in and around FM.1960, Northwest Houston

    The early inhabitants of the Texas coast region were primitive, nomadic Orcoquisac Indians who roamed the area, fishing along the upper reaches of Galveston Bay during summer and hunting bear, deer and buffalo in the winter months. Generally, they were considered a docile tribe. The Orcoquisacs got along well with the influx of settlers until they finally succumbed to diseases introduced by the white pioneers.
    The French attempted to colonize the area in the late 1600s. King Louis XIV laid claim to all the lands of the Mississippi watershed, and when the king's emissary, Rene Cavalier, Sieur de la Salle, overshot the mouth of that mighty river, he landed instead at Matagorda Bay on the Texas coast. He explored southeast Texas and camped for a while at the headwaters of Cypress Creek. He might have returned to settle in the area, but he was murdered by his own men near Navasota.



  The Europeans:

    During the 1700s, the Spanish created a system of missions throughout Texas to introduce Christianity to the Indians, and establish a military presence. The local site they selected was northeast of present-day Tomball. But, the Texas missions were destined for failure. However, the Spanish were successful in laying out the Atascocita Trail, an important military and trade route stretching from South Texas to Louisiana. (The old Atascocita Crossing is marked by a plaque beside FM 1960 at the west end of the bridge that spans Lake Houston.) Texas was still 65 years from statehood at the time of the American Revolution, but there is strong evidence that cattle driven along the Atascocita Trail to Louisiana ultimately fed American freedom fighters.
    In the early 1800s, the next wave of settlers to find their way to Texas harbored a spirit of rebellion and personified the new democratic spirit in America. The Scotch-Irish immigrants, who came by way of Kentucky, the Carolinas and Georgia, joined other Anglo pioneers to become the first white settlers in North Harris County.
    When Napoleon snatched the Louisiana Territory from Spain in 1800, the Mississippi River no longer kept settlers from westward exploration. Almost overnight, American settlers were knocking on the door of Spanish Texas, seeking admission to the area's rich bottom lands and rolling prairies.

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