NO. 14 CADDO BURIAL SITE- — WALKER 



HISTORICAL BACKGROUND 



In all probability this burial ground occupies the site or very nearly 

 the site of the ancient Natchitoches village visited first by Henri de 

 Tonti in 1690. This was the southern village of a tribe of the same 

 name mentioned possibly under the form Nacacahos in the Elvas 

 narrative of De Soto's expedition/ and found farther up Red River 

 west of the great bend. On February 17, 1690, Tonti arrived after a 

 5 days' trip, principally overland from the Taensa villages on Lake 

 St. Joseph. He says : " They made us stay at the place, which is in 

 the midst of the three villages called Nachitoches, Ouasita, and 

 Capiche. The chiefs of the three nations assembled, and before they 

 began to speak, the 30 Taencas who were with me got up, and leaving 

 their arms went to the temple, to show how sincerely they wished to 

 make a solid peace * * * I made them some presents in the name of 

 the Taencas." * 



Further on he speaks of the " Cadadoquis * * * united with two 

 other villages called Natchitoches and Nasoui, situated on the Red 

 River. All the nations of this tribe speak the same language." The 

 Natchitoches village here referred to is this time the upper one, but 

 it serves to show the close relationship existing between this and the 

 other tribes allied with the Caddo. 



The next mention of Natchitoches is by Bienville, who, with St. 

 Denis, in April 1700 ascended Red River Valley as far as the Yatasi 

 village. He did not actually visit Natchitoches but stopped at the 

 village of the Souchitionys about a league distant. The Natchitoches, 

 who were settled in cabins along Red River, came with their chief 

 to the French camp to " sing the calumet ", and Bienville gave him a 

 peace pipe and a small present." 



A few years later, according to Penicaut, this tribe came to St. 

 Denis, then commandant of the first French fort on the Mississippi, 

 and asked to be allowed to settle elsewhere, as their corn had been 

 ruined by frequent overflows of Red River. They were permitted 

 to locate near the Acolapissa, at that time living on the north side 

 of Lake Pontchartrain, and remained with them until about 1712. 

 St. Denis had received an order from Lamothe de Cadillac to make 

 a trip over into Mexico to open up trade relations with the Spaniards, 

 and the Natchitoches conceived the desire of returning to their old 



^ French, B. F., Historical collections of Louisiana, vol. 2, p. lyy, 1850. 

 * French, B. F., Ibid., vol. i, pt. i, p. 72, 1846. 



° Margry, P., Decouvertes et etablissements des Frangais dans I'Amerique 

 septentrionale, pt. 4, p. 437, Paris, 1880. 



