Get to know - Oklahoma Uniquely American · 2020-03-09 · Get to know : The first people to settle...

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Get to know :

The first people to settle in Oklahoma;

The geographic influence on the way prehistoric people lived in Oklahoma;

The impact of Columbus’s discovery of the Americas; and

The first Europeans to visit Oklahoma.

objectives :

To trace the path prehistoric people took from Asia to Oklahoma;

To understand how we study prehistory;

To describe how prehistoric people lived;

To explain the rise and fall of early Native American cultures; and

To understand the impact of European exploration.

Ice Age 16,000 bce 15,000 bce 14,000 bce 13,000 bce 12,000 bce 11,000 bce 10,000 bce 9,000 bce 8,000 bce 7,000 bce 6,000 bce 5,000 bce 4,000 bce 3,000 bce 2,000 bce 1,000 bce 0 ce 1,000 ce 2,000

PAlEOzOiC PEriOd. Approximately 12,000 years ago, Paleo-people arrived over migration routes from Asia. Paleo-people hunted mammoths and mastodons with stone tools.

ArchAIc PerIod

About 70,000 years ago, the last ice Age covered much of North America but did not extend as far south as Oklahoma. The Earth was much colder than it is now. As seawater levels decreased and were stored in the ice, grasslands and woodlands began covering the area supporting animal life.

PAleozoIc PerIod

What might

motivate you to walk thousands

of miles?

How would

you deal with suddenly being

introduced to new animals and

plants?

How would you

react to meeting people completely

different from you? They don’t speak the same language, and they

look and behave differently.

How would you

react if disease began to spread through your

community and you had no idea what was causing

that spread or why so many people were

dying?

T h e F i r s T O k l a h O m a n s

c h A P t e r 1

The First OklahomansWe learn about our past through stories we are told and by written records that are kept. In addition, we learn by studying the artifacts left behind by those who lived here before us.

By exploring this evidence, we can know more about the first people to live in Oklahoma. We can learn how the climate and geographic features influenced the way the first Oklahomans provided food and shelter. By keeping journals and drawing maps, the first Europeans to visit and explore Oklahoma provided us with a written record of what they found.

16,000 bce 15,000 bce 14,000 bce 13,000 bce 12,000 bce 11,000 bce 10,000 bce 9,000 bce 8,000 bce 7,000 bce 6,000 bce 5,000 bce 4,000 bce 3,000 bce 2,000 bce 1,000 bce 0 ce 1,000 ce 2,000

ArChAiC PEriOd. Around 10,000 years ago, people in what is now Oklahoma began living cooperatively. They hunted in groups and worked together for the common good. As large game disappeared, they hunted buffalo and deer.

ArchAIc PerIod WoodlAnd erA VIllAgers

lATE ArChAiC PEriOd. 3,500 to 2,000 years ago people started living in semi-permanent settlements. They still hunted and gathered food as farming was developing.

VillAgErs. 1,200 to 500 years ago, permanent villages were set near fertile stream valleys. The remains of those villages can be found throughout the area. Early Wichita in central and western Oklahoma hunted bison and deer and tended fields of corn, beans and squash.

WOOdlANd ErA. 2,000 to 1,200 years ago, Woodland people in eastern Oklahoma developed pottery-making. They lived in camps and moved as resources were used up. The spear was replaced with the bow and arrow.

500 yEArs AgO. Europeans introduced the horse and brought profound changes to the southern Plains. The Spanish presence also brought previously unknown diseases that decimated Plains populations. At the time, Wichita people were successful farmers with large villages. By the 1700s, French traders brought goods up the Arkansas River to trade with the Wichitas.

1492 Christopher Columbus

1519 Cortés’s expedition to Mexico

1540 Francisco Vázquez de Coronado

1541 Hernando de Soto

1601 Don Juan de Oñate

1682 Robert de La Salle

1710 Bernard de la Harpe

Christopher Columbus


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The first written record of Oklahoma began in 1540 when Coronado crossed the plains with his conquistadors. The Spanish, it seems, were the first recorded Europeans in Oklahoma. For centuries before that, people moved back and forth across this

area and many lived here. Some may have had European origins.There are different theories about the origin of the American

Indian. The Indians had their own beliefs in 1540 and earlier. Most tribes had oral histories or legends with stories of migration. Quite a few claimed that early members of the tribe came from “the land of the setting sun,” or somewhere west of California. Others claimed to be from the north, south or east.

How did ancient people reach the Americas?

The theory most experts accept is that migration probably occurred during the Pleistocene Age, or Ice Age. At that time, huge glaciers formed an immense ice cap. The cap covered much of the northern half of the Northern Hemisphere. Scientists and historians disagree on how long ago this happened. They do agree that the ice cap lowered the ocean’s water level. Between Russia (Siberia) and Alaska is a body of water, the Bering Strait. The ancient ice cap exposed a bridge of land there. People of northeast Asia could have walked across the bridge, called Beringia, into North America.

Maybe those early travelers and their descendants continued southward, all the way to the lower tip of South America. If they did, it must have taken many centuries.

Moving between countries and climates is called a migration. Archeologists can trace migrations and piece together the lifestyles of ancient people. The cultural and physical differences of North American peoples hint that they may have arrived through various entry points. Even the people who crossed the land bridge may have started from different places. Physical characteristics show that early Americans may have been related to the Mongols or to Chinese tribes. Some may have actually been Indians — from India.

Thor Heyerdahl, a Norwegian ethnologist, went through a lot of trouble to prove the theory of Egyptian origin. In 1970, he built a boat from papyrus reed (once used to make paper) and named it RA II. Heyerdahl sailed it from Africa to North America, trying to copy the conditions sailors lived with then.

India? America?

Columbus made his first voyage in search

of a new route to the rich spice trade with

India. He was always convinced the lands

he had discovered were India and the

people he found there were Indians. When Amerigo Vespucci followed Columbus’s route a few years later, he was the first to realize the route did not lead to India nor to a separate continent. As maps of the “new world” were being drawn, the name AMERICA became associated with the lands Vespucci had charted.

Detail from a map published by German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller in 1507. It is known as the first map to use the name “America.”


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Numerous scientists say his journey did not prove his theory. Others say it may be that ancient Egyptians could have made similar trips.

This evidence suggests that the first Americans should not be put together in one group named “Indian.” Scholars of Native American history now divide the tribes according to language, cultural, and physical differences. They rarely call any group “Indian.” In conversation, however, Oklahomans tend to use both “Indian” and specific tribal names.

What stories do artifacts tell?

Experts also use ancient objects to develop theories about the first people in the Americas. For instance, sculpted pieces found in Mexico in 1961, were identified as Roman. Japanese pottery, five thousand years old, has been found in Ecuador. Artifacts of Phoenician origin were discovered in other places. All these items have been scientifically dated. They seem to have been in the Americas for hundreds, even thousands, of years before

BE R I N G I A

PACIFIC

OCEAN

N O R T HA M E R I C A

Gulf ofMexico

POSSIBLE MIGRATION ROUTES FROM BERINGIA

Lauren t ide ice shee t

Cordilleranice

sheetIce

freecorridor

AT

LA

NT

ICO

CE

AN

How do we know about the past before written records?Archeology is the study of human history through the analysis of artifacts and remains from the past. Most of what we know about the world, before the written word was developed, has been discovered by archeologists carefully excavating ancient burial sites or remains of camps and villages. Of particular importance to archeologists is the examination of middens, or ancient garbage piles. What was once trash provides insight into ancient cultures and people.

The earliest people made simple sharp tools, such as needles, by cutting them from bone or antler. Ancient people would chip sharp edges on hard stones to make blades for cutting.


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Columbus arrived.These findings point to two possibilities:

1. The ancestors of the American Indian tribes came from many places; and

2. Ancient Americans carried on trade with ancient people from around the world.

Maybe both possibilities are true. This would explain the differences among tribes. This would also explain the similarities to ancient cultures in distant parts of the world. For example, some Inca pyramids bear a striking resemblance to pyramids in Cambodia. Experts believe certain maps are copies of ancient Egyptian maps, but they show parts of Antarctica and South America with amazing accuracy. Both ancient Chinese and Irish stories seem to be about the Americas and the American Indians. For now, scientists are divided on how to interpret all this data.

What was Oklahoma like in prehistoric times?

The land now called Oklahoma measures roughly 69,000 square miles. The Cross Timbers divides it into two areas. This natural barrier of very dense scrub timber and thickets slowed down travelers as recently as a hundred years ago. The belt of thick vegetation ran from the central part of the state toward the southwest. Even now, east of that line, the land is largely wooded. Western Oklahoma is largely flat prairie. According to studies by experts, the original lifestyles east and west of the Cross Timbers were as different as the geography.

The oldest archeological find in the state is the Domebo mammoth kill site near Stecker in Caddo County. It marks the easternmost place where Clovis points have been found in North America. Clovis people were hunters who lived about twelve thousand years ago. According to Arrell M. Gibson, author of The American Indian (published in 1980 by D.C. Heath and Co.), the Clovis people “lived in scattered, temporary camps and built no shelters.” Gibson wrote that the climate of the country at that time was “generally temperate,” so there was not much need for shelter. The Clovis people’s main source of food was probably the mammoth, a huge, hairy creature similar to an elephant. Mammoths once roamed the Great Plains. Other food sources were camels, small horses, ground sloths, large bison generally referred to as the “huge early bison,” and very small antelope.

Trade routes.Some ancient trade routes followed rivers and coastlines, and many Native American people were excellent navigators and boat builders. Today’s archeologists find ancient Great Lakes copper tools in places far away, like Cahokia (Illinois), where shells from the Gulf of Mexico were brought by people traveling trails and waterways. The Dalles (Oregon), Poverty Point (Louisiana), Chaco Canyon (New Mexico), and many other trade centers thrived in the Americas long before Europeans arrived.

dAllEs

CAhOkiA

POVErTy POiNT

ChACO CANyON


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Several bones of a mammoth, evidently killed by prehistoric hunters, have been unearthed at the Domebo site. Scientists found three spear points there. Two of them were Clovis points. Radiocarbon dating showed they were nearly twelve thousand years old. Experts, using other methods, disagree on their age. At any rate, the find verifies Clovis man once lived in the Oklahoma area.

For several reasons, including better human hunting skills, the mammoth and other animals became extinct in this part of the world. Clovis people also disappeared. Humans became more advanced. They made different tools, and moved on. The most important tool made by Clovis people was the atlatl, a spear thrower. It was a stick-like weapon about two feet long. It was weighted and held a spear securely. Its greater velocity and whip action allowed the hunter to hit an animal as far away as three hundred feet with a great deal of force. Folsom people, the next known people of Oklahoma, also used the atlatl.

Evidence shows that Folsom people were here ten thousand years ago. They lived cooperatively. They hunted in groups and worked together for the common good. Their main source of food was the huge early bison. One hunting method was forcing a herd over a cliff. This made for a large, easy harvest, but wasted much of the dead animal. It was more common to separate a single bison from the herd. Then hunters surrounded the animal and killed it with spears.

Clovis culture was named after distinct stone tools found at sites near Clovis, New Mexico. The radiocarbon age is equal to roughly 13,500 to 13,000 calendar years ago, and Clovis people are considered the first human inhabitants of the Americas. They used spears with stone points to hunt huge mammoths.

Folsom culture was named after stone tools found at sites near Folsom, New Mexico. They were a later development of Clovis people who worked together hunting large groups of bison. Clovis people also used spears with stone points.

radiocarbon dating (or simply carbon dating) is a technique that uses the decay of carbon to estimate the age of organic materials. Carbon dating was presented to the world by Willard Libby in 1949. For his process, Libby was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Since its introduction, it has been used to date many items, including the Shroud of Turin, Egyptian artifacts, samples of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Ötzi the Iceman. One of the most frequent uses of radiocarbon dating is to estimate the age of organic remains from archaeological sites.

A hunter using a spear-thrower, or atlatl. A bannerstone is used to keep the spear steady and aided the hunter in throwing a spear farther.

ClOVis POiNT

FOlsOM POiNT


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What was life like for Indians?

Scholars know that there were no towns in the western part of the state eight hundred years ago. However, groups of farming Indians built their homes close together. These were large enough in number to be called farming villages. Farmers worked together and gave each other protection from raiders. They hunted rabbits with small nets. They also hunted larger game, like the buffalo.

Western Indians planted three main crops — squash, corn, and beans. In fact, those crops have appeared in archeological studies so often together that scientists named them the American Vegetable Triad. Types of corn, squash, and beans varied from place to place. But, basically, these three crops were the staples of tribes all across the Americas.

Western Oklahoma Indians were fine craftsmen. They made excellent stone knives and points and traded tools to tribes from farther west. Such traders brought pottery from New Mexico, obsidian (volcanic glass) from Montana, chalcedony from Colorado, and even a few seashells that may have come all the way from California. The most important trade item in the region was salt. People depended on the Great Salt Plains for trade and for survival.

Life in western Oklahoma was more difficult than life in eastern Oklahoma. West of the Cross Timbers, little rain fell. Most moisture came all at once in the spring, causing floods. The people grew plants carefully and tried to shelter them against the high winds.

Eastern Oklahoma, on the other hand, enjoyed heavy rainfall and lush greenery. The people had more leisure. Eight hundred years ago, they built towns close to rivers, lived in permanent homes, and were mostly farmers and small-game hunters. They grew a different kind of corn from that grown in the west, but their main crops were still squash, beans, and corn.

CrOss TiMbErs

grAsslANds

JuNiPEr/PiñON

FOrEsT

The American Vegetable Triad — corn, beans, and squash.

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Who made the Spiro Mound?

One of the nation’s most important archeological locations is near Spiro in LeFlore County. It is an enormous man-made mound composed of cedar logs and tons of soil. It was a ceremonial center and burial ground. When discovered in the 1930s, the mound showed details of a highly advanced culture. No written material was found, but the artwork and other artifacts helped social scientists to understand the Spiro ways.

The Spiro people were probably ancestors of the Caddo tribes. They lived in eastern Oklahoma from about 500 CE to about 1300 CE. Their culture was highly developed and much of their work was specialized. Most people were probably farmers and hunters, but some were weavers who spun fibers and wove cloth from wild cotton, nettles, feathers, and wild hemp. (Wild hemp was used in making rope for many years.) Others were builders and architects. Still others used artistic talents, such as pottery-making. Part of the artwork found in the Spiro location resembles art designs of the Mayan culture.

The Spiro economy was highly advanced for its time. It included successful merchants and traders. Some of them traveled to trade with people in other places. Distant traders also traveled to eastern Oklahoma. They lived as far away as the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes. Spiro traders likely traveled similar distances on their business trips.

sTONE EFFigy PiPE

Known as the Lucifer pipe.

shEll gOrgET

Probably worn around the neck with a leather strap.

ENgrAVEd shEll gOrgET

Spiro Mound


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In the east, as in the west, salt was the most valuable trade item. The eastern Indians obtained it from salt “mining,” extracting it from spring water by evaporation. They placed the water in large flat pans made of pottery and set those over low fires. When the water was gone, salt was left in the pan.

Spiro Indians traded semi-precious stones, such as amethyst and garnet, as well as surplus field crops, fabrics, carvings, pottery and artwork. In exchange, they received copper from the north, pearls from the south, and raw materials and items unusual to Oklahoma.

Other groups of people in eastern Oklahoma lived like the Spiro people. They observed similar customs, made similar pottery, and built similar homes. Because they were great artists and their work resembles Aztec and Maya artwork, a number of scientists believe they were related to one of those tribes. But there were also eastern Oklahoma Indians who lived very differently, so they may have had different origins. There is no certain proof of any one theory.

The only records of any of the early dwellers are the artifacts and rubbish uncovered in “digs.” Archaeologists analyze them but may disagree on what a “find” tells us. These experts hope to find more artifacts that help to explain the origins and cultures of the first people here.

Who were Oklahoma’s first visitors?

Even though Europeans came to the area more recently, historians and scientists are not sure about their origins, either. For a long time, experts thought Francisco Vásquez Coronado, a Spanish explorer who came in 1540, was the first Caucasian visitor.

When historians studied rune stones near Heavener in eastern Oklahoma, another theory emerged. runes are the letters of the Teutonic alphabet, an ancient writing system from Northern Europe. The Norsemen, or Vikings, used them. If the rune stones are genuine, then in November 1012 CE, Vikings traveled along the Arkansas and Poteau rivers. They made their way through the Winding Stair and Sugar Loaf mountains and stopped to record the journey by carving runes in stone. If this is true, it means Vikings visited five hundred years earlier than the Spaniards.

On the other hand, some experts say they might have been

ChrisTOPhEr COluMbus discovered the “New World” of the Americas, on an expedition sponsored by King Ferdinand of Spain in 1492, when he was in search of a faster and safer route to India and China. He made two more voyages but was not able to provide the riches he had promised. He died in 1508 with the belief that he had reached India.

He has been credited for opening up the Americas to European colonization. He had also been blamed for the destruction of the native peoples of the islands he explored. On the one hand, he failed to find that what he set out for — a new route to Asia and the riches it promised. However, in what is known as the Columbian Exchange, his expeditions set in motion the transfer of people, plants, animals, diseases, and cultures that greatly affected nearly every society on the planet.


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carved in the early 1700s. It is possible that the Swedish leader of a group of Germans carved the runes then, while trying to colonize that area for the French.

Today, reputable scientists believe the rune stones are a clever hoax, and perhaps neither story about Heavener is true. Coronado and his army were probably the first Europeans to enter the area that is now Oklahoma.

Who was Cortés?

Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro, First Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca, was a Spanish conquistador who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire. He and his soldiers brought large portions of mainland Mexico under the rule of the King of Castile in the early 16th century. Cortés helped begin the first phase of the Spanish colonization of the Americas.

In Latin America, Cortés had defeated the Aztec nation by capturing one man, Montezuma, their god-king. The god-king concept was that one ruler ruled many clans and segments of the mighty nation. But in North America, separate tribes had their own chiefs and most tribes had several chiefs. The religions and governments of northern Indians were diverse, and each tribe was a separate nation. The Spaniards did not anticipate this difference. They assumed that all Indians were ruled by the same type of government as the Aztecs. Therefore, they failed to control the Indians to the north, even after defeating them in battle.

Who was Coronado?

During this age of exploration, Spain was the most powerful nation in Europe, even in the world. In 1540, Spanish Emperor Charles V appointed Don Antonio de Mendoza, “the good viceroy,” to rule New Spain. He sent the Spanish cavalry under the command of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado y Luján into the unknown north country to search for gold. The conquistadors were invincible. They considered all strangers their enemies.

Mendoza was confident that Coronado and his army would

find and conquer the fabled Seven Cities of Cíbola. It was

rumored that common utensils there were made from gold and

hErNÁN COrTÉs ignored the Governor

of Cuba, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar, who

recalled his expedition to Mexico at the

last moment. Arriving on the continent

in 1519, Cortés managed to align some

native peoples against others to conquer

the Aztecs. He also used a native woman,

Doña Marina, as an interpreter.

FrANCisCO VÁsquEz dE COrONAdO and his expedition team are credited with discovery of the Grand Canyon and other landmarks in the American Southwest while searching for the legendary Seven Cities of Cíbola — which they never found.

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that jewel-studded houses were built several stories high.If the Spaniards had been less powerful and more friendly,

history might have been quite different. After crossing Oklahoma and turning west, the army did find the famous cities. From a distance the tall houses, which were well-fashioned pueblos, sparkled as though weighted down with precious jewels. The Spanish attacked and defeated the settlement, only to find that their “jewels” were nothing more than gypsum glistening in the sun. The conquerors found a little silver, fine clay pottery, and a few trinkets. They found no gold.

Coronado defeated all the cities and claimed new territory for the king. He recorded what he saw in places no other white man had traveled. He found food and salt in Indian storehouses. He sent out scouting parties that explored the Little Colorado River and found the Grand Canyon. For a year, Coronado and his men moved back and forth across the plains and mesas, fighting and searching. They executed many of the people they conquered. They never found gold. In the spring of 1542, they returned to Mexico.

How did the Spaniards take over so easily?

The Spaniards had three distinct advantages: the horse, the gun, and the wagon. They were able to ride in, attack, and flee swiftly because of their horses. Their guns could kill at greater distances than the Indians’ arrows and stones. With their rolling boxes, the Spaniards were able to carry necessary ammunition,


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food and other items for life and defense wherever they went. These items gave the conquistadors the element of surprise against an otherwise able enemy and left the Indians at their mercy.

During his search for riches, Coronado traveled back across part of Oklahoma and western Kansas and found a Wichita-type village where tattooed farmers lived. Friar Juan de Padilla, a chaplain with the expedition, decided to return there when Coronado’s army returned to Mexico. Padilla wished to establish a mission for the tribe. He was accompanied by Andres de Campo, a Portuguese soldier. They ministered to the tattooed people during most of 1542 and then went through central Oklahoma to visit another tribe. En route, they were attacked by a hostile tribe, and Padilla was killed. De Campo and a handful of Mexican-Indians escaped along with two Indian converts and traveled back to Mexico. The two converts carried a large wooden cross with them. Their route back to Mexico became known as the De Campo road, and was the primary overland route to Oklahoma from Spanish territory.

Who was De Soto?

The Spanish emperor sent Hernando De Soto to conquer Florida and made him governor of both Florida and Cuba. De Soto was not sure there would be enough food for his army, so he brought numerous animals — pigs, goats, sheep, cattle, and chickens. These animals, besides horses, came to North America for the first time with the Spaniards.

De Soto’s army expected to find wealth in Florida similar

to the jewels and precious metals found in South America by

Cortés. When they did not find riches, they pushed on into

the interior of the country. They fought the Choctaws in the

Mississippi Valley and continued westward. They crossed the

Mississippi River in May 1541 and persisted onward.De Soto’s private secretary, Rodrigo Ranjel, kept the official

record of their journey. When the army reached the Grand and Arkansas River valleys in eastern Oklahoma, he recorded intricate details of what they saw. He wrote about “wild cows” that the Indians killed and how the “cow skins” were used in numerous ways. He described the complicated stockades protecting Indian towns and villages. He told of elaborate

While on an expedition in 1832 to explore Peru, hErNANdO dE sOTO discovered the road to Cuzco, the capitol of the Incan Empire. De Soto helped organize and successfully conquer the Incans and their treasury of gold. He returned to Spain a wealthy man.

He grew restless and returned to the Americas in 1538 to search for fabled riches in Florida and other Gulf States.


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temples for complex rituals. The friendly native people, he wrote, wore beautiful clothes and adornments of shell and pearl. These people guided them through the wilderness. But soon, the Spaniards began to express contempt for the Indians.

Finally, tired of being mistreated and robbed, the Indians became hostile toward De Soto and his men. The Spaniards, at last convinced that they would find no gold, turned back to the Mississippi River. De Soto died of an illness on May 15, 1542. Half his original force survived to return to Panuco, Mexico, by following the river south.

There is controversy over whether De Soto actually came within the borders of present-day Oklahoma. Ranjel’s writings seem to indicate, however, that the expedition reached the Arkansas River and perhaps came even further east.

Who was Oñate?

Don Juan de Oñate led the last major Spanish expedition into Oklahoma in 1601 in another search for gold. Taking artillery carts and more than seven hundred horses and mules, Oñate and his men followed the San Buenaventura (Canadian) River to the Antelope Hills. They marched northward into Kansas and on to the area of the tattooed people. Known as the Quivira, the tribe probably lived near what is Wichita, Kansas, today.

Upon their arrival, Oñate’s army was attacked vigorously by

the Quivira, who had greeted Coronado quite peacefully sixty

years earlier. The Quivira injured most of the Spaniards so badly

that they were forced to retreat to their camp on the Rio Grande.Oñate was not interested in the Great Plains as a prize. Still,

he recorded the beauty he saw, the huge herds of buffalo grazing there, and the remarkable fruits and grasses growing there.

What legacy did the Spanish leave?

When they departed, the Spaniards left a legacy of distrust, hatred, and violence. More importantly, however, they left horses. Nothing changed the life of the western tribes as much as horses. Hunting became easier. Horses had made the Spanish more powerful in warfare, and now the tribes held that advantage over other tribes. Horses soon became the mark of wealth among native people. Two hundred years later, when white men again encountered the western Indians, their horses

dON JuAN dE OñATE was born in New Spain (present day Mexico). He was ordered by the King of Spain to colonize the New Spain province of New Mexico. He founded various settlements in the present day American Southwest, including Santa Fe.

He conducted an expedition to the east of New Mexico through parts of Oklahoma and into southern Kansas. He was the first European to describe the tallgrass prairie. He later took an expedition to the west and to southern California. He is sometimes referred to as “the Last Conquistador.”


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made them stronger enemies than Coronado had faced.

Who were La Salle and La Harpe?

Just as the Spanish came to seek their fortunes in the new land, so did the French — but the French did not want to conquer. The French wanted to trade, especially for furs. René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, never saw Oklahoma, but in 1682, he claimed the area for France. He claimed not only the Mississippi River Valley but also the rivers which flowed to the Mississippi. He named the area Louisiana in honor of the French ruler, King Louis XIV.

The French sought peace and trade with the Indians, but their feelings toward the Spanish were not so friendly. Louis XIV wrote in his memoirs that La Salle hoped to gain control of trade in Louisiana by securing two advantageous ports. He particularly wanted one approximately sixty miles upriver from the Gulf on the banks of the Colbert (Mississippi) River. Enlisting large native forces, and four hundred or so French soldiers, La Salle planned to expel the Spaniards from the area. La Salle was certain that Indians’ hatred of Spaniards would seal any necessary pact between the natives and the French.

Actually, La Salle’s plan might have worked if the French army had not met so many misfortunes. The men became lost in the wilderness, and several died from disease. Further weakened by desertions and Indian attacks, the French soldiers turned against La Salle, killing him in his sleep. The survivors returned to France and let go of their dreams of controlling the New World.

Less political fur traders carried on the trade with the Indians. In 1718, Bernard de la Harpe began trading along the Red and Arkansas Rivers. He established no permanent trading post, but his records added to the knowledge of historians concerned with that time period.

rENÉ-rObErT CAVEliEr, siEur dE lA sAllE, made expeditions into North America from Canada and across the Great Lakes. He explored the rivers, eventually making it to the mouth of the Mississippi River at the Gulf of Mexico. He named the Mississippi basin Louisiana in honor of French King Louis XIV and claimed the territory for France.

bErNArd dE lA hArPE’s exploration was one of the two first known French contacts with the Wichita and Apache Indians and the first known French expedition to set foot in the future state of Oklahoma. At the time, the Wichita were living in large villages on the Arkansas River. (right) A WiChiTA grAss hOusE.


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How were European and Native American cultures affected by contact with each other?

European-Indian contact began to cause change right away on both sides. Each contributed items to the other’s culture. Besides corn, beans, and squash, Indians introduced Europeans to pumpkins, avocados, pineapples, chewing gum, chocolate, and other edible products. The Europeans brought peas, pears, apricots and several other fruits the Indians had not tried. They also brought wheat and the animals previously mentioned.

From the Europeans, the Indians learned metal craft. Prior to the coming of the Europeans, the Indians’ primary materials for tools and utensils were clay, wood, stone, and bone. The Europeans taught them metallurgy, the art of heating metal and hammering it into shapes. The Indians began to make a few farm implements and small household items. Some tribes made beautiful silver jewelry, an art form for which they are well-known today.

For years, Indians traded with Europeans for most of the metal items they needed and continued to perfect their own crafts. Like the whites, Indians wanted to own knives. However, the most powerful metal item they got from Europeans was the gun. Gun trading was a lively, prosperous, and, often, law-breaking business on the frontier.

Most Indian tribes had a system for supporting the elderly and the disabled. No such system existed anywhere in Europe in the form of a government agency. Sanitation and city planning were developed sciences among some Indian tribes. These abilities may explain the absence of certain diseases among the natives. Europe, by contrast, suffered epidemics of various kinds which modern scientists attribute to the lack of proper sanitation.

Perhaps the greatest surprise concerning Indian culture at the time of the Europeans’ arrival was the lack of a wheel. In spite of advanced technology in some areas, American Indians had never developed the concept of the wheel. Therefore, their technical advancement may have been delayed because they did not have wheeled machines.

Very soon, explorers carried American art, food, and technology back to Europe while natives used new items and ideas from the Europeans. Both cultures began to intermingle.

Columbus setting off on his first voyage.

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dOMEsTiCATEd ANiMAlsOld World to New Worldcat (domestic)chickencowdonkeyferretgoat (the goats of the Old

World, genus Capra, are different from the mountain goat of the New World, genus Oreamnos)

goose (domestic)honey beehorserabbit (domestic)pigratsrock pigeonsheep (domestic)silkwormguineafowl

New World to Old WorldalpacaAmerican mink

(fur farming)guinea pigllamaMuscovy Duckturkey

dOMEsTiCATEd PlANTsOld World to New Worldackeealmondappleapricotartichokeasparagusbananabarleybeetbilberry

bitter melonblack pepperkale and collard greensbroccolicabbagebrussels sproutscauliflowercantaloupecardamomcarrotcinnamonclovecoffeecitrus (orange, lemon, etc.)cucumberdate palmfigflaxgarlicgrape (Vitis vinifera, the

common wine grape)hazelnuthemp (including cannabis/

marijuana)kiwifruitkola nutlettucemangomilletnutmegoatsokraoliveonionopium poppypeachpeapearpistachioradishrhubarbriceryesoybean

star fruitsugarcane and sugar beetstaroteaturnipwheatwalnut (English)watermelonyam/ “sweet potato”

New World to Old Worldagaveamaranth (as grain)arrowrootavocadocommon beans (pinto,

lima, kidney, etc.)black raspberrybell pepperblueberry (not to be

confused with bilberry, also called blueberry)

canistelcashewchiachiclechirimoyachili pepperscranberries (large

cranberry, or bearberry species)

cocacocoacotton (long-staple

species)custard appleguava (common)huckleberryJerusalem artichokejicamamaize (corn)manioc (cassava, tapioca,

yuca)papaya

passionfruitpeanutpecanpumpkinrubbersapodillasquashstrawberry (commercial

varieties)sugar-applesunflowersweet potatotobaccotomatovanillawalnut (black)wild riceyerba matéyuccazucchini (courgette)

iNFECTiOus disEAsEsOld World to New Worldbubonic plaguechicken poxcholeracommon colddiphtheriainfluenzaleprosymalariameaslesscarlet feversmallpoxtyphoidtyphuswhooping coughyellow feveryaws

New World to Old WorldbejelChagas diseasepintasyphilis

The Columbian Exchange

The Columbus expeditions set in motion the wide-spread transfer of people, plants, animals, diseases, natural resources, and technology that greatly affected nearly every society on the planet.


48

Chapter Summary

Early humans arrived in North America from Eurasia by crossing a land bridge over the Bering straits, and gradually spreading across the American continents. What we have learned about these early peoples we know through the artifacts found by archeologists. These people developed from hunter-gatherers to agriculturalists, eventually forming more complex societies like the Spiro mound people. Following European discovery of the Americas, explorers began to travel through present day Oklahoma. At first, these were mostly Spanish explorers but the French soon followed. The interaction between these two different cultures had a profound impact on both sides. New plants and animals were introduced into Europe and the Americas, as well as diseases and technology.

VocAbulAry

Create a visual vocabulary with the following key terms. students will define each word in their own words and then draw a picture illustrating the meaning of the term.

migration

archeologists

artifacts

Clovis people

atlatl

Folsom people

Spiro people

gypsum

stockades

controversy

memoir

remember the detAIls

Explain the most commonly accepted theory of indian origin in North America.

Why are artifacts important to the study of pre-history?

How did living conditions differ between eastern and western tribes during the early prehistoric era?

What tools, and items were important to native Americans?

Describe the purpose and results of the Coronado expedition. How did the attitude of the conquistadors affect their expeditions?

What advantages did the conquistadors have over the Indians and how did they use their advantages?

What things left behind by the Spanish affect the lifestyles of the Indians?

Who was Hernando de Soto?

How did the French hope to succeed in North America? How did they differ from the Spanish?

Who was Sieur de La Salle? And why was he important?

thInkIng And AskIng questIons

Do you think the Spiro Mound people were an advanced civilization? Explain why or why not, using examples.

What was the most important difference between native Americans and Europeans?

What contributions did the explorers and the Indians make to one another’s lifestyles?

Compare and contrast the expeditions of

Hernando de Soto and Juan de Oñate.

What was the most important element of the Columbian Exchange?

49


comPAre

Fill in the following chart, comparing the lifestyles of the Folsom people, the Clovis people, and the spiro people according to the column headings. Make notes, not sentences.

FOlsOM ClOVis sPirO

housing

Food

Community

Commerce

social Programs

solVe Problems

in working this activity, use problem-solving skills to make your decisions: identify the problem, gather information, analyze the problem, identify alternative solutions, select a solution, and reach tentative decisions.

You are a conquistador who will accompany Coronado on his exploration of the area that is now the southwestern United States. It is your responsibility to chart the way and to keep the expedition from getting lost. You will march through a rough, arid country for much of your journey and cannot take all your possessions with you. You must decide what you will take, so you have listed your possessions. Now you must rank them to determine which is most important to your journey. Make a list from these choices, starting with what you think is most important. Continue to rank all the items until you reach the item of least importance. Be prepared to defend your choices. (Answers will vary.)

compass

trinkets for trade

animal traps

guns

lumber

horse

star chart

gold and silver

blanket

water

cooking utensils

flag

spices

food

rope

canteen

sextant

ammunition

knife

pieces of flint

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Get to know - Oklahoma Uniquely American · 2020-03-09 · Get to know : The first people to settle...

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