The escarpment's scenic canyons were home for Indians of several cultures, including the Folsom culture of more than 10,000 years ago. The region's historic era began when Spanish explorer Coronado traveled across the plains in 1541. After Spanish colonies were established in New Mexico around 1600, two-way trade between Plains Indians and New Mexicans began and gradually increased. The Plains Apache acquired horses and became proficient buffalo hunters. They were displaced by the Comanche, who arrived in the early 1700s and dominated northwestern Texas, until they were finally subdued in the 1870s. During the Comanche reign, trade prospered and New Mexican buffalo hunters, known as ciboleros, and traders, known as Comancheros, were frequent visitors to this area. Las Lenguas Creek, a few miles south of the park, was a major trade area, and a site excavated on Quitaque Creek has produced artifacts indicating that it may have been a cibolero camp.
The park offers tours and educational and recreational events and programs.
Buck Woodard of Colonial Williamsburg talks about instances of first contact between explorers and colonists and Native Americans, focusing on the diversity of Native American languages and problems of understanding and translation that arose at these meetings.
The park's location is historically significant since it is in the heart of the former President's home country. The area has been influenced by three major cultures: Native Americans, Spanish, and German. Indians roamed the Hill Country first, leaving behind artifacts which tell of their nomadic life. The Spanish conquistadors followed, bringing a culture which was to endure to the present. German immigrants settled the Hill Country in the early 1800s and their descendants still call it home. Their culture has had a major impact on the development of the region and the park itself. All of these cultures are represented at the park. The Visitor Center contains memorabilia from President Johnson's presidency and interactive displays about the land and people that shaped a president. Attached to the Visitors Center is the Behrens Cabin, a two-room dogtrot cabin built by German immigrant H. C. Behrens during the 1870s. The furnishings are typical of such homes in that period. Visitors can further explore the history of these immigrants by viewing the 1860s Danz family log cabin located just west of the Visitor Center. Also located in the park is the Sauer-Beckmann Farm, a living history farm. Life on the farmstead is presented as it was in 1918. Park interpreters wear period clothing, do the farm and household chores as they were done at that time, and also conduct tours for the visitors.
The site offers exhibits, tours, demonstrations, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).
Donald L. Miller, with Stephen Ambrose; Virginia Scharff; Waldo E. Martin, Jr.; Pauline Maier; Louis P. Masur; and Douglas Brinkley, explores the pre-Contact and contact history of the Americas, beginning with the Ice Age migrations, through the corn civilizations of Middle America, to the explorations of Columbus, de Soto, and other Spaniards.
The California Missions are among the United States's greatest cultural treasures. The 21 Spanish missions along the California coast have become some of the state's most significant cities, including San Francisco and San Diego. Founded in 1998, the California Missions Foundation was established with the objective of preserving and protecting the missions. The Foundation is the only organization dedicated to the long-term preservation and restoration needs of all California missions and their associated historic and cultural resources for public benefit.
The site offers a brief synopsis of all 21 missions supported by the foundation, a brief history of the missions in general, and information about past foundation successes and future preservation efforts.
Designed to showcase the work of archaeologists and their excavations at Mobile and elsewhere in Alabama, this website offers images and exhibits from several digs. Visitors can "virtually visit" archaeological sites in the town of Old Mobile, capital of the French colony of Louisiane [sic] from 1702 to 1711; the Mississippian Indian city of Bottle Creek (11001400); and the Indian fishing site of Dauphin Island Shell Mounds (11001550).
Additional sites include the French village of Port Dauphin (17021725); the Dog River Plantation site, home to a French-Canadian immigrant family, numerous Indians, and slaves (1720s1848); and sites in downtown Mobile, including a Spanish colonial house (ca. 1800), an early 19th-century riverfront tavern, and antebellum cotton warehouses.
Artifacts features more than 250 images of pottery shards with accompanying descriptions. Great Links presents 30 additional websites that focus on preservation, archaeology, and Alabama history. The site also includes images and information on seven additional French colonial sites in Nova Scotia, New York, Michigan, Illinois, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
The images in this collection, focusing on the Americas, come from books printed or created in Europe between about 1492 and 1825. Images include woodcuts, copper engravings, and paintings. The database, still being compiled, currently contains 6,685 images and will eventually contain some 7,500 images. Image viewing software is available from the site.
The visitor can browse the entire archive or search by time period, geographical area, keyword, or subject, including indigenous peoples, flora and fauna, artifacts, industry, human activities, geography, maps, city views and plans, and portraits. Some images, such as Ptolemy's map of the world, may be familiar. Others are reproduced for the first time. Navigation requires some practice, but is worth the effort.
Brian McAllister Linn of Texas A & M University discusses the Spanish-American War and the Phillippine-American War, approaching them as wars often forgotten in coverage of U.S. history and frequently difficult for students to understand. This lecture was part of "What Students Need To Know About America’s Wars, Part I: 1622-1919: A History Institute for Teachers, held July 26-27, 2008 at the First Division Museum in Wheaton, IL, sponsored by the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Wachman Center and by the Cantigny First Division Foundation.
Audio and video options are available.
An overview of the history of Catholic missions in California, from their establishment during imperial Spain's colonization of the region through the push for their restoration and preservation in the 1800s. The presentation places an emphasis on the changing role and popular perceptions of the missions and on their effects on Native American populations.
To listen to this lecture, scroll to "The California Mission as Symbol and Myth," and select "Listen to Broadcast."
The New Mexico History Museum presents the history of the state of New Mexico in six sections—five following the state from the days of Spanish colonization through stages up the present day, and the sixth focusing on modern New Mexicans' perceptions of their state.
The museum offers exhibits, research library access, and recreational and educational events.