More than any other fort at or near the Red River Valley, Fort Richardson embodies American Indian reservation policy.

Fort Belknap became an important trading hub for Anglo settlement into the Comanceria.

Fort Washita's main purpose was to protect Chickasaw and Choctaw settlers from the Plains Indians and Anglo "land smugglers."

Fort Arbuckle was founded by Randolph B. Marcy in 1851 as a Chickasaw Nation garrison.

Randolph B. Marcy, who knew Texas and Indian Territory well, was tasked to lead an expedition to document the Red River in 1852.

Stephen F. Austin traced a Mexican map of the Province of Texas from 1818 and painted it with water colors.

This Province of Texas map by Mexico was drawn and colored in 1818.

A 1721 map places the Yattassee village (spelled Yatachez) on the eastern side of the Red River.

De la Harpe and his men built a wooden trading post at the "abandoned village of the Nassonite chief."

While at the Ouachita River, Bernard de la Harpe claimed to have eaten a unicorn.

The Theft of the Red River Medicine Stone, a giant meteorite, may have deeply affected relations between nations in the Red River Valley.

Establishing the Chickasaw Nation along the Red River proved to be a long ordeal.

The Shawnees were originally from the Ohio River, not the Red River.

The Kiowas of the Oklahoma Plains created a unique horse and buffalo hunting culture.

One of the more fascinating cultures of the original Red River Valley people are the Tonkawas, a very distinct Texas tribe.

The academies established by the Choctaws and Chickasaws in Indian Territory were mission schools.

While in Fort Worth upon her capture in 1860, Cynthia Ann Parker's first photograph was taken while she nursed her daughter.

The Osage Nation claims to have held territory from the Ohio to the Red River Valley of the South.

The Comancheria — the Comanche Empire — became a formidable force for both the Europeans and Anglo American colonizers.

Four major tribes — the Red River Originals — inhabited the Red River Valley of the Southwest before and during European invasion.