Coahuilteco

The Coahuiltecans were small hunter-gatherer bands of the dry brush country of northeastern Mexico and southern Texas, on both sides of the Rio Grande. The name comes from Coahuila, where the Spanish first met them. They spoke several languages, among them Pakawa, Comecrudo and Cotoname, which most linguists doubt were related, and no band formed a political unit larger than its kin.

From 1580 slave raiders from Nuevo Leon took captives along the Rio Grande. In 1718 the Spanish founded Mission San Antonio de Valero, the Alamo, and four more missions followed, where Coahuiltecans sought protection from Apache and Comanche raids.