Dismal River culture facts for kids

The Dismal River culture was a group of Native American people who lived in the Great Plains region between 1650 and 1750. Experts believe they spoke an Athabascan language. They are thought to be ancestors of the Plains Apache, many of whom are part of the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma today.

In the 1930s, scientists called archaeologists like William Duncan Strong studied the unique way of life of these people. They found their traces near the Dismal River in Nebraska. This culture is also known as the Dismal River aspect or Dismal River complex. It was different from other groups living in the Great Plains at the same time.

Where the Dismal River People Lived

Traces of the Dismal River culture have been found across a wide area. This includes parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, and South Dakota. In Nebraska alone, archaeologists found eighteen sites in counties like Hayes and Hooker. These sites were often in the Sandhills region. It's thought that the Dismal River people arrived in Nebraska around 1675.

Important places where their history was discovered include:

• The Lovett Site in southwestern Nebraska. This was one of the first places identified with the Dismal River culture.
• A special archaeological site in Scott County State Park, Kansas. Here, discoveries helped link the Plains Apache to the Dismal River culture.

Other ancient village cultures in the Western Plains were the Antelope Creek phase, Apishapa culture, Purgatoire phase, and Sopris phase.

Who Were the Dismal River People?

This map shows where Athabascan-speaking groups, like the Apache and Navajo, lived before Europeans arrived.

The ancestors of the Apache people were called Southern Athabaskan peoples. They traveled a long way to reach the Great Plains and the American Southwest. Their journey started in places like Alaska and northwestern Canada. Scientists have two main ideas about how they traveled. They might have moved through mountains, staying in familiar climates. Or, they might have traveled across the open plains. Today, their descendants, the Navajo and Apache, still speak Athabaskan languages.

Many experts believe the Dismal River culture included groups like the Paloma and Quartelejo (also called Cuartelejo) Apache. Pottery made by the Jicarilla Apache has also been found at some Dismal River sites. This shows connections between these groups.

Some Dismal River people later joined the Kiowa tribe in the Black Hills of South Dakota. They became known as the Kiowa-Apache, or Plains Apache. These groups moved south into Texas and Oklahoma in the early 1800s. Most of the Dismal River people moved south earlier, in the first half of the 1700s. They faced challenges from the Comanche people to the west. They also faced pressure from the Pawnee and French from the east. Later, they joined other groups like the Lipan Apache and Jicarilla Apache nations.

Archaeologists haven't yet found many sites from when the Southern Athabaskan people were nomadic. This means they moved around a lot, starting around the year 1500.

Daily Life and Culture

The Dismal River people were skilled hunters. They mainly hunted large animals like bison, but also elk and deer. For hunting, they used small stone tools called projectile points. These points were often triangular or had small notches on the sides.

Their diet also included food they grew, like corn and squash. They gathered wild foods too, such as black walnuts, chokecherries, hackberries, and plums. They made many tools from stones and animal bones. They also created unique gray-black pottery, known as Dismal River pottery. Many of their pots were simple bowls. They also made larger jars, called ollas, which sometimes had simple stamped designs. These jars often had decorated edges. For farming, they first used hoes made from bison shoulder blades. Later, they traded for iron hoes from Europeans.

Homes and Villages

Dismal River villages were usually found near streams. Each village typically had about 15 to 20 buildings. Their homes were round, somewhat like traditional hogans. They were built either slightly into the ground or on flat land. These houses were quite large, about 25 feet (7.6 meters) across. Wooden posts supported the structures, which were covered with animal hides or other natural materials. Inside each home, there was a central fireplace, called a hearth. Archaeologists also found bell-shaped pits in the villages. These pits were used for baking food. Sometimes, these pits were also used as burial sites for people.

Meeting Europeans

The Dismal River people eventually met Europeans. In October 1719, Antonio Valverde y Cosio, the Spanish governor of New Mexico, traveled to the Great Plains. He was looking for other Native American groups who had been raiding settlements. Valverde didn't find those groups. Instead, he met the El Cuartelejo Apaches, who were part of the Dismal River people. This meeting happened near the Arkansas River in what is now eastern Colorado. The Cuartelejo told him that the French were giving guns to the Pawnee and Wichita tribes. Valverde didn't write many details about the Cuartelejo. He noted that they used dogs to carry their belongings, suggesting they didn't have horses yet.

A few years later, in October 1724, a French explorer named Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont, visited the Dismal River people. He found them at a camp in Central Kansas. Bourgmont called these people "Padoucas." As he approached, he saw 80 men on horseback. This shows that by then, some Dismal River people had horses. Bourgmont described a very large camp, with over 4,000 people. He said they lived in big homes, with about 30 people in each. This large number might have included visitors from other villages. Bourgmont gave gifts, including a few guns. The Padouca were amazed by the European goods and even a little scared of the guns.

Bourgmont also wrote that the Padouca lived in permanent villages. They organized hunting trips regularly. Large groups of families would go hunting for five or six days. As one group returned, another would leave, so the village was always active. They grew corn and pumpkins. They traded with the Spanish in New Mexico, exchanging tanned buffalo skins for tobacco and horses. Bourgmont noticed that some Apache still used flint knives. This meant that many European trade goods had not yet reached them.

By 1725, the Dismal River people had moved out of Nebraska. A few years after Bourgmont's visit, the Padouca people he met in Kansas also moved south. They were pushed by the Comanche people.

See also

• Dismal River culture sites
  • Cedar Point Village, near Limon, east of Denver, Colorado
  • Franktown Cave, south of Denver, Colorado
• Jicarilla Apache
• List of prehistoric sites in Colorado
• Plains Apache
• Prehistory of Colorado