The Bidai were a distinct tribe of Native Americans of broad Atakapan cultural and linguistic stock who, when first encountered by Europeans, were primarily located along the central Trinity River in Texas. They were among the oldest of the Texas tribes, part of the Mossy Grove Tradition that has been traced back at least 2,000 years. The Bidai were the most inland, western and northern located of the Atakapan subgroups; others such as the Akokisa and Atakapan proper lived in the coastal region between the Brazos and Achafalaya Rivers. Bidai commonly visited and traded with other friendly tribes, both among their Atakapan cousins and others, principally the Hasanai or Tejas, who were a subgroup of Caddoan peoples living in eastern Texas near the Angelina River.
The Coushattas and their cousins the Alabamas were originally Eastern Woodland tribes allies within the Upper Creek Confederacy and spoke a Muskogean dialect. The Alabama tribe first appeared in the historical record in 1541, when they are mentioned in the DeSoto expedition. Both tribes migrated to Alabama where, in 1714, they were living north Montgomery. They migrated into Louisiana in the 1760s, and by 1770 most lived on the east side of the Sabine River opposite Newton County, Texas. Some moved to Texas in the 1780s, and at the invitation of the Spanish government most moved to Texas in 1805, living along the Neches and lower Trinity Rivers.
Both tribes developed a network of trails between their villages and the Spanish / American settlements with trading posts. Click here to learn the details of the Bedai and Coushatta tribes, and their network of trails that later became major entry routes for American colonists moving to Texas.
The Bedai and Coushatta, and their trails in Texas
