Ottr Catlzolic Heritage in Texas
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The nomadic Cocos, who could muster some sixty warriors, were living on the banks of the lake at the mouth of the Brazos, in the vicinity of present Freeport. Fishing was their chief occupation. Along the coast, roaming between the Brazos and Matagorda Bay, lived about two hundred Karankawa braves and their families. This number did not include those who were living at Mission Refugio, where a good many had congregated and become civilized. The coastal Karankawas had intermarried with the Cocos. They too spent most of their time fishing in the numerous lakes and inlets of the coast, with which they were thoroughly familiar. The Tonkawa, one of the strongest surviving nations, numbered about two hundred fifty warriors, who, with their families, made a considerable aggregate. They ranged from the Brazos to the San Marcos, along both sides of the Camino Real, from San Antonio to Nacogdoches. They depended on the chase for their food, principally deer and buffalo, as they did no planting. Each of their two tribes had its own chief. About thirty leagues above the crossing of the Camino Real on the Brazos, probably near Chilton, lived about three hundred Tawakoni warriors and their families in three villages. This nation was indus- trious and their well-cultivated fields yielded an abundance of corn, beans, and other products. About one hundred leagues northwest of Nacogdoches, on the Red River, there were three villages in which some four hundred warriors of the Taovayas, Wichitas, and Aquichis lived. Like the Tawakoni, these Indians were agricultural. In their irrigated fields they planted corn, beans, watermelons, and other products and obtained good returns. The principal village of the Quitseys (called Quichas by the Span- iards) was located six leagues west of the Trinity, about ten leagues above the Camino Real, in the vicinity of Leona. They numbered fifty or sixty warriors, who, with their families, planted corn, beans, and other crops. The old Tejas tribe was now divided into two pueblos. The first, called Nabdacos, was located three leagues west of the Neches River, and four leagues north of the Camino Real, near Slocum. Here lived about one hundred warriors and their families. The other village, called Aynais, was on the west bank of the Angelina, three leagues above the highway, in the vicinity of Rusk. Here lived sixty warriors with their families. Both pueblos planted corn and hunted.
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