Le Poste des Cadodaquious

Le Poste des Cadodaquious was a small French fort founded in 1719; it was located northwest of Texarkana, Texas in today's Bowie County. Recent analysis suggests that the site was somewhere on the escarpment near either Everett or Barkman.

The fort was constructed by Bénard de La Harpe as a part of his opportunistic advance following the traces the Spanish had had left as they built similar military outposts. The fort was constructed on the south bank of the Red River near a village of Nasoni Indians who were a subgroup of the Caddoans, part of the Hasinai Confederacy. Though the fort was sometimes known as Le Poste des Nassonites, the more common name, Cadodaquious, came from the French pronunciation of "Kadohadacho", which was a name used by various Caddoan groups to describe either themselves or the area in which they lived. La Harpe served as the first commandant of the fort. Upon his departure in late 1719 the site was garrisoned by a detachment from Natchitoches, Louisiana, with Louis Juchereau de St. Denis as its leader. Alexis Grappe, a trader and interpreter, was also of some importance in the history of the fort.

The only military purpose the fort could serve was to limit the northern influence of the Spanish; additionally, it served as a station for trade. It was the base, in 1719, used by Durivage and Mustel when they explored the Red River. La Harpe would later move on to the northwest, using the post as a starting point, and encounter various groups of Wichita with which the French soon set up a trade network. The post served as a supply base for a number of other expeditions, including those of Fabry de La Bruyere in 1742 and Pierre A. Mallet in 1750. And it was from here that the French-Indian explorer, Jean Baptiste Brevel II departed for Santa Fe in 1767 leading a band of Indians from several of the Caddo Confederacies. A small settlement of French colonists developed in tandem with the fort for a number of years; at least two of Grappe's children, François and Marie Pelagie, were born there. The French abandoned the area for good after the cession of Louisiana.

In 1770 Athanase de Mézières attempted to re-establish the post, this time for the Spanish; its new name was to be San Luiz de los Cadodachos. The Nasonis deserted the area soon thereafter. In 1806, Thomas Freeman attempted, and failed, to find the location of the post.

Nearby Brevelle Lake is named for Jean Baptiste Brevelle.

References

Charles W. Hackett, ed., Pichardo's Treatise on the Limits of Louisiana and Texas (4 vols., Austin: University of Texas Press, 1931–46). (1876) Margry, Pierre (ed.). Découvertes et établissements des Français dans l'ouest et dans le sud de l'Amerique septentrionale, 1614–1754 6 vols., Paris: Jouast.

Ralph A. Smith, trans., "Account of the Journey of Bénard de La Harpe," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 62 (July, October 1958, January, April 1959).

External links

• Handbook of Texas entry