NPS Photo The Antelope Creek People lived in the Texas Panhandle for at least 300 years. Although people have lived in this area for roughly 12,000 years the Antelope Creek are one of the more unique people groups to live in the area. What makes them unique is that they permanently lived in settlements along the Canadian River and its tributaries from 1150-1450. One of the tributaries being Antelope Creek that flows into the Canadian River. Unlike people before them or the Apache and Comanche afterwards, the Antelope Creek built permanent structures including houses, storage areas, probable defensive fortifications, and farming sites. Although wood was scarce dolomite covered the area and they used the dolomite and the sandy clay soil to build houses. Sizes of their living quarters vary but most were roughly 12 feet by 12 feet. Inside they dug a trench across the length of the home, placed a fire pit in the middle, a stone slab on the back wall, and attached storage pits to the back or front wall. To circulate air and probably keep out predators, the entry way was only a few feet high forcing a person to crawl inside. The two main draws to the Canadian River valley were easy access to Alibates Flint, and access to fresh drinking water. Paleoenvironmental data from nearby regions showed that the area was extremely dry and the dependable water in the Canadian River valley would have drawn both the Antelope Creek and huntable animals to the region. Although the Canadian River is too salty to drink, streams and springs from the Ogallala Aquifer would have provided dependable drinking water. Alibates Flint also provided a beneficial reason to stay in the region. The colorful and hard flint only developed along the Canadian River in the Texas Panhandle and provided the Antelope Creek with a unique trade resource. This allowed them to trade for many of the goods they acquired from across the North American continent. They mined the Alibates Flint in the area to make stone tools and trade for luxury goods such as obsidian, turquoise, catlinite pipestone from Minnesota, Pueblo pottery, and seashells from the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific Coast. For food, they mostly hunted bison, deer, and prong horned antelope. However, they also hunted prairie dog, cottontail, jackrabbit, squirrel, gopher, several types of rat bobcat, racoon, beaver, muskrat, dog, badger, fox, turtle, frogs, fish, mussels, lizards, snakes, and fowl. They foraged for grass seeds, Indian mallow, prickly pear, persimmons, hackberry, mesquite, buckwheat, cattail stems, and juniper berries and grew several crops such as corn, squash, and beans. They also gathered local plants for medicine. Archeologist have divided the Antelope Creek phase into two separate phases with the Early Subphase lasting from AD 1200-1350 and the Late Subphase from AD 1350-1500. During the first period, the Antelope Creek lived in multifamily and single-family residences that were often connected to each other. Like a modern-day single story apartment complex. They also built farmsteads for temporary occupation. They built most of their villages on springs close to the Canadian River and farmed along the river. There was little evidence of trade with people in the southwest and few signs of warfare. In the Late Subphase, farmsteads and temporary buildings disappeared, settlements moved closer to the Canadian River valley and were constructed on top and next to the mesas. Their houses were separated from each other, and they increased their trading with the Pueblo in the American south-west. Several burials showed signs of violence that was due to warfare. By the late 1400’s the Antelope Creek had left the area. One of the more remarkable aspects of Antelope Creek and Pueblo trade was how much Pueblo material the Antelope Creek acquired. They traded for Pueblo ceramics, obsidian, stone and shell jewelry and pipes. Across 15 different sites archeologist found 465 ceramic sherds that represented 19 different Pueblo pottery styles that archeologist traced to northern, southern, and western Pueblo sites across New Mexico. In addition to Pueblo ceramics, the Antelope Creek traded for a large amount of obsidian obtained from New Mexico and Yellowstone. Researchers found 4,273 pieces of obsidian at a single Antelope Creek site. Alibates Flint was the main trade resource the Antelope Creek people obtained. The flint covered the mesa tops along the Canadian River, and they dug thousands of quarry pits throughout the region. Each pit was roughly ten feet wide and five to eight feet deep. Archeologist have carried out few excavations of the pits, but the limited digs and surface evidence showed a large amount of activity around the quarry sites. Archeologist have also found large caches of Alibates Flint trade blanks or bifaces that they believe were hidden away for trade. They also took these blanks and finished tools back to their dwellings for personal use. Around 1450, the Antelope Creek people left the area. There are two leading theories on why they left. Climate data shows that the conditions in the area between 1200-1500 were exceptionally dry and around 1350 the Antelope Creek moved into smaller hamlets located along springs of freshwater further away from the Canadian River. They also reduced the amount of farming they carried out and probably increased the amount they hunted. The second theory is that attacks carried out by the ancestors of the Apache or other Athapaskan language speaking tribes attacked the Antelope Creek and slowly drove them out of the area. Skeletons across several Antelope Creek sites showed signs of violent deaths and several “trophy” skulls were found that showed evidence of not belonging to the Antelope Creek. Archeologist also discovered several sites that appeared defensive in nature. When Spanish explorer Francisco Vázquez de Coronado arrived in the region in 1541, he came across a nomadic tribe that were almost certainly the ancestors of the Apache. Archeologist Douglas Bamforth noted in 2018 that signs of violence and warfare are limited across the Great Plains as specific burial practices, battle locations, and treatment of the dead could all lead to a lack of warfare in the archeological record. He argued that when archeologist found some signs of warfare then it was probable that warfare was common or semi-common in the region. Overall, it is likely that the Antelope Creek left the region in the mid-1400s due to changing weather patterns and attacks from other groups in the area, most likley the Apache. Although it is unclear where they went when they left, it is probable that they moved east or north-east and joined other Plains Village tribes that shared a similar culture with the Antelope Creek. When the Antelope Creek people left, they left behind their dwellings, villages, farming sites, flint quarries, trash piles, and pieces of trade goods such as pottery and obsidian. They also created petroglyphs of turtles, feet, and other objects. Some have faded away while others are still visible. From these remains archeologist and historians have recreated a limited picture of what life was like for the Antelope Creek, what they ate, items they traded, what they valued, how they built their houses, what they created and where they lived. They left behind a legacy that showed an impressive ability to live year-round in dry conditions and gather large quantities of Alibates flint. Their impact went beyond the Texas Panhandle. They took part in a large trade network that stretched across America and traded for items such as seashells that originated from thousands of miles away. In return, they traded large quantities of Alibates flint that made its way across North America and improved people's lives. The flint they traded allowed people to create stronger and more colorful tools that improved their lives. Although the Antelope Creek no longer live in the Texas Panhandle, the evidence of their lives has lasted for hundreds of years and will continue to last for hundreds of years. Sources: Baker, Ele Jewel. “Archaeological Excavations of Antelope Creek Ruins and Alibates Ruins Panhandle Aspect: 1938-1941.” Panhandle Archeological Society no. 8 (2000). Bamforth, Douglas B. “Origin Stories, Archaeological Evidence, and Postclovis Paleoindian Bison Hunting on the Great Plains.” American Antiquity 76, no. 1 (January 2011): 24-40. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41331873
Clark, Andrew J., and Douglas B. Bamforth, eds. Archaeological Perspectives on Warfare on the Great Plains. Louisville, Colorado: University Press of Colorado, 2018. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvgd21w.
Robertson, Pauline Durrett. Panhandle Pilgrimage: Illustrated Tales Tracing History in the Texas Panhandle. Amarillo, Texas: Paramount Publishing Company. 1978.
Shaeffer, James B. “The Alibates Flint Quarry, Texas.” American Antiquity, 24, no. 2 (Oct., 1958): 189-191. https://www.jstor.org/stable/277487.
Spielmann, Katherine A., ed. Farmers, Hunters, and Colonists: Interaction Between the Southwest and the Southern Plains. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1991. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvss3wqx.
Texas Beyond History “Plains Villager Research-Texas Panhandle: Explorers, Excavators, and Promoters: A History of the Plains Villager Research In the Texas Panhandle.” Accessed September 20, 2023. Villagers > Research History Main (texasbeyondhistory.net)
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Last updated: February 8, 2026