Near Site of Coushatta Indian Village
Shepherd, San Jacinto County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Inhabited from about 1835 to 1900 by members of the Coushatta tribe. Most of the Indians had small farms, but also worked for wages after crops were harvested. Burial pits excavated by archeologists (1968) revealed skeletal remains, ironstone dishes, glass beads (obtained in trade with Anglos), ornaments made from silver coins.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
From about 1835 to 1900, members of the Coushatta tribe lived in a village near this site, most tending small farms and working for wages after the harvest. Archaeological excavation of burial pits in 1968 uncovered skeletal remains alongside ironstone dishes, glass trade beads, and ornaments fashioned from silver coins — signs of daily life and trade with Anglo neighbors.
Why it matters
The village records how the Coushatta adapted and endured in East Texas through the 19th century, weaving trade and wage work into their own way of life.
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Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Early Roads in Polk County
Livingston, TX
Long before roads were surveyed, the Creeks, Alabamas, Coushattas, and Kickapoos of this region laced it with trails for trade and travel, including Long King's Trace and the Coushatta Trace reaching toward Mexico. After Anglo settlement began in the 1820s, these Native paths hardened into stagecoach roads, while Trinity River boats served some twenty landings along Polk County's riverfront. Roads and river together carried the county's produce and people for generations.
Polk County
Livingston, TX
Polk County was carved from Liberty County and organized in July 1846, with Livingston as its seat, in the first months after Texas joined the Union. It was named for President James K. Polk, whose administration championed the annexation of Texas. Early settlements clustered at river landings like Drew's Landing and Swartout, and on land granted by the state in 1854 the descendants of the Alabama Indians still make their home.
Chief John Blount
Livingston, TX
John Blount, son of a U.S. senator and a Coushatta woman, became principal chief of the Apalachicola Indians and won distinction guiding General Andrew Jackson during the First Seminole War. That friendship earned him a silver breastplate and, under the Indian Removal Act of 1830, special leave to lead his people to Texas rather than Oklahoma. In 1834 Blount set out with 256 followers on a grueling journey by river, sea, and land; barely 152 reached Polk County, where many of their descendants still live.
Early Indian Trails
Livingston, TX
Long before highways, a web of Indian trails laced Polk County in East Texas — five of them crossing the land between 1830 and 1840, some already centuries old. The Coushatta and Alabama peoples opened two of these routes and traveled others known as Long King's, Kickapoo, and Battise traces. When settlers arrived, they followed these Native pathways to lay out their own roads, and in places modern highways still trace the ancient lines.