The Caddo Indians of Louisiana — Reading Notes

Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism Louisiana Archaeological Survey and Antiquities Commission Anthropological Study No. 2

THE CADDO INDIANS OF LOUISIANA

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Edwin Edwards _Governor_

DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE, RECREATION AND TOURISM

Dr. J. Larry Crain _Secretary_

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY AND ANTIQUITIES COMMISSION

Dr. Alan Toth _State Archaeologist_ Dr. E. Bernard Carrier _Assistant Secretary_, Office of Program Development Mr. William C. Huls _Secretary_, Department of Natural Resources Mr. Leon Tarver _Secretary_, Department of Urban and Community Affairs

Mrs. Lanier Simmons Mrs. Dale Campbell Brown Mr. Thomas M. Ryan Mr. Fred Benton, Jr. Dr. Clarence H. Webb Dr. Jon L. Gibson Mr. Robert S. Neitzel

More than 10,000 years of human settlement in Louisiana have left a cultural heritage that is both rich and informative. With the publication of “The Caddo Indians of Louisiana,” the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism is pleased to continue the series of _Anthropological Studies_ that will illuminate some of the major episodes in Louisiana’s past.

The two authors of the present study are eminently qualified authorities on the Caddo Indians. Dr. Clarence H. Webb, a well-known Shreveport physician, is equally distinguished by his pioneer archaeological efforts in the Caddoan area. For more than four decades, he has led the professional community in the illumination of Caddoan prehistory. Dr. Hiram F. Gregory is Professor of Anthropology at Northwestern State University and also a veteran of many years of Caddoan archaeology. His professional career, which began with an exhaustive study of the Spanish _presidio_ of Los Adaes, has acquired a pronounced ethnohistoric orientation in recent years as the result of his close cooperation with the Caddo and other living Indian groups.

Recognizing that the past belongs to everyone, and not just to a handful of scholars, the _Anthropological Studies_ are directed to a general audience. It is hoped that these studies will bring cultural enrichment to the people of Louisiana and stimulate an interest in preserving our historic and archaeological resources for enjoyment and study by future generations.

Alan Toth _State Archaeologist_

CITIZENS OF LOUISIANA

This second edition of the Anthropological Study Series of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism and the Louisiana Archaeological Survey and Antiquities Commission is dedicated to the late Margaret Elam Drew, a charter member of the Commission. Affectionately known by professional and amateur archaeologists as “Lady Margaret,” Mrs. Drew and her close friend, Mrs. Rita Krouse, were instrumental in fostering statewide governmental and private sector support for the protection of Louisiana’s archaeological resources.

Mrs. Drew was the wife of Representative Harmon R. Drew of Minden. Her interest in archaeology began in 1962, with her daughter’s curiosity about the location of Indian tribes in Northwest Louisiana. Mrs. Drew, a devoted history buff, and Mrs. Krouse enthusiastically began researching possible Indian sites.

The Drew-Krouse team contacted Dr. William Haag, the Louisiana State University professor later named as Louisiana’s first State Archaeologist, for advice. Their research marked the beginning of a fifteen-year partnership of field excursions, field training schools and dedicated efforts to enlighten the public on archaeology and its importance to everyone.

Webster Parish had no registered archaeological sites in 1962. Through the efforts of Mrs. Drew and Mrs. Krouse there are now twenty-nine such sites. Claiborne Parish had two registered sites; there now are twenty-five. Mmes. Drew and Krouse established seventeen sites in Bienville Parish alone.

In 1974, on Dr. Haag’s recommendation, I was honored to appoint Margaret Drew a charter member of the Louisiana Archaeological Survey and Antiquities Commission. Her appointment was but a token of her colleagues and my appreciation for her efforts to promote the establishment of the Antiquities Commission and her work to obtain public and private funds for archaeological site surveys.

The publication of this study recognizes and honors the late Margaret Drew. Her selfless and tireless dedication to the preservation of our archaeological resources will, through ages to come, be credited with helping preserve this precious part of Louisiana’s cultural heritage.

Northwestern Louisiana was occupied by the Caddo Indians during the period of early Spanish, French, and American contacts. By combining history and archaeology, the Caddo story can be traced back for a thousand years—a unique opportunity made possible by a long tradition of distinctive traits, especially in pottery forms and decorations. Our story of the Caddo Indians in Louisiana, therefore, begins around A.D. 800-900 and can be traced by archaeology well into the historic period.