Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Life different when Caddo Indians were here

Life was considerably different in what is now Nevada and Hempstead counties during the 1300s.

At this time the Caddo Indians lived in the region, making it their home, farming, raising families and observing their religious celebrations.

Dr. Frank Schambach, an archeologist with the University of Arkansas, spoke to a full house at the Prescott-Nevada County Library Thursday, Feb. 26, on a dig he did during the summers from 1972-75 near Emmet. This dig was of Caddo Indian mounds, and is known as the Ferguson dig for the property owner.

Dr. Shambach said the Caddo weren't the first to live in the area, as evidence was found of people living there as early as 9000 B.C. near Cruse Creek. This site was apparently chosen by the Indians because it was high ground with good drainage.

The Caddo, he said, were a populace tribe of mound builders primarily living in Arkansas, Louisiana and East Texas. The mounds were apparently for religious purposes, and included houses for the shamans, or priests.

According to Shambach, the Caddo were an advanced civilization with a hierarchical society where being a chieftain was hereditary. The Caddo, he said, were excellent pot makers, adding intricate designs to their work. The designs, he added, helps archeologists determine which time period the pots were made.

The priests, he said, lived on the north side of the mound, while a house was literally built into the southern side with only the thatched roof showing.

In the late 1600s, Shambach said, the Spaniards arrived in the area and attempted to convert the Caddo to Christianity in an effort to make the Indians work for them. The Spanish drew a map of a Caddo village along the Red River, showing the positioning of the mounds, one ceremonial, the other burial, and the homes. The mounds were the focal point of the community.

What made the Ferguson site unique, he said, was the lack of signs of occupation except around the mounds themselves. Shambach received a call about the mounds in 1972, but the property changed hands, with Carroll Ferguson buying it. Ferguson initially began dismantling the mounds with a bulldozer, but upon learning what they were, cooperated with the archeologists, allowing them to make the dig, which took three summers.

Schambach said there were upwards of 125 people working the dig at once.

The Caddo, he said, put a lot of work into their mounds, with this one being a two-stage mound about 180 feet long and between 16-18 feet high. It had an upper and lower platform, with the temple likely built on the upper level, while the priests lived on the lower one.

The Caddo were apparently fire worshipers, according to the evidence found. Both houses and temples were intentionally burned, and new ones built on the site of the burned one.

Apparently, Schambach said, the mounds were built in layers as temples were burned. The arson-like activity may have been because the priests and people believed the existing fires had been tainted and new ones were needed to preserve the health and prosperity of the tribe.

The Caddo built circular houses and temples with extended doorways, similar to igloos of the Eskimo. The roofs were thatch, as were most houses. However, members of the tribe often had a second house for the winter, called a "hot house". This structure had a thatched roof, but clay walls to hold in the heat.

When the temples were burned, a ring of dirt was placed around the structure, forcing it to collapse in on itself. As the temple burned, the Caddo would throw dirt on the fire to extinguish it. The end result was a lot of smoke and interesting remains for the archeologists later on.

The mounds were almost pyramidal in shape, and when they were "used up" were covered by layers of clay, making it difficult to dig to the original structure.

According to Schambach, the Caddo knew their soils, and those who actually lived at the mound were responsible for keeping it maintained. Repairs were likely made after each hard rain.

Carbonized logs were found at the site of the temple, along with a fireplace. Each layer of the mound was built on top of the old one, with the temple situated exactly where the former one had been. The houses, he said, were precisely aligned along a north-south basis.

In the burial mound at the Ferguson site, he said, the remains had been covered with an acidic clay, which heavily destroyed the skeleton. The grave, though, was in the center of the mound where the central fireplace would be. It was a large grave with a lot of pottery. A quiver of arrows was also found. The arrowheads were serrated and about an inch-and-a-half long.

Bows, he said, were typically buried with the men. The bows were made from Osage Orange, or Bois d'arc trees, the second best wood for making a bow. Some of these bows, Schambach said, had 70 pound pulls.

A second grave was found, with the remains in better condition. The skeleton was of a large male and there was a pottery making kit in the grave. Other items found in the grave included a quartz crystal with one end battered, and some smoothing stones for pottery work. Such stones were normally handed down from generation to generation.

Two other bodies were in the grave with it, presumably slaves sacrificed to go with their master to the other side.

The two, both apparently young, had been shot with their faces blackened. Their body positioning, Schambach said, shows who was in charge. The smaller skeletons were found face down on top of one another.