Cultural History

Early Occupation of the Big Bend

  9500 BC- Early Paleoindian Period (Clovis Culture) Small bands of nomads hunted terminal Ice Age animals such as mammoths and giant bison, in addition to small animals, and harvested wild plants. Primary weapons were spears, used at times with spear throwers (atlatls).  Although they lived throughout this region, there is very little evidence of Clovis people in this region.

  8900 BC- Early Paleoindian Period (Folsom Culture) Small bands of nomads gathered wild plant foods and hunted giant bison and other animals.  Primary weapons were spears, used at times with atlatls. 

  8200 BC- Late Paleoindian Period- A variety of distinct spear point styles and other innovative stone tools suggest several different mobile hunter- gatherer groups were present across this region.  Drier environmental conditions and changing plants and animal communities led to cultural adaptation.  Primary weapons were spears, used at times with atlatls.

  6500 BC- Early Archaic Period- Small bands of hunter- gatherers occupied this region and it is believed that they had more restricted geographical ranges that in earlier times.  With the appearance of groundstone artifacts (such as manos and metates) used to process plant foods, there appears to have been an increased reliance on plant gathering in addition to small game hunting.  Primary weapons were spears and atlatls. 

  5000 BC- Altithermal Period Begins- High temperatures and droughts begins.

  2500 BC- Middle Archaic Period-  Plains bison hunters began entering the area even as existing nomadic hunting gathering lifeways continued.  Increases in the variety and number of spear points and their distribution across the landscape suggest a higher population.  Trade networks developed with groups in surrounding areas.  Primary weaponary consisted of spears and atlatls.

  1000- 300 BC- Wet climate interval- Modern bison enter Big Bend from the High Plains

  AD 700- Transitional Late Archaic to Late Prehistoric- Traditional nomadic hunting and gathering lifeways continued, with intensified use of earth ovens and possibly limited experimentation with agriculture.  By around AD 750 a distinctive nomadic hunting- gathering group (Livemore culture) practicing mountaintop ritualism appeared in the region.  The bow and arrow were introduced at this time, although the spear and spear thrower and wooden throwing (rabbit) sticks were also used.

  AD 1000- Late Prehistoric Period- The first regional Native American villages utilizing pithouse dwellings, ceramics, and agriculture appeared at La Junta around AD 1200, while elsewhere in the Big Bend nomadic hunting and gathering lifeways persisted.  Both nomads and villagers continued to use earth ovens to process wild plant foods.  Extensive trade networks developed between farmers and nomads, and between farmers and other cultural groups in the American Southwest.  A distinctive nomadic group (Cielo complex) using stone based wickiups (hide or brush covered dwellings) appeared by around AD 1250.  Bows and stone tipped arrows were the primary weapons, and use of throwing (rabbit) sticks continued.

  AD 1535- Historic Period- The first Spaniards entered the Big Bend beginning with Cabeza de Vaca.  Spanish entradas in the late 1500s and 1600s led to the establishment of missions (churches) around the junction of the Rio Grande and Rio Conchos (La Junta) by the 1680s.  Spanish presidios (forts) were established on the south bank of the Rio Grande in the late 1700s.  Primary weapons change from bows and stone tipped arrows to bows and iron tipped arrows, and then to guns.  Cultural change and conflict intensified as mounted Apaches and Comanches entered the region from the Southern Plains and harassed local Native Americans, Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo American settlers.

Spaniards, The Republic of Texas, and the 28th State

  Spain became the first European nation to claim what is now Texas, beginning in 1519.  This was more than 100 years before the Pilgrims set foot on Plymouth Rock. Cabeza de Vaca in 1535 was the first Spaniard to reach La Junta (Presidio, TX), but colonization came slowly.  In 1681 the first settlement in Texas that could be called a town was Ysleta, which is present-day El Paso.  Gradually expanding from Mexico, other Spanish missions, forts, and civil settlements followed for nearly a century and-a-half until Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821.

  Pioneers from the Hispanic south and the Anglo north flowed into Texas.  Land grants were offered to settlers, and empresarios brought groups to take advantage of the generous grants.  Best known were the 300 families brought by Stephen F. Austin.  It was a frontier region.  Anglo Texans became Mexican citizens.  Settlers came in droves, and soon friction between the settlers and Mexico grew into rebellion.  Colonists petitioned Mexico for civil rights.  Austin took the demands to Mexico City and was imprisoned for 2 years on a charge of treason.  Meanwhile, Sam Houston had come to Texas and became the leader of the restless settlers, who now outnumbered the Mexican nationals in Texas by four to one.  The first shots of the Texas Revolution were fired September 1, 1835.  On October 2nd, the battle of Gonzales commenced when the Mexican troops wanted the return of a canon they had loaned the settlers.  Their reply of “Come and Take It” became a rallying cry. The settlers overtook Goliad and San Antonio.  On March 6, 1836, Santa Anna and his troops attack the Alamo. A few weeks later, the Texians triumphed in the Battle of San Jacinto, which won independence for Texas.

  Although the Republic of Texas was an independent nation from 1836-1845, most of its citizens favored statehood.  The U.S. Congress too reluctant to admit another “slave” state delayed acceptance of Texas, but a compromise was reached on December 29, 1845.  Unrest about the actual international boundary sparked yet another war with Mexico. On February 2, 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed establishing the Rio Grande as the International Boundary.

Ranching and Cinnabar Ore Mining

   The cessation of hostilities between Mexico and the United States saw a marked increase in the number of Americans moving into the Big Bend region establishing large ranches and farms, and facilitating the on-going trade through the area.  In 1854, Fort Davis was established to protect settlers, traders, and travelers passing through the area from the Apache and Comanches.  In 1884 cinnabar ore was discovered and the first mercury mines were opened.  Ranching and farming in the region prospered to help support the growing mining communities.  By the 1930s, the boom and bust era of these industries had seen its heyday.