
  still worried that other countries may try to
  settle on their lands. So they decided to build
  missions, or religious settlements to try and
  watch over their lands.

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Missions

• By 1750, there were more than 20 Spanish missions
  in Texas. They were run by Catholic priests.
  Most were built near Indian villages, in hopes to
  convert the Indians.
• Missions had
• 1. walls surrounding them for protection
• 2. houses, school, church, and workplaces
• 3. most had farms and ranches