Texas History: Prehistory to 1800 Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering prehistory, indigenous cultures, European conquest, and 18th-century Spanish frontier reforms and ranching in Texas.

José de Gálvez

Spanish official who restructured the tax system to expand royal revenue across the frontier during the late 18th century.

Marqués de Rubí's Inspection Tour

A military inspection ordered to evaluate frontier presidios, which recommended consolidating defenses, abandoning useless posts like San Sabá, and closing Los Adaes.

Reglamento of 1772

Spanish reform legislation resulting from the Rubí inspection that established single-unit control over local frontier interests, improved conditions for soldiery, and instituted an elected commissary officer.

Comanche

A formidable native group whose name means enemy or stranger, whose political economy depended on buffalo and horses, and who engaged in targeted raids and flexible leadership.

Bridewealth

The Comanche custom of paying money or property to a bride's family as compensation upon marriage.

Antonio Gil Y’Barbo

Leader of East Texas settlers (1729–1809) who petitioned for an intermediate settlement after Los Adaes was closed and helped re-establish civilian presence at Nacogdoches.

Athanase de Mézières

Former French army officer who served as commandant general in Texas, tasked with establishing peace with the Nations of the North and Comanches to wage war against the Apaches.

Secularization

The transition of Spanish frontier missions into self-supporting parish churches, granting native inhabitants civil freedom and redistributing mission lands.

Gente de Razón

A Spanish term meaning rational people, referring to mission natives who were granted full legal rights and privileges upon the secularization of missions.

Mesteña Fund

A tax levied on unbranded livestock in Spanish Texas intended to resolve ownership disputes, which created significant tension between civilian ranchers and missions.

Vaquero Attire

Traditional protective riding clothing and gear worn by Spanish and Mexican cowboys handling cattle on the Texas frontier.

Rosa María Hinojosa de Ballí

Known as La Patrona, she was a pioneer rancher who managed and expanded her family's landholdings in Nuevo Santander to control nearly 1,000,000 acres in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.

Land Grants of Ballí

Vast territorial holdings in the Lower Rio Grande Valley acquired by the Ballí family, covering present-day Starr, Hidalgo, Willacy, Cameron, and Padre Island areas.

Patrones

Land-rich, wealthy ranch owners in the Lower Rio Grande Valley who provided economic support and protection to laborers in exchange for unconditional loyalty.

Peones

Landless agricultural and livestock workers on frontier ranches who relied on patrones for essential needs and aid.

Enchanted Rock

A massive pink granite dome located in Llano County, Texas, formed approximately one billion years ago during continental plate collisions.

Clovis Toolkit

An ancient Paleoindian artifact assembly dating to around 13,000 years ago, consisting of fluted projectile points, blades, scrapers, and hammerstones.

Gault Site

A prominent Central Texas archaeological site that yielded extensive evidence of early human occupation and Clovis toolkit production.

Antelope Creek Phase

A West Texas archaeological culture (800 to 500 years ago) characterized by stone dwellings, buffalo hunting, and trade with Pueblo and Caddo groups prior to the arrival of the Apaches.

Coahuiltecans

Foraging hunter-gatherer populations of South Texas and northern Mexico who lived in temporary brush shelters without heavy grinding tools.

Karankawas

Coastal indigenous people who inhabited the bays and barrier islands of Texas, using dugout canoes, waterproof baskets, and shell tools.

Caddos

An East Texas agricultural confederacy residing near the Sabine River, known for mound-building, ceremonial centers, and extensive regional trade in fine ceramics and crafts.

Entradas

Royal charters issued by the Spanish Crown granting permission for expeditions of conquest, colonization, or settlement.

Encomiendas

Royal grants bestowed upon Spanish conquistadors that allowed them to extract labor or tribute goods from local native populations.

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Spanish explorer who shipwrecked on the Texas coast in 1528, lived among indigenous tribes as a merchant and healer, and later published his account, Relación.

Relación

The published narrative by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca recounting his eight-year ordeal and travels through Texas and northern New Spain.

Antonio de Mendoza

The first viceroy of New Spain who authorized exploratory ventures to verify reports of the Seven Cities of Gold.

Francisco Vázquez de Coronado

Spanish conquistador who led an extensive expedition through Texas and the Southwest in 1540 seeking the legendary Seven Cities of Gold.

Hernando de Soto

Spanish conquistador whose destructive expedition swept across the Southeast into East Texas, introducing deadly European epidemic diseases to indigenous populations.