A sketch of a map drawn for a textbook yields some interesting information.
Here’s a mid-19th century, hand-drawn map of the Indian tribes in the United States, as per the creator’s assumption of what was known in 1650 (the original interpretive date of 1592 has been marked out and replaced by 1650). This is a manuscript map made by the US Army, meant for publication in a geography or history textbook. Its located in the Library of Congress.
Around the Red River in today’s Texas, Oklahoma and southwestern Arkansas, the tribes are simply hand-labeled as “Texans.” The Caddos in Louisiana have been identified as “Appalachians” but the darker color than their supposed kin east of the Mississippi indicates that the map maker may have recognized that they were indeed separate.
Tribes are identified through language kinship, but I don’t think this map reflects that. If it did, the Caddos would be shown in a different color beyond Louisiana to include the Wichitas of the Cross Timbers, as the Caddos had a language of their own, unrelated to the other tribes. The Shoshones would have extended into Texas, as the Comanche language had Shoshone roots.
This is a fascinating history lesson of historiography!
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