Mexico sends an expedition east to the plains to investigate. 45 spaniards and 60 pueblo indians. Everything about this is uncertain, but they probably get into what is now western nebraska, the intersection of the plat and loop rivers. They encounter indians. The next, they set up camp, negotiate. Theres no initial effort by the spanish to cause trouble. The next morning, the pawnees attached the spanish with arrows and muskets. Heavy armed. 2 3 of the spanish are killed in the battle. Of the survivors, its estimated that six or half a dozen get back to santa fe. It was basically a disaster for the spanish. Were here under the hot lights. All right. The survivors contribute to a painting of the expedition. This is hard to see. It was difficult for me to get a good resolution copy. If you look closely, its by an unknown artist, but there is a group of spanish and probably bl pueblo indians here. Some of the pawnee indians have bows and some have guns. They dont well, actually, theres one thing the indians dont seem to have. What might you guess that is . What would you expect . [ inaudible ]. In 1720, the spanish are in the plains, who are attacked by indians who dont seem to have horses. Thats significant. The implications of this expedition, one, is you can see spanish fear. Particularly spanish fear of french guns and french alliances withi withi indians. Also, this absence of horses. You also notice a group of plains indians can defeat a spanish expedition easily. The spanish dont have a military advantage on the plains at this time. In the aftermath of this expedition, the spanish have no desire to venture out to the plains and have a repeat of this experience. Thats our first starting point. The second starting point has to do with the group of explorers. Thats a pawnee village, just to give you a sense. This will be important later. Also, give you a sense of the p habitations. Next starting point is in the early 1740s. The winter of 1742 and 1743. Two french brothers, sons of the explorer whose document we read for today, go out into probably south dakota, north dakota, its uncertain, but this area around the black hills. Theyre looking for a number of things. In particular, theyre looking for the head waters, some kind of Western Water that would lead to the pacific. Thats their ultimate objective. Theyre in the vicinity of the black hills in south dakota, and they report back, if we can climb the black hills, i bet we could have seen the pacific from the top. If you know the geography of north america, its not the case, unless you the jump really high. As theyre moving around, their guides, the bow indians, receive reports of the indians known as the snakes. So the bbow indians want to go back and protect their villages. The exploration has to be abandoned, as these bow indians go back to their home. Interestingly enough, at this time, all the indians have horses. This is about two decades later. Little farther north. At this time, the indians that the french explorers encounter have horses. One way we know, just to show you how cool this is, one way we know about the location of the exploration is well, actually, this is a great map. One reason these french guys are optimistic that maybe they can see the pacific from the black hills is because there are some french views of north america that are a little different than the views we have today. In particular, there are these rumors in the first half of the 18th century that there is an inland sea in north america. The leading gee g orkgeograp put this together in france. Europeans at this time dont know very much about the geography of Western North ameri america. Its plausible that explorers think they can reach the waters of the pacific or inland extension of it relatively easy. Any idea what might give rise to this image . Anybody been to utah . You have that salt lake, which looks really big. In the sort of standard, if youve been out there, and the way that stories travel, you could imagine how stories of salt lake could be sort of magnified. Puget sound is something that seems like an inland body of water. Salt and sea in Southern California isnt always there, but it is occasionally. There are some basis for these rumors, but theyre a little farfetched. This is a lead plate, which was left by the expedition, which was found by school kids during recess in pierre, south dakota, in 1913. As i said, back in the days when everything was totally cool and you could find relics when you were playing tag or something. Everybody has this idea that virginia has the historical sites. Pierre was probably psyched about this. As late as the middle of the 18th century, the french who know a lot about world geography, are confused about Western North america. You can also see the french presence out west is meager and dependent. You have two dprfrench explorer dependent on the indians theyre working with. This is a few scouts trying to figure out whats going on out there. The other thing, horses, pretty far north by the 1740s, and theres indications of warfare on the northern and Western Plains by this time. With these anecdotes, we can address questions. One question, why when does yo our study of the spanish start . Oh, the first heaalf of the course. Yeah. Its like 1520s, 1530s. Theres the coronado expedition, the early 1540s. One question, the spanish have been in Western North america for over two centuries at this point, or close in 1720. Why are they still largely confined to places like new mexico and texas, as well talk about in a second . Why isnt there more of a spanish presence as you go to other areas of the plains . Thats one question we want to look at. The other question is why are the french moving west, and what are the consequences of this movement in the 18th century . What does it matter that the french are pushing west from canada and louisiana . The final question, whats the relationship between what happens in the 18th century on the plains and the kind of iconic image of north American Indians that most, i think, americans have, which is someone like a warrior on a horse. Thats the image that comes into your head when i say indian. Whats the relationship between all those things . Well start with the spanish. Why is the spanish only reaching to southern texas and new mexico . This is a Mandan Indian village from the 19th century. Therell be something you can have in find when we talk about the document, when hes talking about his own visit from the village. It would have looked Something Like that. This is just a quick image of sort of the spanish expansion in texas in the late 17th century and early 18th century. Its moving along the costal plain. Key places. Were going to talk about san sava, up here, and the missions around san antonio, which are the most significant ones. Get the sense of this expansion of Spanish Missions up into texas. The alamo, attractive historical post guard. Im not sure it looked like this in 1740. It looked like when they did this postcard. This is to get in your head. A representation of the movement of horses north. You get the idea of horses starting here, the southern parts of north america, new mexico, mexico. We dont need to get into def l details but you see the movement of horses to the north. Well talk about that as one of the developments of the 18th century. Have a sense of what that looks like physically. Not the best map, but something we havent talked about too much in class, but there is this great inland body of water in canada. Hudsons bay. There are these british trading posts in the late century. Theyll be involved in the story when we discuss the document. Get a feel for those. The final image, basically, i want you to have a sense of new mexico as moving up in southwest north america, a colony thats surrounded by areas that are not controlled by the spanish. Thatll situate our discussion when we get into the document from 1754. That should be all we need for the moment. Lets talk a little bit about why the spanish presence is halting. One thing you have to consider f you look at the empire as a whole, what is the top priority as an imperial official in madrid or mexico city . Protect the mines. Places like mexico and peru. Are this mines in mexico and texas . Yeah. Much later on, but not in the 17th and 18th centuries. If you think about the spanish empire as a whole, its enormous. It extends to the southern portions of south america, includes peru, bolivia, chili, central america. This fringe, mexico and texas. It tends not to be the priority for spanish official planners. In that sense, its not surprising that it takes a while for the spanish to begin launching forays out into the plains. Theres other ways the spanish can allocate their resources. If you recall, for example, the coronado expedition to the plains in the 16th scentury, on we didnt talk about much, in the early 1600s, do you recall how those went . Not great. The spanish went out there, and they discovered thousands of pretty formidable plains indians who werent going to welcome the spanish on to the plain. The spanish found the plains were an area sort of meager reward and also significant danger. That, i think, is one factor that held spanish expansion back until the 18th century, when they were worried about the french. Texas just gets going in the early decades of the 18th century. Early decades of the 1700s. What do you think is the impetus for the Spanish Mission in texas . Whats happening east of texas that might inspire you . [ inaudible ]. Thats exactly it. The french begin a colony in louisiana in 1699. There are french explorations down the mississippi, even before 1699. The spanish are nervous about the presence of these french guys, the presence of a french colony, that might conceivably be a threat to mexico and new mexico. Thats the primary reason. The spanish expansion into texas is generally a few missions with a small number of soldiers to go with them. Good day to remember is the founding of san antonio in 1718. Probably the most significant example of the spanish expansion. Its a site that well, what did the spanish look for before they found a mission . Do you recall for new mexico, for example . [ inaudible ]. Thats exactly what they find. San antonio is already a place of irrigated field thats been established by local indian communities t. Spanish are trying to move into an area that seems compatible to move the mission. The hope again is also, the spanish is looking for settled agricultural indians. Thats who theyd like to find. Theyre compatible with the lay of life and to christianization. Its easier to establish a church that can work with them. In fact, the way the Spanish Missions in texas were, theyre not a great success. Generally speaking, its only the most desperate indians who go there. They dont have a choice. They go to the missions for lack of anything better. The population doesnt increase. By 1760, san antonio has 1,000 people. Any idea what would bring texas indians to missions . [ inaudible ]. Yeah. This is actually a big factor. Texas is a dangerous place in 1700s. The Spanish Missions are one potential place of refuge. Theres fortifications, spanish soldiers with guns, theres an alliance with the spanish empire. You get indians who are looking for a place where they can take refuge from some of the other indians on the Southern Plains or texas in the 18th century. Another way to think about this, something that historians have talked about recently and it makes sense, is for inian india went to the texas missions, it wasnt a huge change in how they lived. Theres the season of migration of indian groups from one place to another. Maybe theyd be getting nuts from one particular place, when moving inland. The indians viewed the missions as another stop in their seasonal migrations. Thered be food, a place of refuge. They viewed them as an adaptation of their lifestyle, rather than a total change in it. You do get some of these Spanish Missions. They werent a great success. They dont generate a lot of wealth, dont get a lot of people. Theyre vulnerable to indian raids. They dont establish a dominating spanish presence in texas. Theyre as a rulable as a rule to indians. A spanish effort to move north, well beyond san antonio. What happens is, at the request of apache indians, the spanish build a mission in 1757. Spanish mission, 1757. In 1758, one year later, a group of indians, most likely an alliance of other groups from the north, annihilate the san salva mission, which is a bad way to start out. Its an indication on even the spanish fortified places in texas. Viewing that as unacceptable, the spanish try to pursue the comanches and their indian allies north. What they find is a well fortified indian camp. Stock aid, ditch and walls. Its pflying a french flag. The spanish who attached this fortification name there were all kinds of guns and ammunition, and there was a lot of french there. There is no evidence for that. They claim there were people carrying french flags and wearing french uniforms. The spanish are repelled. The key point is, again, the weakness of the spanish in texas, and also the fact that the indians of texas are formidable. They have fortifications. Mobile striking power on horses, and they can also rebuild fortifications. The spanish dont have clear military advantage in places like texas. That explains why theres sort of the spanish moving to texas but why its not many. Mexico, the other key spanish salient in north america at this time, well talk about california on wednesday, new mexico remains, as you see from the map, relatively similar to what its been throughout the course. It doesnt have the massive extension in the 1700s. New mexico, as was the case in the 17th century, is never a big revenue generator for the spanish empire. French, louisiana, theyre convinced theyre trying to get to it but it never is. New mexico is a poor Frontier Colony at the end of a long supply route from mexico. I doesnt find the silver lines the spanish were hoping for. Its up in the north. 1765, theres only about 10,000 people of spanish decent. Its relatively poor and small in terms of population. Isolated at the end of a long supply route from mexico city and doesnt have a burning commodity. Theres some trade. Any idea how new mexico as a colony would make money . Economic basis . [ inaudible ]. Theres some production of local crops, but thats not a great export commodity. There is a small fur trade. Theres actually a slave trade in new mexico, sending indian slaves, taken in raids, around new mexico, down into mexico itself. In that sense, from the sort of brutal logic of an early modern colony, the fact that new mexico was up there, sort of middle of indians who are not part of the spanish alliances in some cases, means that there are more indian groups to raid for slaves. That is part of new mexicos economy. The biggest problem that new mexico has, in addition to the fact that economically, its meager, is what would you guess . Just looking at that map. [ inaudible ]. Yeah. Its a long ways away from the center and all that goes with it. Help. If its a long way from the centers of spanish power, what is it close to . [ inaudible ]. Yeah. Thats exactly right. Theres a lot of indian peoples surrounding new mexico who become more and more formidable as the 1700s go on. New mexico has to worry about the utes to the north, the comanches to the west, the apaches, who are all over the place, the navajos, who are to the northwest. Theres a lot of indian groups that the governor of new mexico has to be concerned about. New mexico is a vulnerable colony. Its a little surrounded. What its concerned about is some of these indians who were surrounding it, increasingly, are carrying french weapons. One difference between the spanish colonies in new mexico and texas and the french colonies in places like louisiana is the spanish discourage trading guns with western indians because they think theyll be a threat to the colonies. The french encourage it, which makes the spanish nervous. It means their potential enemies are much pbetter off. Lets talk now about lets shift from the spanish colonies and talk a little bit about the indians on the plains themselves. You can already see, weve already had little hints of very interesting story thats going on. Lets first go back in time a little bit and talk about some of the developments that lead up to what happens. What we see in the 1700s. The first thing to talk about is that when were talking about the 1700s, there are a number, a lot of indian communities on the great plains who are growing crops. Agricultural, you have big towns growing things like corn. This Development Starts 1700 a. D. Going way back. Prehistory of the course. What you see is very gradually, this movement of the growing of corn kind of moving up mississippi, and moving west along the tributaries of mississippi, to the point where a river like the missouri has the significant villages that are growing a lot of corn around it. These mandan villages, for example, are surrounded by corn fields. So the pawnees, another example of these communities. What tends to happen to communities that grow a lot of food . Thanksgiving is the perfect preparation. Theyre sluggish. Cant move quickly. Their population grows. One thing you get is that these pawnee and mandan towns and the other towns of peoples like this are often really big. Hundreds or thousands of People Living in these, some cases, fortified, substantial villages or towns along the tributaries of the missouri and mississippi. Its a formation of a new style of life, at least from what had been in the region before 1700. The villages arent just growing corn, but theyre hunting buffalo. Buffalo provides protein. Theyre also making stuff, involved in handicrafts, basic production. By the 18th sen which ycentury, horses. The spanish see some of this see it in the 17th and 18th century. Big towns out on the plains. Thats one big sort of feature of the plains at this time. Theres another big feature of the plains, and this is what makes the plains an exciting place and a dramatic place. Its one of those things in the 1700s. That is, lets go back to your iconic image of the north american indian, which is a guy on a horse, okay . The question is, when does that start . Well, when the spanish arrive, when the french arrive, when europeans arrive in north america, are there horses in north america . There are not. Shortly thereafter, there are horses in north america. There used to be horses a long time ago but went extinct. When the spanish arrive, they bring horses with them. What would happen, would you guess . Spanish move to new mexico, horses are part of what gives them the military adva