Who crossed the Texas panhandle? It’s an interesting and somewhat mysterious question. The area has been home to all kinds of settlers and explorers.
If you’re wanting to get technical with the answer, we have to go way back in history.
The First People Thought To Have Crossed The Panhandle Weren’t Explorers
The first people attributed to passing through the area were indigenous hunters. To be specific, they’re referred to as the Paleo-Indian hunters.
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Evidence of their presence in our neck of the woods comes in the form of “projectile points.” Or, to use a more familiar term, arrowheads.
After them, populations just kind of came and went.
Spanish Explorers In The Texas Panhandle
This is probably the answer most people are looking for when it comes to who crossed the Texas panhandle.
It wasn’t Lewis and Clark. It wasn’t Cortez.
It was Coronado.
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Francisco Vázquez de Coronado was a Spaniard with an exalted vision (or was it an obsession?) of gold and wealth beyond his wildest dreams. So he set sail for the Americas to find it.
He came through in 1541 on his epic search for riches and glory. If you think back to your early days in school, you’ll remember that Coronado never found the riches he was desperately looking for.
He did, however find some nomadic buffalo hunters in the area. He also was the first to document what the Llano Estacado was like.
The Long Lasting Influence Of Coronado’s Wild Goose Chase
Even though his whole search for riches and glory was a bust, Coronado’s influence is still felt in the area.
We still have schools bearing his name. His presence is thought to be what aligned the region with the Hispanic Southwest. In fact, it was regarded as a part of New Mexico for a very long time. His descriptions and maps of his journey across this region are what set the stage for explorers to come
So, who crossed the Texas panhandle? If you’re talking about the race for unclaimed riches and glory in unexplored lands, it was Coronado.
21 Texas Town Names Outsiders Can’t Pronounce
Have you ever heard someone call Killeen “Kye-lean” or Salado “Salad-oh”? That’s just the tip of the Texas mispronunciation iceberg. Here are the towns and cities most folks who didn’t grow up in Texas don’t have a clue how to pronounce.
LOOK: Texas Towns With Names From All Over the World
You can be a globetrotter….without ever crossing the Texas state line!
All you have to do is make sure you’ve got some gas money on hand and you can hit the highway to visit these not-so-exotic Texas towns!
Visit These 16 Texas Cities And Towns At Least Once As A Texan
It’s a fact that Texas is a huge state and because of its size, there are also a lot of things to see, visit and experience in The Lone Star State. Both Texas visitors and Texans alike should visit our awesome cities and attractions. By no means are these all the activities in these wonderful cities. They’re just a few examples of things to do.
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