 |
| Downtown Grapevine |
Geographically and historically, the Texas Lakes Trail Region of North Texas has long been a meeting place. Once, a great ancient sea met the land here. The sea receded. The land became rolling tallgrass prairies - the Blackland and Grand Prairies - located between piney woods to the east and wind-blown plains to the west. Major rivers - the Red, Trinity, Brazos, Sabine and Sulphur crossed the prairies, as did belts of hardwood forests called the Eastern and Western Cross Timbers.
In these verdant grasslands and scattered forests, game such as buffalo, pronghorn and bear thrived. Bands of Wichita and Caddoan Indians lived here in domed grass huts, hunting game and growing corn, tobacco and melons. Spanish soldiers of the De Soto-Moscoso Expedition trekked here in 1542, searching in vain for gold and silver. The French arrived from neighboring Louisiana in the 1700s, engaging in trade with local Indians.
During the first half of the 19th century, settlers from the South and Midwest trickled into the region. The trickle became a flood after the Republic of Texas became the state of Texas in 1845. Cotton growers and their slaves extended the cotton culture to the prairies, turning rich Blackland into cotton plantations.