Why did the comanches move

Long known as war-like and aggressive, some estimates state that up to 20, 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 were divided into 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. 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 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. The plains gave them more food, but they had to compete with the other Indian tribes who already lived on the plains. This may be where and when they learned to fight so well and steal from other tribes around them. The Comanche got their first horses around from the Spanish and Pueblo Indians. Once they had horses they learned to use them.

Many experts have said that the Comanche were the finest light cavalry in the world. When it came to riding and fighting on horseback only the Cheyenne Indians came anywhere close.

The Comanches used this skill with horses to win many battles and overcome their opponents. Read about the great raid of and the Battle of Plum Creek for and example of how well the Comanches were when on horseback. The Comanche could do things on and with horses that amazed other people who were also good with horses They could ride faster and farther and get more out of a horse than any of their competitors could.

On foot they were not such good fighters. Go to the Indian Horse page to learn more about Indian horses. They lived in tee-pees, like most plains Indians, and they were nomadic. Each band would move around from place to place to hunt and trade.

Often they would cover hundreds of miles in one year. While the men fought, and hunted, the women gathered the plants and other foods they ate. This way of living is called being "hunter - gatherers".

Because they moved all the time they are nomadic. So they were nomadic hunter gathers. The food the women gathered made up much more of the food they had than the hunting by the men. Of course, when the men killed many buffalo there was plenty to eat. But, on a day to day basis the women gathered most of the food. The women also cooked the food and kept the tee-pee clean.

They also looked after the kids. When they moved it was the women who took down and put up the tee-pee. That is quite a bit of hard work. A Comanche Village. Click the picture to find out more about whats going on in it. When they moved they would load every thing on to a wooden frame made of two poles called a travois.

The poles came from the tee-pee and a horse would pull the travois. Before they had horses a dog would pull a smaller travois. Hey guys and girls. This would make a good project. Make one like this with a toy horse!! Because they moved around so much they liked things that were light weight and that did not break easily. This is why they did not make or use much pottery. They made and used baskets and leather to make containers. They also used animal skins and woven grass mats on the floors of their tee pees.

Here is a good Comanche myth. Thanks to Jane Archer and Wordware Publishing for sharing it with us. This is Jane's favorite Indian myth. She calls it Indian fast food!!! Read it and see why. One time the People camped at the base of a mountain near a rushing stream. Over time a person disappeared, then another. The band grew troubled and took their worries to their medicine makers.

After sweat lodge purification, after sage and sweet grass cleansing, the medicine makers held council. Medicine Man and Medicine Woman walked up the mountain to the cave of the deer. Guard Deer stood near four sticks at the dark hole of an entrance. As the medicine makers walked away, they whispered to each other. We must find out what else is in there. Concealed behind rocks and plants, they watched and waited.

Though some fifty Comanches were killed in the battle of Plum Creek , the Texans continued to seek retribution. In October an expedition under the command of Col. John H. Moore traveled miles up the Colorado River and destroyed a Comanche encampment near the site of present Colorado City.

Having suffered a tremendous loss of leadership and manpower, the Penatekas moved beyond the Red River and out of the range of Texas forces. Lamar's policy had succeeded in removing the Comanches from the borders of Texas, but at a terrible cost to both sides. In Sam Houston again became president of the republic and almost immediately reinstated his peace policy.

Emissaries were sent to inform the various Indian groups that Texans wanted to end hostilities. As a result of their previous experience with the Texas government, the Comanches were suspicious of the peace overtures. They continued to raid in Mexico but generally avoided the Texas settlements. In Comanches finally agreed to attend a peace council at Tehuacana Creek.

The treaty resulting from the Tehuacana Creek councils , signed by Buffalo Hump and other chiefs, called for peace and trade between Texans and Comanches, but once again no agreement was reached on a boundary to separate the two nations. Conflict was inevitable, and by relations between Texans and Comanches were again strained. Texas was annexed to the Union in , and the United States government took over the administration of Texas Indian affairs. Federal agents and Comanche leaders attempted to preserve peace despite frequent outbreaks of hostilities, as White settlement continued to encroach on Comanche hunting grounds.

In the army established a line of forts to protect the frontier, but settlers rapidly pushed beyond the established cordon and became vulnerable to attacks by Comanches who were attempting to defend their traditional range. In an attempt to protect both settlers and Indians, two reservations were established in Texas in A 23,acre reservation on the Clear Fork of the Brazos, in what is now Throckmorton County, became home to some Penateka Comanches whose band had been weakened by warfare with Texans, epidemic diseases, and depletion of the buffalo herds.

Other Comanche bands, farther removed from White settlement, still freely roamed the plains. The establishment of reservations did not stop Indian raids, however. Frontier Texans, who coveted the Indians' land, blamed the reservation Indians for the continued depredations and demanded the removal of the reservations. In , in response to complaints, the reservation Comanches were moved to Indian Territory, where they were given a tract of land near Anadarko and assigned to the Wichita Agency.

However, since the reservation Indians had not been the perpetrators of the raids, removal of the reservations did little to solve the Texas Indian problem. Raids increased as the Civil War left the frontier virtually unprotected, and the country west of a line from Gainesville to Fredericksburg was abandoned by settlers.

When the war ended, the federal government reestablished frontier defenses and resumed its treaty-making with the Plains tribes. The treaties were designed to open the region to White travelers and settlers by locating the nomadic tribesmen on reservations. The treaty did not greatly improve conditions in Texas, however, because the Comanches would not stay on the lands allotted them and continued to conduct destructive raids in Texas.

The Comanches, who saw their way of life rapidly vanishing, turned to a young Quahadi medicine man for leadership. Isa-tai later known as White Eagle called his people together for a Sun Dance in the spring of and promised victory over the Whites. Inspired by the visionary leader, agitated warriors attacked buffalo hunters at Adobe Walls in Hutchinson County.

The unsuccessful attack not only destroyed the Indians' faith in Isatai, but it also brought retribution from the United States government. In the army began a relentless campaign that became known as the Red River War. A concerted five-pronged attack was launched in the Panhandle for the purpose of driving all Indians to the reservation. Forces under the command of Col.

Ranald S. Mackenzie surprised a Comanche camp in Palo Duro Canyon and destroyed their horse herd. Very few Indians were killed in the engagements, but their mounts and supplies were so depleted that they could not survive the winter on the plains and were forced to enter the reservation. Once estimated to number in the thousands, the Comanche population, according to an reservation census, had been reduced to 1, Reservation life necessitated a complete restructuring of Comanche society as the government attempted to transform the hunters and warriors into farmers and stockmen.

Sometimes they were enemies. Still, along with the Shoshones, they shared a linguistic history. Comanche oral histories from the 19th and early 20th centuries tell of various reasons for their split with the Shoshones. Some say specific events created animosity between the two groups; others simply relate that splinter groups headed southeast in search of horses and better bison hunting.

Newton suggests two potential routes for the Comanche migration: A pathway through the Western Slope he called the mountain hunter-gatherer route. Each may have been used at different times by small bands. When that occurred, several bands of Ute Indians in southern Colorado and northern New Mexico were poised to obtain horses and likely helped the Comanches acquire equines.

Additionally, although other tribes occupied parts of what would become Comancheria — the vast territory later dominated by Comanches — many of these people were devastated by smallpox and other European diseases that struck in the 17th century. There they have found early Apache, Ute and Comanche rock art. The Comanche art, which is scratched rather than pecked and is barely visible, had been largely overlooked until recently.

For the Utes, Comanches and many other Natives, small bands built around family ties were the most important group connections.

So, while there were bands of Comanches staying in Rio Grande Gorge early in the 18th century, others were likely moving farther eastward onto the Southern Plains. Some were documented in Texas by the s. In , when Spanish friars Dominguez and Escalante traveled north from Santa Fe, they were warned by Ute Indians they met near Grand Mesa of possible attacks from Comanches if they ventured north of the Colorado River.

No such attacks occurred. The rock art at Vista Verde shows Comanches on horses covered in leather armor — something the Comanches only used very early in the 18th century. The armor was discontinued once guns were introduced into the region and bullets could pierce the armor. No guns are depicted in the Comanche rock art at Vista Verde.