During Spain's colonial era (1689-1821) in the Southern Plains, Native Americans in the region encountered new material goods, religious ideas, political economies, and exposure to deadly diseases. If communities managed to survive the devastating effects of epidemics, then access to utilitarian metal objects, :firearms, and horses became politically and economically critical to the continued stability of Native societies. Locations of trade routes, and colonial trading posts, as well as the political ability of Native peoples to navigate the colonial landscape, all played a dominant role in determining whether an indigenous nation successfully obtained those commodities necessary to its survival and prosperity. Two other important factors also affected access to trade goods: exposure to epidemics and the trading policies instituted in the region by colonial governments. Continual epidemics, particularly those associated with typhoid, smallpox, and measles, decimated entire indigenous populations (Thornton 1987: 44-45). For example, numerous Native nations located along the lower Rio Grande and the upper coast of Texas succumbed to the relentless epidemics sweeping the region (Aten 1983;