Historical Marker Number: 11468

Marker Title: Atakapan Indians of Orange County
 

Index Entry: Atakapan Indians of Orange County
Address:
City: Riverwalk Park
County: Orange
Year Marker Erected: 1986
Marker Location: Front Ave. & the end of 4th St., Ochiltree, Riverwalk Park, Orange

Marker Text:

The Atakapan Indians, a tribe associated with southeastern U. S. bands, lived in this area for centuries. Studies have suggested their presence covered a large region of southeast Texas. Their name comes from the Choctaw Indians, and means "Man-Eaters". It is believed that Indians encountered by Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca in 1528 along the Gulf Coast may have been Atakapans. The first documented contact with the tribe was by French sailor Simars de Bellisle in 1719. Put ashore with four others to collect fresh water, the men were abandoned and de Bellisle, after the deaths of his companions, was made a captive of the Indian tribe for a time. Later contact with the Atakapans included trade with French and Spanish explorers. The tribe was evidently a fairly loose confederacy of small, scattered bands. Archeological evidence suggests they subsisted mainly on small game, fish, and wild plants, and evidently were not farmers. Shell middens found indicated the existence of Atakapan campsites in this vicinity. The tribe disappeared from Texas in the early 19th century, either becoming extinct or integrating into other tribes. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836-1986

 

The information on Historical Markers is from The Texas Historical Sites Atlas
Photos by Elaine Stone

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