First Settlers
Extant remains multiply during the Mound Builders Epoch, which covered the period roughly from AD 500 to 1350. Manmade mounds across the eastern portion of the state mark this period. Descendants of the Caddoan-language family of tribes who likely emigrated west from the Mississippi River Valley area constructed them after settling in the area. These non-nomadic early Oklahomans used them for a variety of purposes, including religious temples, burial shelters, and homes-the latter designed for protection against flooding.
The Spiro Age, roughly AD 900 to 1450, was the “Golden Age” of the state’s pre-recorded history period. Leading Oklahoma historian Bob Blackburn says that though Spiro never had a population of more than five thousand people and was not an economic power, it was the spiritual/religious center of the ancient Southern Mississippian Empire. A manmade hill designed as a burial temple and discovered in the 1930s near the Poteau River valley town of the same name in eastern Oklahoma provides rich insight into the Oklahomans of this period. Featuring a rot-resistant cedar structure and millions of tons of moved earth, the artifacts contained in the Spiro Mound reveal the history of its people, which included artisan and priestly classes.
Read the entire Oklahoma story in John J. Dwyer's The Oklahomans volume 1 of a 2-part series on the 46th state and the people who make this state very special. |