Quiscat was a prominent 18th century Native American tribal chief, whose ethnic community, the Tawakoni (also referred to as Towakoni), inhabited an area in what is now East Central

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. In 1772, Chief Quiscat embarked on a voyage to

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

in a bid to negotiate an end to hostilities with

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which, between 1690 and 1821, had governed Texas as a colony named "Kingdom of Texas". Quiscat's name was subsequently appended to the primary Tawakoni village, located on the banks of the

Brazos River The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 14th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater ...

, in the vicinity of present-day

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...

. The village, also referred to by its Spanish name, "El Quiscat", was situated on the river's west side. It sat on a bluff overlooking an agglomeration of springs and, during the period, had approximately 750 inhabitants. The village was visited at least twice by outsiders— Athanase de Mézières came there in 1779, and Pedro Vial recovered from injuries for several weeks there in 1786. Reference to the village occurs as late as 1795; no available documentation exists detailing its ultimate fate.

References

Quiscat

Handbook of Texas The Texas State Historical Association (TSHA) is an American nonprofit educational and research organization dedicated to documenting the history of Texas. It was founded in Austin, Texas, United States, on March 2, 1897. In November 2008, the ...

entry (retrieved March 31, 2007). 18th-century Native American leaders Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Place of death unknown Native American history of Texas {{NorthAm-native-bio-stub