The southeastern part of Oklahoma, the southwestern part of Arkansas, the Northwestern half of Louisiana and the Northeastern part of Texas was Caddo land, and claimed by the Caddos as their hunting ground. The Caddos were traders and developed trade-routes. Many of the highways of today follow the Caddo trails of yester-year, such as El Camino Real, that portion from the Trinity River in Texas to Natchitoches, Louisiana.
When the Caddo Nations split they settled themselves as follows:
1. The Attaquopois, at the confluence of the Kiamechi River and the Red River in southern Oklahoma.
2. The Caddoquopois or Caddo proper remained on the Red River near Fulton, Arkansas.
3. The Peticaddo on Caddo Lake hear Shreveport, Louisiana.
4. The Koasatti near Coushatta, Louisiana.
5. The Destonies on Saline Bayou near Winnfield, Louisiana.
6. The Yatasse on Nantanchie Lake near Montgomery, Louisiana.
7. The Natchitoches on the Red River at Natchitoches, Louisiana.
8. The Adais near Robeline, Louisiana, on a large lake now called Spanish Lake.
10. The Nacogdoches at Nacogdoches, Texas.
11. The Hasinai consisting of four tribes on the Trinity River in Texas, referred to by the Spanish as the Tejas (some historians classify them as Caddos. They spoke the Caddo language).
The Ais Indians had as their neighbors to the west the Hasinai federation of Indians which was composed of four tribes: The Nacogdoches at Nacogdoches; the Bidais, the Nasoni and the Nabidache, the latter three were located on the Trinity River.
Such was the situation when the first aliens came in contact with the Caddos.
In his book, “La Relacion que Dio Alvar Nunez Cabeza De Vaca delo Acaescido unlas Indias”, De Vaca writes in the year 1530 that “we were among the Adayes (Adais), the others were Juan Castillo, Andrea Dorantes and Estabancio of Azmor who was a slave of Dorantes.” These four survivors were of 300 of the Panfilio Narvez expedition that went into Florida in 1528.
Narvez’s expedition, beaten by the Apalache Indians, unable to return to their ships, killed their horses, ate the meat, used the hides to make bellows and water casks; they forged their armor and weapons to make tools and nails, then constructed four boats. They skirted the coasts of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, foraging for food. During a storm the boats were wrecked, four survived to become slaves of the coastal Indians.