La Junta Indians

La Junta Indians is a collective name for the various Indians living in the area known as La Junta de los Ríos ("the confluence of the rivers": the Rio Grande and the Conchos River) on the borders of present-day West Texas and Northern Mexico. In 1535, Spanish explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca recorded visiting these peoples while making his way to a Spanish settlement. They cultivated crops in the river floodplains, as well as gathering local plants and catching fish from the rivers. They were part of an extensive trading network in the region. As a crossroads, the area attracted people of different tribes.

In the 18th century, the Spanish set up missions in the area, and the Native Americans gradually lost their tribal identifications. After suffering severe population losses through infectious disease, the Spanish slave trade, and attacks by raiding Apache and Comanche, the La Junta Indian communities disappeared. Some intermarried with Spanish soldiers and their descendants became part of the Mestizo population of Mexico; others merged with the Apache and Comanche; still others departed to work on Spanish haciendas and in silver mines.