Papago Tribe

A Piman tribe, closely allied to the Pima, whose original home was the territory south and south east of Gila River, especially south of Tucson, Arizona, in the main and tributary valleys of the Rio Santa Cruz, and extending west and south west across the desert waste known as the Papaguería, into Sonora, Mexico

The Native American Holocaust

The population of Mexico began to drop almost immediately after the arrival of the Spanish in 1519. A smallpox plague devastated the population of Tenochtitlan while it was under siege by the Spanish. Many other European diseases spread across Mexico and Central America in the years that followed.  Even prior to the Cortez Expedition, a smallpox plague devastated the Yucatan Peninsula, the Caribbean Islands and the advanced peoples living around the Mobile and Pensacola Bays on the Southeastern Gulf Coasts. Several European plagues that swept through Mexico during the 1500s and early 1600s killed anywhere from 30% to 80% of … Read more

Biography of Fred B. Woodard

Fred B. Woodard, prominent member of the Washington County bar, residing at Dewey, has been a resident of this section of the state since 1898 and through the intervening period has left the impress of his individuality and ability upon the legal history of the commonwealth. A native of Indiana, his birth occurred in Parke County, near Bloomingdale, on the 21st of October, 1871, his parents being William Penn and Martha Ellen (Kelley) Woodard. The father’s birth occurred on a farm in Parke County, Indiana, which his father, Thomas Woodard, had entered from the government in pioneer times. The latter … Read more

Mexican War Records

The Mexican–American War was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 in the wake of the 1845 U.S. annexation of Texas, which Mexico considered part of its territory despite the 1836 Texas Revolution. In addition to a naval blockade off the Mexican coast, American forces invaded and conquered New Mexico, California, and parts of what is currently northern Mexico. Another American army captured Mexico City, forcing Mexico to agree to the sale of its northern territories to the U.S. Territorial expansion of the United States to the Pacific coast was the goal of President … Read more

Slave Narrative of Lucinda Vann

Lucinda Vann, born between 92 and 100+ years old, recounts her life on the Vann plantation in Webbers Falls, Oklahoma, where she was born to enslaved parents in the master’s bedroom during an emergency. Raised in the Vann household, Lucinda describes a plantation managed by wealthy Cherokee owners Jim and Jennie Vann, boasting decent conditions for slaves, who were well-fed, finely dressed, and participated in plantation festivities. Lucinda had a favored horse, Black Hock, gifted by Missus Jennie, with earnings saved for her. Post-war, Lucinda, reflecting on the social inequalities, elected to join the Catholic church and later attempted to flee to Mexico during turmoil, only to return to a depleted plantation. The narrative captures a blend of personal triumphs amid the harsh realities of slavery, retaining a deeply ingrained cultural heritage and the complexities of identity and belonging in post-Civil War America.

Choctaw Nation and the Greer County Dispute

1818 Melish Map of the United States

The Dispute In The Right Of Ownership Of Greer County Between The United States And Texas. The petition of the Attorney General of the United States affirms that according to the treaty of Feb. 22, 1819 made by the United States and the King of Spain, which was ratified two years later, and so proclaimed by both the United States and Spain, and that by the third article of the treaty it was provided and agreed that the boundary line between the two countries west of the Mississippi River shall begin on the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of … Read more

Pueblo Family

Pueblo Indians, Pueblo Family – (towns, villages , so called on account of the peculiar style of compact permanent settlements of these people, as distinguished from temporary camps or scattered rancherias of less sub stantial houses). A term applied by the Spaniards and adopted by English-speaking people to designate all the Indians who lived or are living in permanent stone or adobe houses built into compact villages in south Colorado and central Utah, and in New Mexico, Arizona, and the adjacent Mexican territory, and extended sometimes to include the settlements of such tribes as the Pima and the Papago, who … Read more

The Discovery Of This Continent, it’s Results To The Natives

Columbus Landing on Hispaniola

In the year 1470, there lived in Lisbon, a town in Portugal, a man by the name of Christopher Columbus, who there married Dona Felipa, the daughter of Bartolome Monis De Palestrello, an Italian (then deceased), who had arisen to great celebrity as a navigator. Dona Felipa was the idol of her doting father, and often accompanied him in his many voyages, in which she soon equally shared with him his love of adventure, and thus became to him a treasure indeed not only as a companion but as a helper; for she drew his maps and geographical charts, and also … Read more

Pima Indians

Pima Indians. Signifying “no” in the Nevome dialect and incorrectly applied through misunderstanding by the early missionaries. Also called: Â’-â’tam, own name, signifying “people,” or, to distinguish them from the Papago Â’-â’tam â’kimûlt, “river people.” Nashteíse, Apache name, signifying “live in mud houses.” Paǐnyá, probably name given by Havasupai. Saikiné, Apache name, signifying “living in sand (adobe) houses,” also applied to Papago and Maricopa. Teχ-păs, Maricopa name. Tihokahana, Yavapai name. Widshi ǐti’kapa, Tonto-Yuma name. Pima Connections. The Pima gave their name to the Piman linguistic stock of Powell, which is now recognized to be a subdivision of the great Uto-Aztecan … Read more

Indian Bands, Gens and Clans of Mexico

Many tribes have sub-tribes, bands, gens, clans and phratry.  Often very little information is known or they no longer exist.  We have included them here to provide more information about the tribes. Ahome. (Buelna says the aboriginal name is Jaomeme, ‘where the man ran’. In Cahita, ho-me means to inhabit, to live, and in Nahuatl ahome might be derived from atl water, ome two, ‘two waters’, referring to the ocean tide which ascends the river to this point; but after all the word may be of Vacoregue origin. ) A subdivision of the Cahita, speaking the Vacoregue dialect, and the … Read more

Biography of Oliver P. Goodall

OLIVER P. GOODALL. – Mr. Goodall, one of our best men in developing Oregon, was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, August, 1828, and grew up on a farm, securing a common-school education. At the age of eighteen he left school and joined Colonel William Bent, and spent the winter of 1846-47 at Bent’s fort on the Arkansas river, in the capacity of clerk. He there met with continuous adventures, associating with such old mountaineers as Kit and Bob Carson, Bridger, the Calloways, Bill Williams, Dick Dallam, Black Dick Curtis and others; and his recitals of their brave and daring deeds … Read more

Biography of James Baxter

Captain James Baxter, of Boise, is a native of England, his birth having occurred in Norwich. His parents were Frank and Mary (Gunn) Baxter, who came with their family to the United States when the Captain was very young. They resided near New York City for some years, and then removed to Paterson, New Jersey. The father was a horticulturist by occupation and successfully engaged in the cultivation of vegetables and flowers. Soon after his arrival in America he took steps toward becoming naturalized and was recognized as a valued and influential citizen. He served as county commissioner in New … Read more

Mayan and Creek Similarities

Many, many suns ago, I was awarded a fellowship by Georgia Tech to spend a summer studying the indigenous architecture and town planning of Mesoamerica. The grant involved visiting all of the major archaeological sites in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. In addition, I was to photograph at least 2500 professional quality color slides for the Georgia Tech library.  The education I received seemed only a little relevant to an architectural career in the United States, but it would make interesting conversation for dates and parties.  Besides . . . Relaciones Exteriores (their State Department) let me ship home 125 kg … Read more