Four Corner - Texas Water Development Board

INTRODUCTION
Rust Envirorunental & Infrastructure Inc. (RUST) is conducting feasibility studies for Fort Bend County for
water/wastewater treating systems in the Four Comers WSC and the Cummings Road WSC project areas, Figures I
and II respectively. RUST has contracted BC & AD Archaeology, Inc. (BCAD) to determine t11e potential presence
of cultural resources in the areas that could be eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places or
warrant designation as Texas State Archaeological Landmarks.
ENVIRONMENTAL BACKGROUND
The Colorado, Brazos, Trinity, Neches and Sabine Rivers originate north of t11e Texas Coastal Plain. They flow
soutlnvard through t11e plain to the Gulf of Mexico. These rivers are pre-Pleistocene in age. Smaller creeks such as
the Oyster Creek and Jones Creek developed during t11e Pleistocene and parallel the major watemays. Fort Bend
County is located in the Western Gulf section of tl1e Coastal Plain.
Fort Bend County's location in the Western Gulf section of t11e Coastal Plain places it witl1in a subtropical belt. The
modem climate is characterized by high hwnidity. The biggest factor controlling t11e regional climate is t11e Gulf of
Mexico. Swruners are hot and humid and winters are generally mild (Story, 1990). The mean annual temperature of
the area is 20 degrees centigrade with a mean average rainfall of 46.1 inches. Prevailing winds are sout11 and southeast,
except during the winter when fronts shift the wind from the north. The modern climate is generally considered to
be similar to the climate t11at existed 5,000 years ago.
The flora and fauna of tl1e project areas when first settled could include openland, woodland and wetland habitats. The
following are excerpt from a book by A. A. Parker (1835).
11
•• list of the forest trees. shrubs, vines i.e. red, black, white, willow; post and live oaks; pine,
cedar, cottonwood, mulbeny, hickory, ash, elm, cypress, box-wood, elder, dogwood, walnut,
pecan, moscheto-a species of locust, holly, haws, hackberry, magnolia, chinquspin, wild
peach, suple jack, cane brake, palmetto, various kinds of grapevines, creepers, rushes,
Spanish-moss, prairie grass and a great variety of flowers ....
. . . Then there are bear, mexican hog, wild geese, rabbits and a great variety of ducks ... 11
Wild herbaceous plants that were native to these area include bluestem, indiangrass, croton, beggenvood, pokeweed,
partridgepea, ragweed and fescue. Examples of native hardwood trees would be oak, mulberry, sweetgum, pecan,
hawtl1om, dogwood, persinunon, swnac. hickol)', black walnut, maple and greenbrier. Coniferous plants included red
cedar and coast juniper. Shrubs included American beauty berry, farkleberry, yaupon and possumhaw. Wetland plants
such as smartweed, wild millet, bulrushes, saltgrass and callail are native to the area (U.S. Department of Agriculture,
1976).
TlJ.is vegetative envirorunent supported wildlife such as bear, rabbit, red fox, deer, coyotes, raccoon, opossum, muskrat,
beaver, alligator, armadillo, squirrel, and skunk. A wide variety of birds were present such as quail, dove, prairie
chicken, song birds, herons and kingfishers. The area was also a winter home for a number of nJ.igratory birds such
as geese, ducks, egrets, coots, etc. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1976).
HISTORICAL BACK GROUND
The wide variety of native floral and faunal resources supported an indigenous population in Fort Bend County. When
Cabeza de Vaca, a survivor oft11e Narvaez expedition to colonize southern Florida, was shipwrecked in 1528 on what
has often been identified as Galveston Island (probably Oyster Bay Peninsula), he was met by t11e native Americans
oftl1e area (Krieger, 1959). TI1egroup of native Americans were part of the Karankawa group tl1at was probably made