Early Wichita Sites and Fortifications in Oklahoma

Common ideas on early Native American life in the prairie plains of Oklahoma frequently conjure images of mobile Native groups such as the Comanche living in tepees and hunting bison on horseback. Although bison were an important resource for most people back into prehistory, groups such as the Wichita by A.D. 1000 established permanent villages along rivers and streams throughout the state, growing crops such as corn, beans, and squash as part of their economy. In 1759, Spanish forces from what is now Texas attacked a large Wichita village on the Red River in southern Oklahoma. The Wichita easily repulsed this attack, but Spanish accounts provide our earliest description of a Native fortification in Oklahoma. Archeological research at this site, now known as Longest, discovered the remains of the fort in the 1960s. Since then research at this site and several others across Oklahoma has revealed evidence that the Wichita began building forts to defend against other Native tribes as early as 1450 or 1500, well before the arrival of Europeans in the area. In this presentation Dr. Richard Drass, professor emeritus at the University of Oklahoma, will discuss current information on how these forts were built and used.