French-Indian Interaction at an 18th Century Frontier Post: The Roseborough Lake Site, Bowie County, Texas Page: 18
iii, 174 p. : ill. ; 28 cm.View a full description of this report.
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were still there. This may have been one of the villages Joutel
visited along with the survivors of LaSalle's colony.
The next day, the expedition had information from Indian runners
that the Spanish force was in the vicinity. They continued their
journey, and in the evening they were "opposite to a lake on the
south of the river, round which the Caddoes had cornfields, when
they occupied their principal village, which was situate [sic] in
the prairie just above it." The lake, it was noted, was about 2
miles in length, parallel to the river. The latitude was 33 degrees
34 minutes 42 seconds. Comparing the Nicholas King map with the
1975 Barkman Quadrangle this lake was probably Old Clear Lake, an
old cut-off meander of the river, with the latitude putting them in
what Wedel (1978) has called the Hatchel meander, now cut off and
dry.
The next morning they deposited their provisions, ammunition,
and astronomical instruments in a defensible position on a high bank
between the river and a lake on the north side. This lake is
apparently the lake on the King map, although it is not labeled,
that shows reverse configuration from the river. Wedel (1978)
suggests this is represented on present day maps (Barkman
Quadrangle) as the Old Sag. It is about 2 miles from where the
river probably was at that time and seems a little far for a
defensive position on the river.
Across the river from the storage spot, the Indians told the
expedition that "the French once had a small military post" there,
and there also was one of the "principal villages of the Caddoes"
(Freeman and Custis 1806:37). The extensive prairies were grown up
in weeds, and they could not tell exactly where the French post had
been "unless some cedar posts, which were found standing, denoted
the place" (ibid). Again comparing the King map with modern maps,
they must have been looking due south at the Roseborough Lake Site.
Proceeding up river, the Freeman-Custis party met the Spaniards near
Spanish Bluff, the name still in use. After a peaceful agreement,
although touchy, the expedition returned down river.
By the 1820s, Anglo-American settlers entered the area. Collin
McKinney was the first to settle in the immediate vicinity of the
Roseborough Lake Site. The Collin McKinney Survey, recorded on
October 1, 1835, describes a long, narrow tract of land. The
Roseborough Lake Site is located on the northern section of this
tract. McKinney and his family had moved to Texas and located on
what was then known as Hickman's Prairie in 1831 (Strickland 1937).
McKinney was one of several in the area who devoted considerable
acreage to the production of cotton (ibid). He was also one of the
five representatives from the Red River area to attend the Texas
Convention in 1836.
It appears that the McKinney home was located northwest of
41BW5. The survey notes describe the northwest corner of McKinney's18
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French-Indian interaction at an 18th century frontier post : the Roseborough Lake Site, Bowie County, Texas. (Report)
A report on archaeological excavations at the Roseborough Lake Site, conducted with the help of Field School students at North Texas State University in 1976. The research explored the life of the villages in the vicinity of the site at the time of early European contact.
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Gilmore, Kathleen. French-Indian Interaction at an 18th Century Frontier Post: The Roseborough Lake Site, Bowie County, Texas, report, May 1986; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc29481/m1/26/: accessed March 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Institute of Applied Sciences.