Strangers in the Great Bend: Settler and Native Communities in the Red River Valley of the Old Southwest at the Beginning of the 19th Century

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Shifting Borders: Early-19th Century Archeology in the Trans-Mississippi South" , at the 2021 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The Great Bend of the Red River is the junction between the American states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. In the first decades of the 19th century, it was a place of complex connections and interactions as immigrant Native communities from the east, along with American settlers, moved into an area long-controlled by the Caddos and frequently visited by the Spanish and French. This combination of people along what was considered by Europeans to be an international border created a period of substantial power contestations, ethnic conflict, and commercial change. Archeological research on this area has been effective in locating villages connected with this time period, documenting the cultural connections visible in material culture, and highlighting alternative understandings of this period of regional and American history. This presentation summarizes this research and lays the groundwork for forthcoming investigations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Shifting Borders: Early-19th Century Archeology in the Trans-Mississippi South   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2021

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology