The El Paso Herald in its issue of March 11, 1907 reported on the tenth annual meeting of the State Historical Association, held in Austin. During the meeting, the article noted, a paper entitled “The Hasinai Indians of East Texas at the Coming of the Spaniards” was presented by Dr. Herbert Eugene Bolton. Dr. Bolton (1870 – 1953) was originally from Wisconsin and had earned his Ph.D. in American history from University of Pennsylvania. He served as an professor of history at University of Texas in Austin from 1901 to 1909. Though he taught medieval and European history there, he became known for his research into the native tribes north of Mexico and was the author of many articles on the subject. Dr. Bolton later moved to the west coast where he spent the rest of his career as a college professor.
During his long time as an educator in California, Dr. Bolton published a number of books and articles. Subjects included native tribes, explorers, the founding of Spanish missions and other historical topics. Many articles were published in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly. The books he authored included “Pageant in the Wilderness; The Story of the Escalante Expedition to the Interior Basin,” “Texas in the Middle Eighteenth Century” and “The Hasinai” (published posthumously). He also contributed essays for the “Handbook of American Indians.” In addition, Dr. Bolton was a cartographer and his work includes maps of Texas showing locations of the Indian tribes and the paths of the explorers. Dr. Bolton died in California on January 30, 1953 at the age of 82, after suffering a series of strokes over a period of months. He was described as California’s leading historian.
The paper that he presented in 1907 on the Hasinai Indians referred to the tribal name as having been used to describe roughly a dozen tribes of the Caddo confederation who lived in the Neches and Angelina valleys of East Texas. Their tenure there was during the period in which the Spanish began to establish their missions in the latter part of the 17th century. The names of some of the tribes are listed in the illustration below. Dr. Bolton said that the tribes called themselves and their allies “Texas” which meant “friends” in their language. He added that the name “Hasinai” is how the tribes referred to themselves and that it meant “our own people.” The Spanish had come looking for a “great kingdom of the Texas.” Dr. Bolton’s research had disclosed that the primary Spanish missions were founded at or near the principal villages of these tribes. He noted that prior to the arrival of Europeans that their society was largely agrarian. They raised corn, beans, watermelons, muskmelons, calabashes, sunflower and tobacco. He estimated that the population at the opening of the eighteenth century probably numbered around 4,000. Dr. Bolton concluded by describing their tribal organization and the hierarchy of their administration.
The legend of Angelina: The Spanish brought in Franciscan priests and materials accompanied by soldiers for protection to set up missions. As their control of the region began to become more firmly established, a native girl who lived near a particular mission became interested in learning their ways and their language. Before this was accomplished, a decision was made to abandon this particular mission, San Francisco de los Tejas. The soldiers and priests became enamored with her, calling her little angel, Angelina. They referred to the water source near her village as Angelina’s river.
When the Spanish made plans to abandon the mission and move further west to another location, the girl was forced to choose between remaining with her people or going with the Spanish. The girl chose the latter option and traveled with the Spanish to as they established the mission at San Juan Bautista in 1699 just off the Rio Grande River and then part of Mexico, where she remained for the next ten years. She became proficient in the language and adopted the Christian (Catholic) faith.
Angelina’s name resurfaced in East Texas again around 1719 when a French expedition reached the area. Spanish troops had withdrawn. The French group became lost, exhausting their provisions and most of them died. Only one Frenchman had survived the ordeal at that point. He had also been captured and maltreated by other tribes. The Hasinai rescued him. A native born woman, presumably Angelina, took him in when they reached her village, helped to restore him back to health and return to Louisiana. She is mentioned once more a couple of years later as helping to interact with a French group, acting as interpreter. In the Spanish account of the legend, the woman known as Angelina then fades into history, possibly having died shortly afterward.
In one French account attributed to André Pénicaut, he reportedly told of a journey with St. Denis around 1712 in which they met a Spanish speaking Hasinai native woman who befriended them and traveled with them, acting as an interpreter.
Another French account seems to sync with the so called Spanish account around 1719. In this story, a stranded Frenchman named Belisle is befriended by a native woman who assists him in recuperating and returning to his countrymen. In yet another account, the Spanish speaking Hasinai native woman marries a Frenchman with whom she has a family. She dies in 1758.
After defeating the Spanish, the Mexican government established the Nacogdoches Department as a political division of the state. Its boundaries were from the Anahuac and Trinity rivers to the south, to the Red River on the north and to Louisiana on the east. In the spring of 1836, as the Texas Revolution progressed, the counties of Liberty, Jefferson, Jasper, Sabine, San Augustine. Shelby and Nacogdoches were created. Nacogdoches County was named for another one of the Hasinai tribes on the list above. Ten years later on April 22, 1846, Angelina County was formed out of Nacogdoches County with its current boundaries. It is still the only county in Texas named for a female.
A river and a county are named for Angelina. The Angelina River is one of Texas’ shortest rivers of around 120 miles long. It originates south of Henderson, Texas and flows into the Neches River west of Jasper. The Angelina is one of the water sources that formed the Sam Rayburn Reservoir. Construction began in 1956 and the reservoir and system was dedicated nine years later. The county seat of Angelina County is Lufkin, its largest town. Numerous other locations and entities now carry the name Angelina, including Angelina College and the Angelina National Forest.
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