Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In the Beginning…
Texas hasn't always been Texas. Or Mexico, for that matter. Or the United States, or Spain,
or France, or any of the six flags that once flew over this epic state in its eight changes of
sovereignty. The earliest evidence of humans in what is now Texas exists in the
llano es-
tacado
('staked plain') section of Texas and New Mexico. Little is known about the various
indigenous peoples, but by the time the first Europeans arrived in the 16th century, several
distinct groups of Native Americans were settled in the region. One of these tribes, the
Caddos, still figures strongly as a namesake and cultural influence in east Texas, where the
Caddo Mounds State Historic Site commemorates their unique history.
The word 'Texas' goes back to 1691. Spanish explorers found the Caddos so friendly that they began to
call their new territory
tejas
('tay-has'), a corruption of the Caddo word for 'friend.'
