Maps

Graveline, Derbanne, La Freniere, and Beaulieu left Natchitoches on 21 December 1717 and advanced nine leagues by the 26th. This brought them to one of the Adai villages, inhabited by thirty Indians. From 29 December to 4 January, they traveled eighteen leagues through a land rich with game. On the 6th, they forded the river of the Adai.
Jean-Baptiste Bénard, Sieur de La Harpe
The Historical Journal of the Establishment of the French in Louisiana, 1971

Maps of Louisiana and Texas

A Graphical Record of History

The Adai Caddo are on the very first maps of Louisiana and Texas.

Throughout the Spanish and French colonial periods, the Adai Caddo villages and its territory are on each of these official government maps.

The Adai Caddo are the only Indian nation listed on French, Spanish, Portuguese, and British maps in the central and northwest region of Louisiana today known as Sabine, DeSoto, Vernon, Beauregard, and Natchitoches Parish.

The first global war in history was the Seven Years’ War (known as the French and Indian War in the Americas) involving Great Britain and Prussia on one side and France, Austria, Russia, Sweden, and Spain on the other. Battles were fought on every continent except Antarctica. The 1777 map documenting this treaty with the approval of all of the involved countries shows the Adai Caddo.  Like all other maps of this century, the only Indian nation in this region of Louisiana is the Adai Caddo.  The map shows two of the Adai Caddo villages located on a river named for them, the Rio de los Adiais (today known as the Sabine River).  

Three maps are included from Dr. John R. Swanton, the highly acclaimed anthropologist, ethnologist, and linguist. Dr. Swanton created these maps after completing his doctorate at Harvard while working for the Bureau of American Ethnology of the Smithsonian Institution. Dr. Swanton would become the most prolific author with the Smithsonian and serve as editor of the American Anthropological Association’s flagship journal, American Anthropologist. Dr. Swanton’s first two maps show the location of Indians around the year 1650 and their estimated populations. The final map show the linguistic families of these Indians, and in particular, shows the Adai within the Caddoan stock. 

The Cane River National Heritage Area has done a superb job with their map showing the historic sites in Natchitoches Parish including the Adai Caddo sites of Los Adaes, St. Anne Church, Adai Caddo Cultural Center, and Isle Brevelle. Please support these important heritage sites and local businesses.

English translation of French map showing Adai village on El Camino Real. Senex and Delisle 1718 Map, Library of Congress 98685735.
French map of the Los Adaes presidio of Texas. Anville 1732 Map, Library of Congress 75692506.
French map showing Adai territory west of the Red River. Batz 1747 Map, Library of Congress 00560608.
French map shows Adai village on the Rivière Rio des Adayes (Sabine River). Bellin and La Harpe 1757 Map, Library of Congress 73693778.
Shows Adai villages and La Laguna de los Adaes (Lake of the Adai today known as Spanish Lake). 1768 Map of Mexico.
Treaty of Paris map showing Adai village on El Camino Real on Rio de los Adiais (Sabine River), 2nd second village just to the south (near confluence of Toro Bayou and Sabine River), and 3rd village at Los Adaes State Park. 1777 Map of the Treaty of Paris 1763, Library of Congress 75691628.
Location of the Adai Nation. 1720-1770 Map, Winston De Ville, Louisiana Troops 1720-1770, State Library of Louisiana 6810924.
American map of Adayes village on El Camino Real between Nacogdoches and Natchitoches. Pike 1807 Map of New Spain, Library of Congress 99446138.
Adai village in 1700 with modern towns added for reference, by Dr. Kniffen. Louisiana school textbook. Bureau of Educational Materials and Research, LSU 0911116974.
Location of Adai Nation, 1650 Map, Dr. John R. Swanton, "The Indians of the Southeastern United States", Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 137.
Population of Adai Nation. 1650 Map, Dr. John R. Swanton, "The Indians of the Southeastern United States", Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 137.
Adai territory east of the Red River. Adai is part of Caddoan linguistic family. Map by Dr. John R. Swanton.
J.F. Broutin's 1732 Map of Natchitoches showing the original french post and the El Camino Real going to the Adayes. Broutin was considered the first important architect and engineer in the Louisiana colony, also designing the Ursuline Convent, the oldest building in New Orleans.
Overlay done in 1962 by Natchitoches historian Louis Nardini of J.F. Broutin's 1732 map. In the lower left hand corner, it reads, "Road to the Adais Indians and the presidio of the Spanish". That road is the El Camino Real. Published in The Natchitoches Enterprise, October 11, 1962.
Dr. Robert C. West's map of 18th century Los Adaes, Bayou Pierre, and Isle Brevelle. West received his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, where he studied under the prominent geographer, Carl Sauer. West served as a cartographer in the OSS, a forerunner to the CIA, and as a cultural geographer with the Smithsonian Institution in Mexico before joining the faculty of LSU. The LSU Department of Geography and Anthropology established the Robert C. West Graduate Student Field Research Fund to support thesis and dissertation field research. Courtesy of An Atlas of Louisiana Surnames of French and Spanish Origin, LSU Press, 1996.
British map showing Adai village west of Natchitoches and east of the River of the Adayes (Sabine River) on the El Camino Real. Millar 1755 Map, Library of Congress 74693173.
British map showing Adai village SW of Natchitoches near the River Adayes (today known as the Sabine River). This is the only Indian village in the area with the Cadodaquis "Caddo" village to the far north. Arrowsmith 1802 Map, Library of Congress 2001620920.
American map of Louisiana Territory. Shows Adai village on the east bank of the Sabine River. The Adai are the only Indians depicted in all of present day west and northwest Louisiana. Lewis 1805 Map, Library of Congress 2001620468.
1811 Map of Los Adaes and the El Camino Real by Jose Antonio Pichardo, Pichardo's Treatise on the Limits of Louisiana and Texas, Library of Congress 2016588016.
American map showing Adai village west of Fort Claiborne and south of Spanish Lake on the El Camino Real. The only Indian village in the this vast area of NW Louisiana spanning present day Natchitoches, Sabine, Red River, DeSoto, Beauregard, and Vernon parishes. Carey 1814 Map, Carey Atlas of the World, Library of Congress 2002624016.
1841 map showing Village of the Adais. A General Atlas Of The World, Samuel G. Goodrich, Thomas G. Bradford, G.W. Boynton. Entered according to Act of Congress by T.G. Bradford in the Clerk's Office of the District of Court of Massachusetts.
Map of Adaies U.S. Post Office by J.J. Germann, Louisiana Post Offices, Library of Congress 89-82002. Post office in operation 1844-1866.
Cane River National Heritage Trail Map 2025, pg 1. Shows Adai sites including the Adai Caddo Cultural Center, Los Adaes, St. Anne Church, and Isle Brevelle.
Cane River National Heritage Trail Map 2025, pg 2. Shows Adai sites including the Adai Caddo Cultural Center, Los Adaes, St. Anne Church, and Isle Brevelle.

Named for the Adai Caddo

Geographic Features, Roads, Churches, and Communities in Louisiana and Texas

  • Adai Caddo Cultural Center – cultural center, museum, and pow wow grounds of the Adai Caddo in Natchitoches Parish
  • Adai Caddo State Designated Tribal Statistical Area – U.S. Census Bureau area in Louisiana
  • Adai Trails – today known as the Contraband Trail or the El Camino Real de los Tejas, which is part of the NPS National Trail System
  • Adaie Village – main village of the Adai Caddo in the 18th century located on the El Camino Real and Rio de los Adais near the bygone town of Pendleton and Pendleton Bridge (submerged by Toledo Bend Reservoir)
  • Adaies Post Office – US Post Office named for the local Adai tribe located near the current Adai Caddo Cultural Center in 1844-1866
  • Adois – the bygone community located NW of Robeline, LA with references in Natchitoches property deeds
  • Ataho Bayou – “Adai Bayou” and today a tributary of Little River on Isle Brevelle in Natchitoches Parish
  • Ataho Mound – “Adai” Indian mound near the Melrose Plantation on Isle Brevelle 
  • Ataho Plantation – “Adai Plantation” today known as Atahoe Plantation, located on Isle Brevelle. Originally part of Prudhomme’s Bermuda Plantation, which was divided into Oakland Plantation on the west bank and Ataho Plantation on the east bank. 
  • Ataho River – “Adai River” and today known as Ataho Bayou and Little River in the Isle Brevelle District
  • Attoyac – “Adai” community in Nacogdoches County, Texas 
  • Attoyac Bayou – “Adai Bayou” formerly known as Attoyac River in Rusk and Nacogdoches Counties forming Sam Rayburn Reservoir 
  • Attoyac Church & Cemetery – “Adai” church and cemetery in San Augustine, Texas
  • Bayou Adaise – “Bayou Adai” and today known as Dolet Bayou in DeSoto Parish, renamed after Pierre Dolet whose land grant called the waterway Bayou Adaise
  • Bayou Adois – “Bayou Adai” in Natchitoches and Sabine Parish
  • Indian Spring Branch – bayou between Los Adaes and Provencal, Natchitoches Parish
  • La Laguna de los Adais – “Lake of the Adai” and today known as Spanish Lake, the community of Spanish Lake, and Spanish Lake Highway (LA 485) in Natchitoches Parish
  • Los Adaes – “the Adai,” the first capital of Texas for approximately 50 years in Natchitoches Parish
  • Los Adaes State Historic Site – “the Adai” Louisiana State Park in Natchitoches Parish
  • Los Adais Road – “the Adai Road” in DeSoto Parish
  • Old Adai Villages – bygone villages located near Bayou Pierre in Evelyn, with references in DeSoto and Natchitoches property deeds
  • Presidio Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Los Adaes – “Fort of Our Lady of Pilar at the Adai,” the first Spanish fort in Louisiana
  • Rio de los Adiais / Rio de los Adais – “River of the Adai” and today known as the Sabine River forming the border between Louisiana and Texas
  • San Miguel de Cuellar de los Adaes – “Saint Michael of Cuellar (Duke and Viceroy of New Spain) of the Adai,” the second Catholic mission in Louisiana
  • San Miguel de Linares de los Adaes – “Saint Michael of Linares (Duke and Viceroy of New Spain) of the Adai,” the first Catholic mission in Louisiana
  • Saint Anne Catholic Church – Dedicated as the “Mother Church of the Caddo Adai” and listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 by the Natchitoches Parish Tourist Commission, Robeline 
This Old river is the western boundary and Cane river on the eastern boundary of another island called Isle Brevelle after a reputable man who first settled this island. This island is subdivided by a Bayou called Brevelle, which flows from Old river to Cane river.

The Ataho [Adai] river called Little river, named for the Ataho Indians a branch of the Caddo tribe, is the middle channel mentioned by old writers, as the ancient bed of the Saline that falls into Rigolette de Bon Dieu at St. Maurice. A continuance of this old stream in ages past is what is known as Corne Fin, Fine Horn that runs through Lake La Croix island in Grant parish. Aloha stands on the bank of it.

Dr. Milton Dunn

“History of Natchitoches,” The Louisiana Historical Quarterly, 1920