1689.
Juan Jarri had, during the absence of LaSalle, deserted Fort St. Louis and had risen to a lordly position among the tribes of the Coahuile Indians. During the search by DeLeon and Flores he had been shifted from tribe to tribe so that the Spanish Patrol failed to capture him. The Spanish now realized that this one Frenchman had the power to upset the semi-peacefulness of the Spanish frontier. The College of the Holy Cross was desiring to extend its Missionary work north of the Rio Grande.
Don Alonzo DeLeon, now the Spanish Governor of the Coahuile Territory, led an expedition to establish three missions among Hasinai Indians south of the Trinity River. He now also found himself in pursuit of a party of Frenchmen (Father Joutel’s party).
Henri De Tonty at the Fort St. Louis near Starving Rock in the Illinois country, realized something was amiss and came in search of LaSalle. It is interesting to note how De Tonty, in all this vast country of the southern United States area chose the exact direction in which to travel. Probably the Caddo federation of Indians had trade agreements with the Indian tribes as far north as the Illinois and even further north among the Ouisconsins, to the west they traded with the Hasinais who in turn traded with the Coahuile Indians.
The Amole root (a species of the Yucca plant) was supplied to the Hasinais by the Coahuile Indians. The Caddos traded for this root, which had cleansing properties such as soap and when boiled in water this liquid was used for bathing purposes, it left a pleasant odor on the body of the user.
Hinta-Sak: A home of the Adais Indians.
This drawing of a Caddo hinta-sak, or house, was made from the description of an eye-witness, Gonzado Quadrado Charmillo, one of the chroniclers of the De Soto expedition which visited the El Camino Real area in 1540.
This Indian home was that of the Adais tribe near Robeline, La. of the Caddo Federation. It was made of cypress poles and cane interlaced with vines and daubed with a mixture of mud and moss. The roof was covered with alligator skins which had been treated with bees-wax to make it more impervious to rain. The broad leaves of the cat-tail plant were inserted in the mud to prevent erosion from rain. Thus the Spanish called the place toaille, a deprecatory description of a house built of tules. (Drawing by the author)
Top view of hinta-sak showing frame work and construction (Drawn by the author)
The Jumas, traders of the Caddo Indians, were also linguists and it would not have been impossible for them to distinguish the difference of the French and Spanish languages. The same Jumas of the Caddos traveled all of the Caddo trails. The Old Buffalo Trail extending from the Trinity River in Texas to the Red River in Louisiana was now considered part of the Caddo trail system.
In 1690 in the early spring De Tonty, “The Iron Hand,” was among the Adais Indians and the Natchitoches Indians. He, too, went as far as the Trinity River in Texas, but there his guides refused to go further; he gave up his search for LaSalle. In the same year the Joutel Party found the Buffalo Trail beginning at the Trinity River. There among the Hasinai they learned of the Frenchman with the iron hand. They followed the Caddo trail and finally came in contact with De Tonty among the Arkansas Indians. Strangely enough, De Tonty actually came within one days march of finding the Joutel Party.