The Comanche Indians - Horsemen of the Plains

NATIVE AMERICAN LEGENDS

The Comanche - Horsemen of the Plains

Dating back to the early 1500's, the Comanches were originally part of the Eastern Shoshone who lived near the upper reaches of the Platte River in eastern Wyoming. However, when the Europeans entered the scene and the tribe obtained horses, they broke off from the Shoshone, with an estimated 10,000 members.

Moving south, they first migrated to the central plains before continue to move southward to an area that extended from the Arkansas River to central Texas .

Comanche Moon Painting

As they continued to migrate, the Comanche population increased dramatically due to the abundance of buffalo, an influx of Shoshone members, and the kidnapping of women and children from rival tribes and Mexican settlements. Long known as war-like and aggressive, some estimates state that some 20,000 people were kidnapped. Unfortunately, the Comanche Indians did not treat their captives well, considering them little more than a slave and a commodity. From the moment of their capture until their death or release, they were both physically and mentally abused.

Though the tribe was large, they never formed a single tribal unit, but rather, were divided into some eight to twelve independent groups. Sharing the same language and culture, they sometimes fought between bands and at other times were at peace, cooperating one with the other.

Although the name Comanche is well known, it is uncertain where it originated. There are two accounts of the origin its origin, the most accepted being a Spanish corruption of a name the Ute called them -- Kohmahts, meaning "those who are against us." The second account is that it was a derivative of the Spanish word amino ancho, meaning "wide trail." They were also called Paducah by early French and American explorers, but the preferred name of the tribe has always been Numunuh, meaning "The People." The Comanche a Uto-Aztecan language, which is almost identical to the Shoshone from which they originated.

The horse was a key element in Comanche culture, who are thought to have been the first of the Plains Indians to have horses. In the beginning, they were primarily a hunter-gatherer nomadic society, but with horses, they became more daring and aggressive and were soon considered as the best buffalo hunters on the plains. The horse trade quickly became a large part of their culture, breeding, stealing, and trading horses to other plains Indians, allowing them also to become more productive buffalo hunters.

Warfare was a major part of Comanche life with conflicts often bringing them into battles with the Apache and other tribal groups. Those they stole from often found it simpler and safer to buy back the stolen commodities rather than fight for them. During the 1800’s they began to steal cattle from Texas settlers in Texas and reselling them in New Mexico. During this period they fought not only the Mexicans and white settlers but also many of the other plains Indians.

In an attempt to stop the raids upon the Apache, the Spanish offered help; however, it was to no avail and the Apaches were finally forced out of the Southern Plains by the mid-1800's. Now dominating the area surrounding the Texas Panhandle, including western Oklahoma and northeastern New Mexico, the Comanche were so well heeled at their horsemanship that they began to supply horses to French and American traders.

Many historians debate whether the Comanche deserve their ferocious reputation, indicating that they were only fighting for retrieval of the land they felt was theirs. Continuing to protect their territory, the formidable Comanche aggressively attached the many settlers passing through on their way to the California Gold Rush. Some were killed, but most often their horses and cattle were stolen.

The fierce Comanche continued to maintain their independence and even increase their territory until new diseases, including small pox and cholera, began to take their toll. By the 1870's, these illnesses had reduced their population to about 7,000 people.

A Comanche camp in 1873.

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In the 1860's efforts began to move the Comanches to a reservation in Indian Territory. In the Treaty of Medicine Lodge of 1867, the government offered them churches, schools, and annuities in return for a vast tract of land totaling over 60,000 square miles. They also promised to stop the buffalo hunters, who were decimating the great herds of the Plains with the condition that the Comanches, along with the Apaches, Kiowas, Cheyennes, and Arapahos.

Obviously, the government failed on their promise the prevent the buffalo hunters from slaughtering the herds, which soon provoked the Comanches Chief White Eagle to attack a group of hunters in the Texas Panhandle in 1874. Known as the Second Battle of Adobe Walls, the attack was a disaster for the Comanches and the army soon drove those who were remaining onto a reservation.

In 1892 the government negotiated the Jerome Agreement with the Comanches, Kiowas, and Apaches, which further reduced their reservation land to 480,000 acres with 160 acre allotments to each person.

Today the Comanche Nation claims approximately 10,000 members, about half of whom live in Oklahoma and the rest scattered throughout Texas , California, and New Mexico. Lawton, Oklahoma is the site of the annual pow-wow, when Comanches from across the United States gather to celebrate their heritage and culture.

Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, © May, 2005

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Comanche Chief Quanah Parker

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