Occwpatjon of t/ze T,•jnity River, 1746-1772
49
adventurous traders who penetrated the coast region. The center or headquarters of the tribe seems to have been located on a western branch of the San Jacinto River called at this time Arroyo de Santa Rosa de Alcazar. This stream has been identified on good authority as Spring Creek.' A short distance below the junction of the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa, about a gunshot from the banks of the latter, was another village ruled by Chief Canos. This chief was a close friend of the French, whom the Indians generally designated as Canos; hence the name. Some twenty miles above was the village of Chief El Gordo . (Fatty). A fourth village was located ten or fifteen miles above the mouth of the Trinity on its east bank, while a fifth, ruled over by the same chief, Calzones Colorados (Red Breeches), was at or near the mouth of the same river and on the same side. 7 This nation occupied and claimed as their country the coast region from as far west as the Brazos to halfway between the Trinity and the Neches, for a distance of from fifteen to twenty miles inland from the coast. The nation was bordered on the north by the Bidais and the Deadoses. On the west were the Cocos and to the west and southwest the Karankawas and the Cujanes. The Orcoquisacs seem to have been on friendly terms with the neighboring tribes with the exception of the Karankawa. Racially they seem to have been closely related to the Attacapa, with whom they inter- married freely. 8 The number of this tribe has bt:en estimated between ten and fifteen hundred souls. Orobio in his report in 1748 places the number of families as slightly over three hundred. E:cploration of tlze Tri11ity Rive,·, 1748. On January 29 of this year, the viceroy issued detailed instructions to Captain Orobio y Basterra to explore the coast between the Guadalupe River and the Trinity and to ascertain the facilities offered for settlement as well as the number and character of the Orcoquisacs. The order was prompted by a report of Orobio that a group of Indians from this tribe had come to La Bahia to request that missions be founded in their country. The order was received 6 Bolton, Texas in the Middle Eig/1tu11t/1 Ce11tury, p. 333. 7 Bolton, op. cit., p. 333, declares that the location of the fifth village is not clear. But the report of Orobio to the Viceroy made on July 22. 1748, clearly indicates that there was a villagt! at or very near the mouth of the Trinity. S1111 Fra11cisct1 el Grand, Archive, Vol. 19, pp. 95-100. 'Hodge, The Arkokisa (Orcoquisac) in Ha11dbook of /lie America11 Indian; Castaneda, 11/orft's History of Texas, pt. 1, p. So; The ilfi.ssio11s at Work (Vol. III of Our Catholic Heritage, Chapters I and VI); Dolton, Texas, pp. 332-335.
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