What follows is a collection of sources that in some way describe the Karankawa-individual Prudencia:
[1829-~1850] Reminiscences of Mrs. Annie Fagan Teal
Author: Annie Fagan Teal (need to write one)
Written in: 1897
Description: At the age of 83, Mrs. T.C. Allan interviewed Annie Fagan Teal, an early settler of Texas. A transcript of this interview has yet to be uncovered (it’s unlikely one exists). Allan edited her conversation with Teal into this piece originally published in a local Victoria magazine called By The Way. This source, then, is far removed from the time in which the events described occurred. And moreover, we are receiving information second-hand. Nevertheless, Teal accurately describes that the first settlers of Texas had multiple positive interactions with Karankawas. This is important because later historians and colonists depicted Karankawas as inherently hostile at the first sign of Whites.
Relevance:
(1) Annie Teal enters Texas in 1829 at the age of 15. Around this time she is welcomed in a near-by Karankawa camp and drank “beer” with these Peoples. By beer, she could plainly mean any sort of alcoholic beverage or perhaps a caffeinated drink that the Karankawas made out of the yaupon leaves. [317, 320]
(2) Cholera broke out among those living in Texas. Without a doubt, it affected Native Peoples. [318]
(3) Teal is married in 1833 at the age of 19. Invited to her wedding is the Karankawa chief Prudencia. [320]
(4) Teal describes Karankawas finding work among the early settlers. It also discusses Karankawas drinking whiskey. [321]
(5) Discusses a custom of Indians of the area sending a young child to the houses of colonists asking for lodging to test the true “friendship” of the colonizers. I have not found any corroboration of this elsewhere. [321]
(6) Teal says that “Mexican hirelings” killed a Karankawa child and that the Karankawas took revenge by killing six. When militia followed the Karankawas, they turned back when the Karankawa chief Antonique (Antonio) readied to fight them. [322]
(7) Teal tells that Tonkawas killed eleven Karankawas when the Karankawas planned to attack the De León colony. I have also not found any validation for this story, but that the Karankawas had a conflict with De León is well-known. So too that De León had crafted a strong relationship with the Tonkawa Peoples. [322-323]
Further Reading: Ana Carolina Castillo Crimm, De León: A Tejano Family History (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2003).
Tags: Antonio, Appearance, Customs, Disease, Dress, Prudencia, Trade
[1833-1834] John Charles Beales’s Rio Grande Colony: Letters by Eduard Ludecus, a German Colonist, to Friends in Germany in 1833–1834, Recounting His Journey, Trials, and Observations in Early Texas
Author: Eduard Ludecus
Written In: 1833-1834
Description: Eduard Ludecus and other settlers rest and resupply in La Bahía (Goliad) on their way to settle along the Rio Grande. In the ramshackle city of La Bahia, and in the missions in close proximity, they encounter Karankawas.
Relevance:
(1) Ludecus inaccurately states that “when Colonel Austin’s grant was settled, they [Karankawas] invaded there [Austin’s lands] and killed anyone they found.” This is backward, but it shows that Anglo-Americans, Mexicans, and Tejanos believed this falsity. Ludecus received this information from Holley Austin’s account of Texas (Austin Holley, 95-97). In essence, Ludecus is already biased when he first encounters the Karankawas. He sees these Indians as always looking to steal and murder.
(2) Ludecus then goes on to state that Stephen F. Austin “succeeded in exterminating half the tribe.” A large group of Karankawas fled to La Bahía, where Mexican officials murdered half of the survivors. [78] As already mentioned, all this information has come from Mary Austin Holley’s Texas. This information is not unique. All the following information that Ludecus provides is unique.
(3) Ludecus refers to Karankawas as “well over six feet tall” and gives a detailed description of their tattoos, piercings, weapons, and dress. [pages 79-86]
(4) Ludecus provides a great deal of information about Chief Prudentia. He also describes that Dr. Beale asks Prudencia whether he and other Karankawas would like to join the settlement. [78-83]
(5) States that Comanches and Karankawas are “mortal enemies” at this time. [80]
Further Reading: For a well-written overview of the Beales colony, see Kyle B. Carpenter, “A Failed Venture in the Nueces Strip: The Mismanagement of the Beales RioGrande Colony, 1832-1836” The Southwestern Historical Quarterly,(Forthcoming Spring 2020); For another source on Cheif Prudentia see Kelly Himmel, The Conquest of the Karankawa and the Tonkawas, 1821-1859 (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1999), 52-53.
Tags: Appearance, Dress, Height, Prudencia, Shelter, Tattoos, War.
Karankawas 