In Vicinity of French Trading Area (4.5 Miles West)
Archer City, Archer County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In the mid-1700s, Indians of this region met at a trading ground near this site with Frenchmen who brought them manufactured goods, sometimes including guns and ammunition--products denied them by the Spanish who held sovereignty, but could not prevent intrusions from Louisiana. The Spanish explorer Jose Mares on a road-mapping expedition here in 1787 saw evidences of the French. Among noted early-day visitors were Captain R. B. Marcy of the U.S. Army and Indian agent R. S. Neighbors, who camped nearby in 1854 while seeking a good site for an Indian reservation. (1974)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the mid-1700s, Native peoples of this region met French traders from Louisiana at a nearby trading ground, exchanging furs for manufactured goods — including guns and ammunition the Spanish crown forbade but could not stop. The Spanish explorer José Mares noted evidence of the French during his 1787 road-mapping expedition, and decades later, in 1854, Captain R. B. Marcy and Indian agent Robert S. Neighbors camped nearby while scouting reservation sites. The area was a meeting point of three empires and many peoples.
Why it matters
It captures the contested colonial borderland where French, Spanish, and Native interests overlapped long before the United States reached the southern plains.
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Related people
- · José Mares
- · Capt. R. B. Marcy
- · Robert S. Neighbors
Themes & tags
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