Site of the 1759 Taovayo Victory Over Spain

The Taovaya were a Wichita people, today part of the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, who probably came from Kansas and southern Nebraska and were pushed south by Osage and Comanche pressure. Spain counted them among the troublesome Nations of the North. Here on the Red they farmed large fields of corn, beans, melons, gourds and tobacco, and traded the surplus to the Comanches for horses and captives. A nominal peace with Spain came in 1772 through Athanase de Mezieres. After an 1835 treaty with the United States they settled in Indian Territory, where their descendants live today.

What the plaque says

Col. Diego Ortiz Parilla, a commandant of Presidio San Saba (near the later site of Menard) had grave Indian problems in 1759. Priests and others were killed in Comanche attacks on Mission San Saba. Comanches and their friends were allied to Frenchmen, who were trading deep in Spanish domain. Parilla wished to whip the Comanches and expel the French. With 380 soldiers and Indian support to a total of 600 men, he left San Antonio in August. A victory over some Tonkawas on the Brazos as he marched north gave him false confidence. When he arrived at this site in October, he saw Red River forming a moat around a fort. His Apaches tried in vain to span the river and invade the fortified Taovaya village. He saw 14 or more Frenchmen; a French flag was flying. Indians played drum and fife and had plenty of guns and ammunition. He bombarded the fort with cannons, but after losing 52 men in a 4-hour battle he was glad that nightfall gave him a chance to withdraw. He was pursued for many days as he retreated to Presidio San Saba, which he reached on Oct. 25, 1759. The Taovaya Indians were later known as Wichitas, and continued to resist white men until the 1870s. (1976)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Stonewall Saloon Museum — 18 mi
  Saint Jo's first permanent building, a stone saloon of 1873 with rooms upstairs for trail drovers, in a town named, the story goes, as a joke on a founder who did not drink.

More markers nearby

• Spanish Fort — steps away
• North Nocona Oil Field - Montague County Oil Discovery, 1922 — 5.3 mi
• Illinois Bend School — 8.7 mi
• Red River Station — 12 mi