Le Poste des Cadodaquious was a small French

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

founded in 1719; it was located northwest of Texarkana, Texas in today's Bowie County. Recent analysis suggests that the site was somewhere on the

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...

near either Everett or Barkman. The fort was constructed by

Bénard de La Harpe Benard or Bénard is a surname or given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Abraham-Joseph Bénard (1750–1822), French actor of the Comédie-Française * Aimé Bénard (1873–1938), Canadian politician * Alexander Benard, Amer ...

as a part of his land concession. It was an opportunistic advance, and was made in an area where the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

had built similar military outposts. The fort was constructed on the south bank of the Red River near a village of Nasoni Indians. As a result, the fort was sometimes known as Le Poste des Nassonites. The more common name came from the French pronunciation of "Kadohadacho", which was a name used by various

Caddoan The Caddoan languages are a family of languages native to the Great Plains spoken by tribal groups of the central United States, from present-day North Dakota south to Oklahoma. All Caddoan languages are critically endangered, as the number of sp ...

groups to describe either themselves or the area in which they lived. La Harpe served as the first commandant of the fort. Upon his departure in late 1719 the site was garrisoned by a detachment from Natchitoches, Louisiana, with

Louis Juchereau de St. Denis Louis Antoine Juchereau de St. Denis (September 17, 1676 – June 11, 1744) was a French-Canadian soldier and explorer best known for his exploration and development of the Louisiana (New France) and Spanish Texas regions. He commanded a small gar ...

as its leader. Alexis Grappe, a trader and interpreter, was also of some importance in the history of the fort. The only military purpose the fort could serve was to limit the northern influence of the Spanish; additionally, it served as a station for trade. It was the base, in 1719, used by Durivage and Mustel when they explored the Red River. La Harpe would later move on to the northwest, using the post as a starting point, and encounter various groups of Wichita with which the French soon set up a trade network. The post served as a supply base for a number of other expeditions, including those of Fabry de La Bruyere in 1742 and Pierre A. Mallet in 1750. And it was from here that Jean Baptiste Brevel departed for Santa Fe in 1767. A small settlement of French colonists developed in tandem with the fort for a number of years; at least two of Grappe's children,

François François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, Kin ...

and Marie Pelagie, were born there, as was Jean Baptiste Brevel. The French abandoned the area for good after the cession of

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. In 1770

Athanase de Mézières Athanase is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Antoine-Athanase Royer-Collard (1768–1825), French physician born in the village of Sompuis, département Marne * Athanase Coquerel (disambiguation) * Athanase David (1882–1953) ...

attempted to re-establish the post, this time for the Spanish; its new name was to be San Luiz de los Cadodachos. The Nasonis deserted the area soon thereafter. In 1806, Thomas Freeman attempted, and failed, to find the location of the post.

References

External links

Handbook of Texas entry
Buildings and structures in Bowie County, Texas Spanish Texas Forts in Texas New France 1719 establishments in the French colonial empire {{Texas-struct-stub