Spanish Exploration in Hutchinson County, Texas by Wes Phillips


By the mid 18th century there were Spanish adventurers of two kinds who visited in the Texas Panhandle. First were the Ciboleros, who were Buffalo hunters, using long lances to kill the Bison. These were then followed by the Comancheros who traded with the various Indian groups in the Texas Panhandle. In Hutchinson County the two trading spots where these Spanish traders met were Adobe Creek, where later Bent built Fort Adobe and Dixon Creek. At both spots, they traded not only with the various Indian Tribes, but also with the Hudson Bay traders who came into the west with many trade goods.

     The Mallet brothers Paul and Pierre were among the first French traders which the Comanches allowed to venture to Santa Fe. They left Montreal in 1739 and traveled overland to Santa Fe with six other Montreal traders. From Santa Fe, they went to New Orleans, where they set up a trading house and guided other traders to Santa Fe. The Canadian River through Hutchinson County was along the principal route.

     In 1817, a war party with Kiowas, Plains Apache, Arapahos, and Cheyenne fought the Spanish on the Canadian River in Texas. A large trading party of Americans stayed with the Northern Comanches all winter and on the way back to the states they were attacked by Skidi Pawnee from Nebraska and Taovaya Wichita from Red River.

     In August, 1820 the Long Expedition crossed the Texas Panhandle, which was described as a desert. They met and did some slight trading with the Kiowa Apaches whom they called Kaskaskias. On the 16th they were caught by one of the hailstorms of which our region is justly famous, and were pelted by hailstones nearly the size of golf balls. Rainfall had been good during the summer and the grape vines were loaded with grapes.