Dreaming of Caddo Mounds

I've always been fascinated by ancient Native American sites, having visited the Puye Cliff Dwellings and Mesa Verde National Park as a child. These places offer a unique glimpse into the domestic world of our country's indigenous people.

One such site is the Caddo Mounds State Historic Site, located 30 miles west of Nacogdoches, Texas. It's one of the few places in Texas where you can imagine what life was like for the Native Americans who once called it home.

Here, you'll find three mounds, a garden, a conical grass replica dwelling, paths through open prairies, and a fantastic interpretive center that rose from the ashes after a tornado destroyed the site in 2019.

Before visiting, I recommend reading the following books to deepen your understanding of Caddo life and history:

1. "Caddo Mounds: State Historic Site" by Timothy Pertula, Eric Singleton, and staff (Texas Historical Commission)
2. "Peace Came in the Form of a Woman: Indians and Spaniards in the Texas Borderlands" by Juliana Barr (UNC Press)
3. "Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America" by Pekka Hämäläinen (Liveright Publishing)
4. "Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory" by Claudio Saunt (Norton)
5. "The Conquest of Texas: Ethnic Cleansing in the Promised Land, 1820-1875" by Gary Clayton Anderson (U of Oklahoma Press)
6. "Indian Place-Names" by John Rydjord (U of Oklahoma Press)

Caddo Facts

• People have inhabited East Texas for at least 13,000 years.
• For about 12,000 years, nomadic hunters and gatherers roamed the region until the introduction of agriculture and pottery led to a more sedentary lifestyle.
• Over 1,200 years ago, a group of Caddo founded a village at the current Caddo Mounds site, which became the southwestern-most ceremonial center of the Mound Builder culture.
• The Caddo dominated East Texas for nearly 1,000 years until the arrival of European explorers and American settlers, bringing with them diseases that caused severe population loss.
• The Caddo traded with people across North America, from the Great Lakes to the Rocky Mountains, exchanging foods, raw materials, and decorative objects.
• Unlike other indigenous groups, the Caddo rarely experienced warfare due to their superior numbers and established presence in East Texas.
• The Early Caddo lived in large, round thatched houses that could accommodate extended families, and fire played a significant role in their rituals.
• The Caddo abandoned this village around 1300 due to the "Little Ice Age," which led to drought and social changes in the region.
• The Later Caddo continued their ways of life on a smaller scale, building smaller ceremonial centers and mounds.
• French and Spanish explorers document encountering the Caddo, who have since experienced change and displacement, but now thrive as a sovereign nation based in Oklahoma.