In the 1500’s Caddo Native Americans inhabited the Dallas area before it was claimed, along with the rest of Texas as a part of the Spainsh Viceroyalty of New Spain . The area was also claimed by the French, but in 1819 the Adams-Onís Treaty officially placed Dallas well within Spanish territory by making the Red River the northern boundary of New Spain.
In 1778 another European probably visited the Dallas area named Athanase de Mezieres . De Mezieres, a Frenchman then in the service of the King of Spain, probably crossed the West Fork of the Trinity River near present-day Fort Worth, having followed the western edge of the Eastern Cross Timbers from the Tawakoni Village on the Brazos River near present Waco. He then proceeded north to the Red River. He wrote:
| “ | It is worthy to note that from the Brazos River on which the Tuacanas are established, and until one reaches the river which bathes the village of the Taovayzes (Red River), one sees on the right a forest that the natives appropriately call the Grand Forest. …it is very dense, but not very wide. It seems to be there as a guide to even the most inexperienced, and to give refuge in this dangerous region to those who, few in number and lacking in courage, wish to go from one village to another. –De Mezieres | ” |
De Mezieres’ biographer, Bolton, was convinced de Mezieres was describing the Eastern Cross Timbers and the route would have him crossing the West Fork of the Trinity River between the present Arlington and Fort Worth .
Present-day Dallas remained under Spanish rule until 1821 , when Mexico declared independence from Spain, and the area became part of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas. The Republic of Texas broke off from Mexico in 1836 and remained an independent country for nearly 10 years.
Settlement (1839-1855)
John Neely Bryan, looking for a good trading post to serve Native Americans and settlers, first surveyed the Dallas area in 1839 .Bryan, who shared Sam Houston’s insight into the wisdom of Native American customs, must have realized that Caddo trails he came across intersected at one of the few natural fords for hundreds of miles along the wide Trinity floodplain. Bryan also knew that the planned Preston Trail was to run near the ford — the north-south route and the ford at Bryan’s Bluff became more important when the United States annexed Texas in 1845.
Bryan returned home to Arkansas after he surveyed the area . While there, a treaty was signed removing all Native Americans from Northern Texas. When he returned in November 1841, half of his customers, the Native Americans, were gone. He decided that instead of creating a trading post, he would create a permanent settlement, which he founded in November 1841. In 1844 J. P. Dumas surveyed and laid out a 0.5 square miles (1.3 km2) section of blocks and streets near present downtown, which was named “Dallas” after George M. Dallas, whose family originated from Dallas in Scotland.
A group of artists and musicans in 1855 , notably Belgians, French and Swiss, set up a utopian community west of Dallas called “La Reunion”. When that venture collapsed in 1857 many of the artists moved to Dallas, where they established the base of a culture which, a century and a half later, is reflected in creative neighborhoods like Deep Ellum (east of downtown), and lower Greenville Avenue.
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