Episode 36 – The Comanche - strong warriors with fine horses.

Welcome to the Hidden History of Texas. I’m your host Hank Wilson and this is Episode 36 – The Comanche - strong warriors with fine horses

Before I get started, I want to introduce y’all to a set of books called ‘the Music is Murder saga’. These novels by Heather O’Brien, follow the lives and loves of the O’Conners, the Grants, and the Lockhardts. Something—or someone—ties these three families together and you’ll be caught up in the drama of their situations. The books are set in the world of Rock ‘n’ roll and you’ll be hooked from page one. The 1st book you’ll want is Lockhardt Sound, and as someone who has worked in the music industry, let me tell you, the story could and does happen. Check out her site, booksbyheather.com, you won’t be disappointed. As her site says, long live rock ‘n’ roll.

Last time I spoke about the 3 main groups of peoples, the Caddo, Karankawa, and the Jumano who were living in Texas when the Spanish first came into Texas. They did their best to adjust and live with the Spanish but unfortunately they were not prepared to deal with the diseases and frankly the violence they were often met with. There are 3 other groups who more people are probably familiar with due to tv and the movies. They are the Comanche, the Kiowa, and the Apache. All three played a significant role in the early history of Texas and all 3 were involved in conflict with the newcomers, both Spanish and Anglo. Now a word, a quick word about the use of the word tribe when it comes to talking about these groups of peoples. We often substitute  “tribe” for “people,” but tribe is probably one of the most inexact-nonspecific terms that we can use. I try to avoid it because not all of the natives of Texas spoke the same language, had the same customs, shared the same clans, or saw themselves as separate and distinct from their neighbors. The Indians of Texas often remade themselves and did so with people who had different languages, customs, and families. So I will do my best to refer to the people by the name they currently use, occasionally using the word tribes or clans or peoples and if anyone knows of more appropriate words, please let me know.

In this episode I want to talk about the Comanche. Most folks are familiar with them due to shows such as Lonesome Dove, Last of the Comanche, Comanche Station, the Comancheros, and the Searchers. Historically accurate? Yeah, not so much, except for their depiction of the Comanche as being master horsemen. They were indeed known to many as some of the finest horsemen ever seen.  But who were they?

Initially, the Comanche lived in the Northern Great Plains and were a branch of the Northern Shoshones. They, like most of the clans at that time travelled by foot and were hunters and gatherers. It appears that sometime in the late 17th century, (i.e. mid to late 1600s) they acquired horses. Once that happened, the game changed and so did their lives.

But what caused the Comanche to migrate from their ancestral homelands? As I mentioned, the Comanche acquired horses and once they achieved mobility they were able to leave their traditional mountain home range and then moved onto the plains of eastern Colorado and western Kansas. As with the majority of hunter-gatherer peoples they followed the food. They also learned that if they travelled south they would be able to gather the wild mustangs who roamed the southwest. When this was coupled with a warm climate and buffalo moving made even more sense.

Once they began their move, they also began to trade with the Wichita who lived around the Red River. This gave them access to French goods, including firearms. Even though they had arms and were excellent horsemen, they were also under pressure from the Blackfoot and Crow people in their north and east. As a result of their migration, a large swatch of the South Plains, much of North Central and West Texas became Comanche ...