Editing Nacogdoches, Texas (section)

===Early years===

Evidence of settlement in the area dates back to 10,000 years ago. Nacogdoches is on or near the site of Nevantin, the primary village of the [[Nacogdoche]] tribe of [[Caddo]] Indians.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bolton |first=Herbert Eugene |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBEu_DCtDeQC&q=Nacogdoche&pg=PA35 |title=The Hasinais, Southern Caddoans as Seen by the Earliest Europeans |date=1987 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-3441-3 |location=Norman}}</ref><ref name=gene>{{cite web| url=http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/nacogdoche/nacogdochehist.htm| title=Nacogdoche Indian Tribe History| publisher=Access Genealogy| access-date=September 12, 2009| url-status=live| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091012093244/http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/nacogdoche/nacogdochehist.htm| archive-date=October 12, 2009| df=mdy-all}}</ref> 

The name, Nacogdoches, originates from the [[Caddo language|Caddo]]-speaking [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] tribe "Nacogdoche",<ref>Edmonds, Randlett. Nusht'uhtitiʔ Hasinay: Caddo Phrasebook. Richardson, TX: Various Indian Peoples Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-884655-00-9.</ref> and the area remained a Caddo Indian settlement until the early 19th century. In 1716, Spain established a [[Christian mission|mission]] there, [[Spanish missions in Texas#Misión Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe|Misión Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe]]{{Broken anchor|date=2024-11-23|bot=User:Cewbot/log/20201008/configuration|target_link=Spanish missions in Texas#Misión Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe|reason= }}, the first European construction in the area. The "town" of Nacogdoches got started after the French had vacated the region (1760s, following the [[French and Indian War]]), and Spanish officials decided that maintaining the mission was too costly. In 1772, they ordered all settlers in the area to move to [[San Antonio]]. Some were eager to escape the wilderness, but others had to be forced from their homes by soldiers. It was one of the original European settlements in the region, populated by Adaeseños from Fort [[Los Adaes]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crt.state.la.us/siteexplorer/ |title=Los Adaes |publisher=Louisiana Office of Tourism |access-date=August 5, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816012724/http://www.crt.state.la.us/siteexplorer/ |archive-date=August 16, 2011 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

[[File:Old Stone Fort, Nacogdoches, Texas.jpg|thumb|[[Old Stone Fort Museum (Texas)|Old Stone Fort Museum]], Nacogdoches, Texas]]
Colonel [[Antonio Gil Y'Barbo]], a Spanish trader, emerged as the leader of the settlers, and in the spring of 1779, he led a group back to Nacogdoches. Later that summer, Nacogdoches received designation from Spain as a ''[[pueblo]]''. Y'Barbo, as lieutenant governor of the new town, established the rules and laws for local government. He laid out streets with the intersecting [[Old San Antonio Road|El Camino Real]] (now [[Texas State Highway 21|State Highway 21]]) and  La Calle del Norte/North Street (now [[U.S. Route 59 in Texas|Business U.S. Highway 59-F]]) as the central point. On the main thoroughfare, he built a stone house for use in his trading business. The house, or [[Old Stone Fort Museum (Texas)|Old Stone Fort]] as it is known today, became a gateway from the United States to the Texas frontier.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.visitnacogdoches.org/ |title= Nacogdoches - Oldest Town in Texas |publisher= VisitNacogdoches.org |date= August 1, 2011 |access-date= August 5, 2011 |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110728164158/http://www.visitnacogdoches.org/ |archive-date= July 28, 2011 |df= mdy-all }}</ref>