Volume 14 , Issue 38

NW Okie's Corner

Since this an "Okie Legacy," let us go back to the 16th thru the 18th century, discovering a few facts about Oklahoma that some of you might never have known or have forgotten. The Oklahoma timeline begins with Spain, England and France claiming the area at different times during Oklahoma's history. Did you know that 14 flags (including those of four foreign nations) have flown over the territory that became Oklahoma?

Many know from our schooling that the first known inhabitants of Oklahoma were the Osage, Quapaw, Caddo, Wichita, Waco, Tawakony, Kiowa, Comanche, the Apache, and several other tribes of Indians.

Oklahoma Timeline (1528-1763)

1528-1536 - Four survivors of Cabeca de Vaca's expedition, captured by the Indians, first saw the buffalo in the Red River valley and are supposed to have been taken through a portion of Oklahoma.

1541 - Francisco Vasquez de Coronado made an expedition from Mexico northward and is believed to have penetrated as far north as Northeastern Kansas, crossing Western Oklahoma. They named the Great Plains the "Llano Estacado."

1541-42 - Moscosco and a few survivors of DeSoto's exploring party are believed to have crossed one or more of the counties of Western Oklahoma.

1549 - Bonilla, Spanish explorer, explored far out on the Great Plains and is believed to have crossed one or more of the counties of Western Oklahoma.

1601 - Onate, Spanish governor of New Mexico, is believed to have passed through the western part of the state in search of Quivira, the land of supposedly fabulous wealth of gold.

1611 - A Spanish expedition was sent to the Wichita Mountains, and until 1629 Spanish missionaries labored among the tribes in that section.

1650 - Don del Castillo with a force of Spanish spent several months in the Wichita Mountains seeking gold. He found many pearls which he sent to the governor of New Mexico at Santa Fe.

1655 - The Crown of Great Britain made a grant for the colony of Carolina, embracing all the land from the Atlantic to the Pacific between 30 degrees and 36 degrees, 30 minutes north latitude.

1673 - Marquette, a French Jesuit missionary. and Louis Joliet, a Quebec trader, floated down the Mississippi River to the mouth of the Arkansas.

1678-1682 - Robert de la Salle explored the Mississippi to its mouth and claimed all land drained by that river and its tributaries for the King of France in whose honor he named the great region Louisiana.

1714 - Saint Denis from New Orleans ascended the Red River along the southern boundary of Oklahoma.

1717 - The Spanish under Padilla marched from the Spanish settlements on the Rio Grande across the Great Plains to punish the Comanche for making warfare on them. They fought a hard battle on the western border of Oklahoma and captured seven hundred prisoners.

1719 - Bernard de la Harpe, under direction of Governor Bienville at New Orleans, set out from Natchitoches on the Red River to explore the valley of that stream. He passed over Southern and Southeastern Oklahoma.

1723 - New Orleans was proclaimed as the seat of government for the territory of Louisiana. Etienne Venyard du Bourgmount crossed Oklahoma, visiting the Pawnee, Kaw, Osage, Missouri, and then the Comanche on the Arkansas River in what is now Central Kansas. He loaded the Indians with presents in an effort to win their attachment to the French, thus beginning the rivalry with the Spanish for the Great Plains region.

1739-40 - Two brothers named Mallet and four companions ascended the Missouri River to the Platte, following that river to the Rocky Mountains. Skirting the mountains, the party went to Santa Fe, New Mexico, where they spent the winter, separating in the spring, three members of the party returned overland to the Missouri, while the other three passed down the Arkansas through Oklahoma.

1760 - Brevel, a French Creole trader from New Orleans, visited the Wichita Mountains in company with the Caddo Indians. He reported the Spaniards to be engaged in mining operations in the mountains at that time. Spanish priests were also present among the Indians.

1763 - The territory of Louisiana was secretly ceded to the Spanish by the French to prevent its falling into the hands of the British.

So . . . Oklahoma was another one of those territories our immigrant pioneers pushed westward for a better life than they had back home. Those same immigrants pushed the Native Americans off their hunting lands; eradicated their buffalo; destroyed their grasslands; and forced Native Americans onto reservations.

Good Night & Good Luck researching your ancestral roots and learning from where your immigrant pioneers came originally!   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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