Everything Will Be Changed:

The Horse and the Comanche Empire

Stephen Kwas

Senior Division

Historical Paper

Word Count: 2474

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“Remember this: if you have horses everything will be changed for you forever.”1

- Attributed to Maheo, Creator God of the Cheyenne

Bones of over 1,000 horses lay bleaching under a hot Texas sun, months-old remnants

from the last stand of one of the greatest equestrian powers in history: the Comanche. Spanish

horses allowed for the Comanche and other tribes of the Great Plains, who had lacked horses for

over 15,000 years, to transform their societies. Upon its arrival, the Comanche immediately

capitalized on the horse and used it to break the barrier of human physiology—the limits of

human endurance which significantly restricted hunting, raiding, and trading—and created a vast

trade empire. Many have romanticized this history by arguing that the horse was beneficial to all

Comanches.2 This paper, however, argues that the horse brought wealth and power to some

Comanches, but also brought slave markets, marginalization of women, constant warfare, and

social stratification to their society. The tragic irony was that the horse, the very technology that

allowed them to conquer their environment, eventually destroyed the ecological balance of the

Plains and made them vulnerable to American invasions.

Pedestrianism: Life before the Horse

Before European contact, Plains Indians relied on farming as much as hunting and often

oscillated between the two.3 Although the bison served as their main source of food, Plains

1 Alice Marriott and Carol K. Rachlin, Plains Indian Mythology (New York, NY: Meridian, 1975), 96. 2 For a classic example of this romantic interpretation, see: Clark Wissler, “The Influence of the Horse in the

Development of Plains Culture,” American Anthropologist, n.s., 16, no. 1 (January/March 1914): 1-25. 3 Elliott West, telephone interview by the author, Stoughton, WI, February 3, 2020; John D. Speth, “Some

Unexplored Aspects of Mutualistic Plains-Pueblo Food Exchange,” In Farmers, Hunters, and Colonists: Interaction

between the Southwest and the Southern Plains, ed. Katherine A. Spielmann (Tucson: The University of Arizona

Press, 1991), 31-33; Katherine A. Spielmann, Interdependence in the Prehistoric Southwest: An Ecological Analysis

of Plains-Pueblo Interaction (New York: Garland Publishing, 1991), 240. For the use of domesticated dogs by early

Comanches, see: Thomas W. Kavanagh, The Comanches: A History, 1706-1875 (Lincoln, NE: University of

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tribes frequently built their settlements near rivers to provide the best conditions for crops to

grow; far from the prairies where bison foraged.4 Hunting bison was dangerous and required

Indians to run next to the animal, and they were often trampled by the herds.5 Hunts also

required a great deal of planning, needed many hunters, and regularly failed.6 When they

succeeded, however, one hunt could supply a Plains community for months. Because of the

communal nature of these hunts—hundreds of Indians would participate in a single hunt—the

supplies were distributed more or less equally among the participants.7

Plains Indians used dogs to transport bison products, which weighed thousands of

pounds, back to their settlements.8 Dogs, however, were inefficient in transportation and limited

a tribe’s hunting, raiding, and trading capabilities. They could only carry up to fifty pounds of

tradeable material, and could not travel more than six miles a day. They were also carnivores,

meaning that they required the same food as their owners during times of famine.9

Nebraska Press, 1996), 67; Retta Murphy, "The Journal of Pedro De Rivera, 1724-1728," The Southwestern

Historical Quarterly 41, no. 2 (October 1937): 133, accessed April 6, 2020, https://digital.library.txstate.edu/bitstre-

am/handle/10877/3848/fulltext.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. 4 Elliot West, The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado (Lawrence, KS:

University Press of Kansas, 1998), 38, 40. 5 George C. Frison, Prehistoric Hunters of the High Plains, ed. James Bennett Griffin (San Diego, CA:

Academic Press, 1991), 211-234; West, The Contested Plains, 34-35, 39: West gives examples of early Plains

hunting methods such as the Bison Stomp—a hunting method where Indians would chase bison a considerable distance until they reached a cliff, where the bison would fall to their deaths; for other hunting methods such as

bowhunting, see: Gerald Betty, Comanche Society: Before the Reservation (College Stadium, TX: Texas A&M

University Press, 2002), 82. 6 Eleanor Verbicky-Todd, Communal Buffalo Hunting among the Plains Indians: An Ethnographic and

Historical Review, ed. David Burley (Alberta: Alberta Culture Historical Resources Division, 1984), 7 Thomas W. Kavanagh, telephone interview by the author, Stoughton, WI, March 13, 2020; Thomas W.

Kavanagh, "Political Power and Political Organization: Comanche Politics, 1786-1875" (PhD diss., The University

of New Mexico, 1986), 27-28, accessed March 17, 2020, 154, https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi-

?article=1157&context=anth_etds; Kavanagh, The Comanches, 57-58; for an excellent illustration of the communal

nature and success of pedestrian hunts, see: Joe Ben Wheat, "A Paleo-Indian Bison Kill," Scientific American 216,

no. 1 (January 1967): 44-53, https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/24931373.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A25d551b2b918-

11a888263dac103bacd8; and Verbicky-Todd, Communal Buffalo Hunting, 121. 8 Betty, Comanche Society, 90-91; see also: West, The Contested Plains, 34-35. West explains that Spanish

conquistadors described Plains Indians as bands of hunters who traveled using dogs. 9 John Canfield Ewers, The Horse in Blackfoot Indian Culture: with Comparative Material from Other

Western Tribes (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1955), 307; Pedro de Rivera, Diario y Derrotero de

lo Caminado, Visto y Observado en la Visita Que Hizo a los Presidios de la Nueva España Septentrional el

Brigadier Pedro de Rivera (n.p., 1945), 78-70; Pedro Castañeda, The Coronado Expedition, 1540-

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Three Equestrian Worlds Collide: The Horse and the Jumano, Apache, and Comanche

The first horses arrived in the Great Plains in 1600, traveling with Spanish conquistadors

to New Mexico.10 The colonists kept horses far from Indians because, in 1568, King Philip II

signed into law that, “Indians may not ride horseback…without exception.”11 The Spaniards

recognized that Indian equestrianism would challenge their colonial occupation of the Plains and

tried to minimize Indian knowledge of the horse with this law.12

Ironically, the Spanish taught Plains Indians how to use horses. Many Spanish settlers

forced enslaved Indians to tend to Spanish horses, teaching the Indians how to use a horse.13

Recognizing that horses could bring them freedom, enslaved Indians escaped on horseback to

nearby tribes, bringing with them their knowledge of horsemanship.14 Because of this

1542 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1896), 527; Frank C. Lockwood, The Apache

Indians (New York, NY: Macmillan, 1938; Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1987), 9; West, The

Contested Plains, 42, 51-52; Kavanagh, The Comanches, 67. 10 Wissler, “The Influence of the Horse,” 1; Pekka Hämäläinen, "The Rise and Fall of Plains Indian Horse

Culture," The Journal of American History 90, no. 3 (December 2003): 835; West, The Contested Plains, 34-35;

West, The Contested Plains, 49; see: Elliott West, “The Impact of Horse Culture,” History Now, no. 28 (Summer

2011): accessed November 14, 2019, https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-now/journals/2011-06/american-

indians. West explains that the horse’s early ancestor, the hyracotherium, lived in the Great Plains 30 million years

ago. These proto-horses then migrated to Europe during the Ice Age, evolving into modern horses while their cousins in America died out. In this way, the horse’s arrival in America was a sort of homecoming for the horse. In

another sense, they left America wild and free and returned subdued and with humans. 11 Francis Haines, "The Northward Spread of Horses among the Plains Indians," American Anthropologist,

n.s., 40, no. 3 (July/September 1938): 429-430, accessed October 14, 2019,

https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/aa.1938.40.3.02a00060. For the law banning Indians

from owning horses, see: S. Lyman Tyler, ed., The Indian Cause in the Spanish Laws of the Indies, research report

no. 16, Western Civilization and Native Peoples (Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah, 1980), 86. 12 Jake Page, Uprising: The Pueblo Indians and the First American War for Religious Freedom (Tucson, AZ:

Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2013), 165; West, “The Impact of Horse Culture.” For an example of the Spanish trying to

keep knowledge of the horse from Plains Indians, see: Don Thomas Velez Cachupin to Don Francisco Marin del

Valle, "Copy of the Instruction Which Don Thomas Velez Cachupin, Governor and Captain General of New

Mexico, Left to His Successor, Don Francisco Marin del Valle, at the Order of His Most Excellent Sir, Conde de Revilla Gigedo, Viceroy of this New Spain," 1754, in Coronado Cuarto Centennial Publications, ed. Alfred

Barnaby Thomas and George P. Hammond, trans. Alfred Barnaby Thomas, vol. 11, The Plains Indians and New

Mexico, 1751-1778: A Collection of Documents Illustrative of the History of the Eastern Frontier of New

Mexico (Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1940), text-fiche, 11:133. 13 Betty, Comanche Society, 86. 14 Haines, "The Northward Spread," 429- 431.

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knowledge, horses slowly spread from Santa Fe, the locus of Spanish horse-breeding, to Pueblo

tribes through theft and illegal trade.15

The majority of horses, however, would not arrive into Indian hands until the Pueblo

revolt of 1680, an Indian reaction to Spanish colonialism that drove the Spaniards out of New

Mexico.16 During the revolt, the Pueblo captured thousands of Spanish horses, but did not

incorporate them into their society, and instead traded them to various Plains tribes, such as the

Jumano and Apache.17 Most importantly, Pueblo Indians spread Spain’s equestrian techniques to

Plains tribes with whom they traded.18

Besides trading, Jumanos and Apaches also stole horses from Spanish settlements.19 With

such a great increase in horses, Apaches waged war on the Jumanos to secure better access to

New Mexican trade.20 In the late 16th century, successive epidemics of smallpox shrunk Jumano

populations. Consequently, the production of Plains commodities, which the Jumano trade

network depended upon, decreased. Further, from 1703 to the 1720s, heavy drought struck the

Plains. During this period, bison populations migrated away from much of Jumano territory.21

The final blow to the Jumanos occurred when the Apache drove them from the Colorado valley,

15 For a map of trade routes, see Appendix A. 16 West, The Contested Plains, 49; West, “The Impact of Horse Culture;” Antonio Bonilla, “Bonilla’s Notes

Concerning New Mexico [1776],” in New Spain and the Anglo-American West: Historical Contributions Presented

to Herbert Eugene Bolton, ed. Charles W. Hackett, George P. Hammond, and J. Lloyd Mecham, 2 vols. (Lancaster,

Pa., 1932), 1:191-192. For causes of the revolt, see: Andrew L. Knaut, The Pueblo Revolt of 1680: Conquest and

Resistance in Seventeenth-Century New Mexico (Norman, OK: The University of Oklahoma Press, 1995), 153-155. 17 Haines, “The Northward Spread,” 431; Hämäläinen, "The Rise," 836-837; Wissler, “The Influence of the

Horse,” 2; Gary Clayton Anderson, The Indian Southwest, 1580-1830: Ethnogenesis and Reinvention (Norman, OK:

University of Oklahoma Press, 1999), 33. 18 Kavanagh, telephone interview by the author; Page, Uprising: The Pueblo, 166. 19 Hämäläinen, "The Rise," 836; Haines, “The Northward Spread,” 431; "Apaches," Box 1, Folio 11, W.H.

Jackson Photographs from the United States Geological Survey of the Territories as Described in the Descriptive

Catalogue of Photographs of North American Indians, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI. 20 Hämäläinen, "The Rise," 836. 21 Anderson, The Indian Southwest, 55-60.

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a valley rich with bison.22 With the bison population depleted and their trade empire destroyed,

the Jumanos disappeared as a people.23

Apache ascendency was short-lived because of the emergence of a new great power in

the Southern Plains: the Comanche. Originating from a pedestrian Wyoming tribe called the

Shoshone, the Comanche migrated down the Rocky Mountains, reaching New Mexico in 1706.24

They migrated to escape from disease and warfare, but most importantly to access the New

Mexican horse reserves. Comanches obtained horses rapidly through raids on Indian and Spanish

settlements, and adopted Spanish equestrian techniques.25 The Texas politician David Burnet

described this in 1847, writing that “they are nomadic in their manner of life; their cattle

consisting of horses and mules, which they rob…from…Mexicans.”26 These horses allowed the

Comanche to finally overcome the barrier of physiology, opening up new trading, raiding, and

transportation opportunities.

Unlike other Plains tribes that used the horse to supplement their long-established way of

life, the Comanche built their society around the horse.27 After the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, the

Pueblos traded with Comanches, which, in addition to raiding, gave the Comanche enough

22 Hämäläinen, "The Rise," 836; Anderson, The Indian Southwest, 110. 23 Nancy Parrott Hickerson, The Jumanos: Hunters and Traders of the South Plains (Austin, TX: University

of Texas Press, 1994), 202; Herbert E. Bolton, "The Jumano Indians in Texas, 1650-1771,” The Quarterly of the

Texas State Historical Association 15, no. 1 (1911) 83, www.jstor.org/stable/30243079; Hämäläinen, The Comanche

Empire, 30. Between 1716 and 1771, Jumanos slowly became absorbed by the Apache and some bands were even

known as Apache-Jumanes. 24 Bernard Barcena, e-mail interview by the author, Stoughton, WI, March 21, 2020; Ned

Blackhawk, Violence over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West (Cambridge, MA: Harvard

University Press, 2006), 35; for Comanche origins, see: Ewers, The Horse, 4. 25 Dorman H. Winfrey, ed., The Indian Papers of Texas and the Southwest, 1825-1916 (Austin, TX:

Pemberton Press, 1966), 1:87; Hämäläinen, "The Rise," 836. 26 Winfrey, The Indian Papers, 3:86. 27 Letter by John Sibley, "Historic Sketches of the Several Indian Tribes in Louisiana, South of the Arkansas

River, and between the Mississippi and River Grande," April 5, 1805, in American State Papers: Indian Affairs, ed.

Walter Lowrie and Matthew Clarke (Washington, DC: Gales and Seaton, 1832), 1:723, accessed March 16, 2020,

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.35112103282408&view=1up&seq=13. Sibley wrote that “Every two or

three days [the Comanche] are obliged to move on account of all the grass near them being eaten up, they have such

numbers of horses.”

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horses to be able to exploit the grassland’s most valuable resource—the bison.28 Once the

Comanches obtained the horse, they abandoned pedestrianism and farming for a mounted

lifestyle, which focused on intensive hunting and trading.29 Their new method of hunting, the

running hunt, involved groups of mounted Comanches charging bison herds.30 This method

proved itself to be far better than the pre-horse communal hunts because they could chase herds

farther and kill in much larger quantities.31 Horses could also travel farther and carry loads six

times heavier than dogs could.32

Because they formed their society around the horse, the Comanche established

themselves as the first true Plains horse culture and as hegemons of the Southern Plains.33

Immediately after their arrival to the Southern Plains in 1706, the Comanche began raiding

Apache settlements.34 The two tribes could not co-exist on the Southern Plains because both

needed the river valleys of the New Mexican Plains, which provided water, grass, and shelter

during winter. Thus, a war between the Comanche and Apache was practically inevitable.35

28 Kavanagh, telephone interview by the author; Hämäläinen, "The Rise," 836-837. 29 For an example of the Comanche centering their lives around the horse, see Appendix B. Dan Flores,

interview by the author, Stoughton, WI, March 27, 2020; Preston Holder, The Hoe and the Horse on the Plains: A

Study of Cultural Development among North American Indians (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press,

1970), 78. 30 Kavanagh, The Comanches, 59; Betty, Comanche Society, 93. 31 James Munkres, e-mail interview by the author, Stoughton, WI, March 2020; Martha McCollough, Three

Nations, One Place: A Comparative Ethnohistory of Social Change among the Comanches and Hasinais during

Spain's Colonial Era, 1689-1821 (New York, NY: Routledge, 2004), 14, 74; Kavanagh, "Political Power," 29; Martina Callahan, telephone interview by the author, Stoughton, WI, February 2020. 32 Ewers, The Horse, 308. 33 Kavanagh, telephone interview by the author. Because they were immigrants, the Comanche were

accustomed to adjusting to changing environments. Apaches and other Plains Indian tribes, on the other hand, had

long-established traditions in regard to their way of life. Therefore, the Comanche adapted to the horse by using it to

direct their way of life, but other Plains tribes used the horse to complement their ways of life. In this way, the

Comanche were the first true Plains Indians horse culture. 34 Juan Ulibarri, "The Diary of Juan De Ulibarri to El Cuartelejo, 1706," 1706, in After Coronado: Spanish Exploration Northeast of New Mexico, 1696-1727; Documents from the Archives of Spain, Mexico, and New

Mexico, ed. Alfred Barnaby Thomas, trans. Alfred Barnaby Thomas (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press,

1969), 61; West, The Contested, 64; Kavanagh, The Comanches, 63. 35 Hämäläinen, “The Western Comanche Trade Center,” 488; Elliott West, The Way to the West: Essays on

the Central Plains (Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1995), 50. West argues that during winter,

the harshest season, river valleys provided horses the necessary protection from the elements. For an example of

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When war did occur, the Comanche’s nomadism and mounted attacks—borrowed from the

Spanish—gave them dominance against the semi-sedentary Apache.36 One French observer

noted the Comanche usage of the horse in battle, recording that, “[The Comanche] are always

mounted on caparisoned horses.”37 By trading with the French and British, the Comanche could

also purchase guns, which the Apache could not obtain through their trade with the Spanish.38

Therefore, by the early 1760s, the Comanche were able to drive the Apaches out of New

Mexico.39

The Horse and the Comanche Trade Empire

After their victory against the Apache in the mid-1700s, the Comanche built a

multifaceted trade network, centered in the Arkansas Basin. Horses drove the trade empire

because they allowed Comanche hunters to kill large amounts of bison—amounts not

this, see: Herbert E. Bolton, Coronado: Knight of Pueblos and Plains (Albuquerque, NM: The University of New

Mexico Press, 1990), 267-268. See also: Pekka Hämäläinen, “The Western Comanche Trade Center: Rethinking the Plains Indian Trade System," The Western Historical Quarterly 29, no. 4 (1998): 492-494, accessed February 2,

2020. doi:10.2307/970405. Hämäläinen provides the analysis that Comanche-Apache hostilities were fueled by the

need of New Mexico, which provided a central location for trading to groups such as the Pueblo Indians. 36 Munkres, e-mail interview by the author; Kavanagh, telephone interview by the author; Hämäläinen, “The

Rise,” 837. See also Appendix C for evidence of the Comanche borrowing techniques of the Spanish and mixing it

with their own battle tactics. 37 Jacques-Pierre Jonquière to the French Minister, "1751: Reports from the Southwestern Posts," September

25, 1751, in Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, ed. Reuben Gold Thwaites (Madison, WI:

Democrat Printing Company, 1908), 18:88, accessed March 18, 2020,

http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/collection/whc/id/14910. 38 Kavanagh, The Comanches, 75; Hämäläinen, “The Western Comanche Trade Center,” 489. Spain

prohibited its colony of New Mexico from trading guns to Indians. For Comanche trade with the British, see: Pedro Fermin Mendinueta, "Copy of the Letter of the Governor of New Mexico," 1768, in The Plains Indians and New

Mexico, 1751-1778, ed. George P. Hammond, comp. Alfred Barnaby Thomas (Albuquerque, NM: The University of

New Mexico Press, 1940), text-fiche, 161-162. For Comanche trade with the French, see: Martha A. Works,

"Creating Trading Places on the New Mexican Frontier," Geographical Review 82, no. 3 (1992): 273, accessed

February 4, 2020, https://doi.org/10.2307/215351. 39 Hämäläinen, “The Rise,” 837.

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conceivable under a pedestrian lifestyle.40 Comanche women processed bison hides into robes

which, along with stolen horses, Spanish and French traders valued.41

As their trade empire grew, the Comanche utilized middlemen to expand their trade.42

The first of such intermediaries were the Wichita, a confederation of tribes living along the

Lower Arkansas River. Wichitas allowed the Comanche to trade horses to the French, who gave

them guns in return.43 Because of the Comanche, the Arkansas Basin soon became the primary

location for the distribution of horses to the central and northern Plains.44 Their trade network

reached Spanish, French, and British colonists, even reaching the Sauk, a Wisconsin Indian

tribe.45 Most importantly, Comanche trade brought them European goods, such as guns, which

increased the Comanche’s military power.46

The Comanche quickly exerted this power over the Spanish through raids. In 1767, the

better-armed Comanches constantly raided New Mexican settlements and stole their horses.47

40 Gerald Betty, e-mail interview by the author, Stoughton, WI, April 17, 2020. 41 Kavanagh, telephone interview by the author.; McCollough, Three Nations, 45; Hämäläinen, “The Rise,”

839. 42 Hämäläinen, The Comanche Empire, 72, McCollough, Three Nations, 3-4. 43 Callahan, telephone interview by the author; Foster Todd Smith, The Wichita Indians: Traders of Texas and the Southern Plains, 1540-1845 (College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2000), 28, 44; Willard H.

Rollings, The Osage: An Ethnohistorical Study of Hegemony on the Prairie-Plains (Columbia, MO: University of

Missouri Press, 1995), 145; Elizabeth A. H. John, Storms Brewed in Other Men's Worlds: The Confrontation of

Indians, Spanish, and French in the Southwest, 1540-1795 (College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press,

1975), 305-306; Kavanagh, The Comanches, 70; Pekka Hämäläinen, “The Western Comanche Trade Center:

Rethinking the Plains Indian Trade System," The Western Historical Quarterly 29, no. 4 (1998): 492-494, accessed

February 2, 2020. doi:10.2307/970405. For Pawnee and Comanche trade relations, see: Thomas Velez Cachupin,

“Declaration of Luis Fuesi, Frenchman,” in Coronado Cuarto Centennial Publications, ed. George P. Hammond,

trans. Alfred Barnaby Thomas, vol. 11, The Plains Indians and New Mexico, 1751-1778 (Albuquerque, NM:

University of New Mexico Press, 1940), text-fiche, 11:107. 44 Hämäläinen, The Comanche Empire, 72. 45 Hämäläinen, “The Western Comanche Trade Center,” 489-495. For Comanche trade reaching the Sauk, see: Peter Pond, "Journal of Peter Pond," in Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, ed. Reuben

Gold Thwaites (Madison, WI: The Wisconsin Historical Society, 1908), 18:355. Peter Pond was a fur trader. He

reported that “Sometimes thay [sic] Go Near St. Fee [Santa Fe] in New Mexico and Bring with the Spanish Horseis

[sic].” 46 Kavanagh, "Political Power," 60; McCollough, Three Nations, 2; West, "American Indians.” 47 McCollough, Three Nations, 3.

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Comanche raids caused Spanish settlers to rely on such things as old shoes for food.48 Because of

raids, they possessed so many guns that they even began to trade firearms to Spaniards, replacing

Spain as the major political, economic, and military power in the Southwest.49 This decline was

marked by the transfer of horses from Spanish colonies to Comanche tribes. Comanche horse

raids were so commonplace that in 1775 the Spanish colony of New Mexico petitioned Spain for

more horses because they did not have enough to defend themselves from Comanche attacks.50

By 1786, the Comanche owned around two times more horses than the Spanish.51

Stratification, Marginalization, Slavery, and Warfare in Post-Horse Comanche Society

The horse transformed the Comanche economy, but such wealth and the power stratified

Comanche society. Before the horse, proto-Comanches, and most other Plains tribes, lived in a

fundamentally egalitarian society.52 These societies did not have private property, expected

everyone to labor—regardless of their rank—and redistributed essential goods to its members.53

The horse, however, allowed Comanche raiders and military leaders to accumulate property,

48 Hämäläinen, The Comanche Empire, 76-80. 49 Hämäläinen, The Comanche Empire, 73. For what Comanche trading looked like, see: Thomas

James, Three Years among the Indians and Mexicans (New York, NY: Garland Publishing, 1978), 54-56. 50 Francisco Xavier Ortiz to Juan Bautista de Anza, May 20, 1786, in Forgotten Frontiers: A Study of the

Spanish Indian Policy, ed. Alfred Barnaby Thomas, trans. Alfred Barnaby Thomas (Norman, OK: University of

Oklahoma Press, 1932), 323; see also: Ewers, The Horse in Blackfoot, 24; Pedro Fermin de Mendinueta to Antonio

Maria de Bucareli y Ursusa, August 19, 1775, in Coronado Cuarto Centennial Publications, ed. George P.

Hammond, trans. Alfred Barnaby Thomas, vol. 11, The Plains Indians and New Mexico, 1751-1778 (Albuquerque,

NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1940), text-fiche, 11:174-175. See also: Marriott, Plains Indian Mythology,

96. Comanche raids were so widespread that they made their way into the legends of other tribes, such as the

Cheyenne. In one such Cheyenne story, the Comanche explained how they amassed their horses, stating, “We just

go and take them.” 51 John O. Baxter, Las Carneradas: Sheep Trade in New Mexico 1700-1860 (Albuquerque, NM: University of

New Mexico Press, 1987), 42. Baxter cites a 1757 Spanish census, which numbered the horses of Plains Indians to

be two times more than those of the Spanish. 52 Kavanagh, The Comanches, 28. 53 Eric R. Wolf, Europe and the People without History, illus. Noel L. Diaz (Berkeley, CA: University of

California Press, 2010), 180-181.

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resulting in the private ownership of the means of production.54 Because they viewed horses as

private property, Comanches experienced social stratification, which was based on horse

ownership. Wealthier Comanches owned forty or more horses and could even be acquitted of

murder by gifting horses.55 Police also protected wealthier Comanches’ access to trade.56 Poorer

Comanches, on the other hand, owned zero to five horses and relied on the wealthy to lend them

horses for hunting. Moreover, their poverty excluded them from the social activities of the

tribe.57 In this way, the horse benefited the wealthy, but marginalized the impoverished.

Women experienced similar marginalization as a result of the horse. After the horse’s

introduction, the gifting of a horse between the families of a couple became necessary for

marriage.58 Polygamous relationships were commonplace for middle- or upper-class Comanches,

who could spare more horses.59 Trade incentivized polygamy because wives could prepare

buffalo robes in large volumes.60 Although men skinned bison in the field, a Comanche named

Niyah explained, “After their arrival back in camp, it was all was turned over to the women.”61

John Sibley, an Indian agent for New Orleans furthered that, “The women…appear to be

constantly and laboriously employ’d in dressing buffalo skins…attending & guarding their

54 Shepard Krech, III, The Ecological Indian: Myth and History (New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company,

1999), 136. 55 Ewers, The Horse in Blackfoot, 240-242. 56 Kavanagh, "Political Power," 29. Police made sure that, during running hunts, no one individual had a head

start. Kavanagh argues that this policing seemed to make hunts fair, and give everyone an equal chance, the police

made it so that the richest Comanches, who had the best horses, would profit the most from the hunt. 57 Ewers, The Horse in Blackfoot, 243-244. 58 E. Adamson Hoebel et al., Comanche Ethnography: Field Notes of E. Adamson Hoebel, Waldo R. Wedel,

Gustav G. Carlson, and Robert H. Lowie, comp. Thomas W. Kavanagh (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2008), 395. 59 Ewers, The Horse in Blackfoot, 249-250; Hämäläinen, The Comanche Empire, 261; Anthony Glass,

Journal of an Indian Trader: Anthony Glass and the Texas Trading Frontier, 1790-1810, ed. Dan L. Flores (College

Station: Texas A & M University Press, 1985), 55. 60 Wolf, Europe and the People, 181; Hämäläinen, The Comanche Empire, 261. 61 Hoebel, Comanche Ethnography, 84.

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horses…making their riding & pack saddles &c.”62 While wives were responsible for domestic

tasks before the horse, the horse introduced the tasks of tending horses and processing bison

hides, making women work far harder than before the horse.63

These new tasks demanded more labor than wives alone could provide. Thus, the

Comanche turned to raiding villages to enslave Indians that they would sell or use for manual

labor, such as fetching water, tending horses, preparing bison hides, or finding firewood.64

George Bent, an Indian trader, quantified the scope of this slave trade, writing that “Among

the…Comanches nearly every family had one or two Mexican captives.”65 To preserve their

slave economy, Comanches used horses to raid deep into Mexico and take captives.66 Bringing

back hundreds of Mexicans in the 1820s, the Comanche emerged as large-scale slave owners.67

The power of the Comanche’s trade empire manifested itself in the form of constant

warfare and raiding.68 Indian wars over territory quickly took their toll. In most tribes, women

outnumbered men, many of whom died during these wars.69 Comanches even increased raiding

62 Annie Heloise Abel and John Sibley, A Report from Natchitoches in 1807 (New York, NY: Museum of the

American Indian, Heye Foundation, 1922), 79. For a similar report, see: Randolf B. Marcy and George B.

McClellan, Adventure in Red River: Report on the Exploration of the Headwaters of the Red River by Captain

Randolph Marcy and Captain McClellan, ed. Grant Foreman (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma, 1937), 157. 63 Callahan, telephone interview by the author; Hämäläinen, The Comanche Empire, 244; see also: Hämäläinen, “The Rise,” 841-842. Hämäläinen argues that winters were particularly onerous for women, who were

responsible for foraging for resources. 64 Hugh D. Corwin, Comanches and Kiowa Captives in Oklahoma and Texas (Guthrie, OK: Cooperative

Publishing Company, 1959), 7; Hämäläinen, The Comanche Empire, 75-76. See also: Lynn Robinson Bailey, Indian

Slave Trade in the Southwest (Los Angeles, CA: Westernlore Press, 1966), 25. Bailey argues that the Spanish

fabricated the Plains Indian slave trade to weaken Plains tribes and make money while doing it. Further, the Spanish

reasoned that the slave trade would pit tribes against each other so that they would not pose a threat to the Spanish

colonies. For the slave market, see: Morris W. Foster, Being Comanche: A Social History of an American Indian

Community (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 1991), 40-41. 65 George Bent and George E. Hyde, Life of George Bent Written from His Letters, ed. Savoie Lottinville

(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010), 69. 66 Corwin, Comanches and Kiowa, 11; Matthew Liebmann, Revolt: An Archaeological History of Pueblo Resistance and Revitalization in 17th Century New Mexico (Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2012), 42.

Liebmann makes the argument that horses turned raiding into a much more profitable venture. Before the horse,

warriors could only take as much as they could carry from a raid, but the horse allowed raids to be more destructive. 67 Hämäläinen, "The Rise," 842-843. 68 West, Contested Plains, 77. 69 West, telephone interview by the author; West, "American Indians.”

12

on Mexican settlements to “keep up the numbers of the [Comanche] tribe.”70 For example, Niyah

recalled that “Comanches captured Mexicans, keeping the women as wives.”71

The Elimination of the Bison and the Decline of the Comanche

Ironically, equestrianism, which enabled their rise to power, caused the Comanche’s

fall.72 To maintain their trade, Comanches overhunted bison, slowly depleting its numbers.73 In

1840, the Comanches and three other Southern Plains tribes—the Kiowas, Cheyenne, and

Arapahos—negotiated peace and agreed upon a shared occupancy of the Arkansas Basin,

previously a contested territory where hunters rarely went and bison flourished.74 After the

peace, Indians flocked into the Basin to hunt.75 Bison numbers rapidly fell because of

overhunting, driven by the Comanche trade economy, and because horses competed with bison

for grass and river valleys. River valleys were necessary for bison populations because they

70 Indian Affairs, S. Rep. No. 33, 1st Sess. (Nov. 1, 1853). 71 Hoebel, Comanche Ethnography, 124. 72 William Temple Hornaday, The Extermination of the American Bison, with a Sketch of Its Discovery and

Life History (Washington, DC: Washington Government Printing Office, 1889), 506. 73 Rupart Norval Richardson, The Comanche Barrier to South Plains Settlement: A Century and a Half of

Savage Resistance to the Advancing White Frontier (Glendale, CA: Arthur H. Clark Company, 1933), 172; Dan

Flores, "Bison Ecology and Bison Diplomacy: The Southern Plains from 1800 to 1850," The Journal of American History 78, no. 2 (September 1991): 471-481, http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/legal/esacitations/floresbisone-

cology.pdf; Jacob Fowler, The Journal of Jacob Fowler Narrating an Adventure from Arkansas through the Indian

Territory, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico, to the Sources of Rio Grande Del Norte, 1821-22, ed.

Elliott Coues (New York, NY: Francis P. Harper, 1898), 59-62. For bison depletion, see: Letter written at Fort

Gibson, August 1, 1833, letter to the editor, American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine, October 1833,

71, PDF. The author of the letter wrote in 1833 that, “[The bison] have receded, it would seem, one hundred miles

westward in the last ten years; and it may be safely assumed, that thirty or forty years hence, they will not be found

nearer to us than the spurs of the Rocky Mountains.” He attributed the decline to overhunting by Comanches and

other tribes. 74 Hämäläinen, "The Rise,” 840. For analysis of the Arkansas Basin, see: Pekka Hämäläinen, "The First Phase

of Destruction Killing the Southern Plains Buffalo, 1790-1840," Great Plains Quarterly 21, no. 2 (Spring

2001): 106, accessed February 4, 2020, https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3227&context=greatplainsquarterly; and Flores, "Bison

Ecology," 476. 75 Hämäläinen, The Comanche Empire, 295-296; see also: George Frederick Augustus Ruxton, Adventures in

Mexico and the Rocky Mountains, (London, United Kingdom: John Murray, 1849), 266. Ruxton writes that, “It is a

singular fact that within the last two years the prairies, extending from the mountains to a hundred miles or more

down the Arkansa [sic], have been entirely abandoned by the buffalo.”

13

provided the animal food, water, and shelter from harsh conditions during winter.76 This strain

made it difficult for bison to rebound after disease decreased their population.77 Diminishing

bison numbers were detrimental for the Comanche because it led to mass-starvation and crippled

their trade economy, which they tried to sustain by herding cattle.78

Although the Comanche’s rise to power occurred over 150 years, their fall from power

took only 10 years. In the mid-1800s, buffalo robes became increasingly popular due to the

collapse of the otter fur trade.79 As a result, many American hunters flocked to the Southern

Plains to hunt bison. Early traders decided to sell buffalo robes in high quantity and low prices,

requiring hunters to kill more bison.80 Because of this requirement, American hunters killed

bison only for their hides, leaving the corpses to decay.81 They flocked to Comanche hunting

76 Betty, e-mail interview by the author; McCollough, Three Nations, 100; Flores, interview by the author; Richardson, The Comanche, 174; Hämäläinen, “The First Phase,” 104. For overhunting, see: C. C. Rister, "The

Significance of the Destruction of the Buffalo in the Southwest," The Southwestern Historical Quarterly 33, no. 1

(July 1929): 41, https://www.jstor.org/stable/30237207. For an example of the horse’s competition with the bison,

see: Hyde, Life of George Bent, 37. For falling bison numbers, see: George Frederick Ruxton, Adventures in Mexico

and the Rocky Mountains (London, England: J. Murray, 1861), 223-224. Ruxton wrote that, “The buffalo have

within a few years deserted the neighbouring [sic] valleys, particularly in one called Bayou Salado, which abounds

in every species of game.” 77 Flores, "Bison Ecology," 481; Flores, interview by the author; Hämäläinen, “The First Phase,” 101, 107-

108. 78 Charles L. Kenner, A History of New Mexican-Plains Indian Relations (Norman, OK: University of

Oklahoma Press, 1969), 166-167; Hämäläinen, "The Rise," 844-845; Flores, "Bison Ecology," 484-485; William V. Ervin, and Clint Padgitt, Clint Padgitt, Texas, Manuscript/Mixed Material, 1,

https://www.loc.gov/item/wpalh002336/; Richardson, The Comanche, 196; Hämäläinen, "The Rise," 844-845. The

shift from bison to cattle demonstrates the sheer adaptiveness of the Comanches. The Comanches completely shifted

their economy from bison to cattle-ranching because of shrinking bison population. While they still did rely on the

bison, the use of cattle ranching to supplement bison hunting is unique to them. For other ways that the Comanche

diet changed because of bison shortages, see: Robert Carter, On the Border with Mackenzie; or, Winning the West

from the Comanches (New York, NY: Antiquarian Press, 1961), 279; Robert S. Neighbors to H. R. Schoolcraft,

"The Na-u-ni, or Comanches of Texas; Their Traits and Beliefs, and Their Divisions and Intertribal Relations," n.d.,

in The Indian Papers of Texas and the Southwest, ed. Dorman H. Winfrey and James M. Day (Austin, TX: Texas

State Historical Association, 1995), 3:356. 79 Flores, interview by the author. 80 Fanny Kelly, Narrative of My Captivity among the Sioux Indians (Philadelphia, PA: Mutual Publishing Company, 1872), 185; Andrew C. Isenberg, The Destruction of the Bison (Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press,

2000), 105. 81 Krech, The Ecological, 126-127; Josiah Gregg, "Commerce of the Prairies," 1845, in Early Western

Travels, 1748-1848, by Reuben Gold Twaites (Chicago, IL: The Lakeside Press, 1905), 20:264, accessed March 20,

2020, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015070243624&view=1up&seq=10. Gregg wrote that, “The

continual and wonton slaughter of [bison] by travelers [sic] and hunters…not only for meat, but often for the skins

14

grounds, which the U.S. Army was instructed to protect from intruders, but did not protect from

American hunters, who, between the years 1872 and 1874 killed more than 4,373,730 bison.82

The Army had made the connection that by killing bison, they also killed Comanches because of

their reliance on the animal—Comanche trade would collapse without bison.83 By the autumn of

1874, American hunters had eliminated all of the bison from Comanche territory.84 In a last-ditch

attempt to protect themselves from the U.S., the Comanches engaged in the Red River War.85 On

September 28, 1874, the Comanche suffered their final defeat at Palo Duro Canyon, where the

Army captured and killed 1,000 Comanche horses.86 Without horses or bison, Comanches could

not survive on the Plains and by the summer of 1875, the last Comanches moved to the Fort Sill

Indian Reservation.87

Although horses enabled Comanches to overcome the barrier of human physiology and

made them hegemons of the Southern Plains, the transition to equestrianism can be seen as a

cautionary tale. Perhaps the sight of the bleached bones recalled Maheo’s warning: “Remember

and tongues alone…are fast reducing their numbers, and must ultimately effect [sic] their total annihilation from the

continent.” 82 James L. Haley, The Buffalo War: The History of the Red River Indian Uprising of 1874 (Garden City, NY:

Doubleday & Company, 1976), 24-25; Richard Irving Dodge, The Plains of the Great West and Their

Inhabitants (New York, NY: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1877), 142; Flores, interview by the author. 83 David D. Smits, "The Frontier Army and the Destruction of the Buffalo: 1865-1883," The Western

Historical Quarterly 25, no. 3 (Fall 1994): 318, accessed February 4, 2020,

https://history.msu.edu/hst321/files/2010/07/smits-on-bison.pdf; Callahan, telephone interview by the author. For

the U.S. Army’s positive reception of American hide hunters, see: John R. Cook, The Border and the Buffalo: An

Untold Story of the Southwest Plains (Topeka, KA: Crane & Company, 1907), 113,

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/51448/51448-h/51448-h.htm. General Sheridan, who was in command of the

military department in the Southwest, told Texas lawmakers not to pass a proposed bison conservation bill because

"These men [American hide hunters] have done in the last two years and will do more in the next year, to settle the

vexed Indian question, than the entire regular army has done in the last thirty years…let them kill, skin, and sell until

the buffaloes are exterminated." 84 Nelson Appleton Miles, Personal Recollections and Observations of General Nelson A. Miles Embracing a

Brief View of the Civil War, illus. Frederic Remington (Chicago, IL: Werner Company, 1897), 159. 85 Hämäläinen, "The Rise," 845; Callahan, telephone interview by the author. 86 Carter, On the Border, 494-495; Haley, The Buffalo War, 181-182. 87 Hämäläinen, The Comanche Empire, 340-342; Richardson, The Comanche Barrier, 391; Callahan,

telephone interview by the author. For information on Fort Sill boarding schools, see Clyde Ellis, "Boarding School

Life at the Kiowa-Comanche Agency, 1893-1920," The Historian 58, no. 4 (Summer 1996): 777-793,

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/24451910.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A4491f26f84107e5f5920dbccb6ceee80.

15

this: If you have horses everything will be changed for you forever. You will have to move

around a lot to find pasture for your horses. You will have to give up gardening and live by

hunting and gathering…and live in tents. I will tell your women how to make them…You will

have to have fights with other tribes, who will want your pasture land or the places where you

hunt…Think, before you decide.”88 The horse liberated the Comanche from pedestrianism and

forever changed the Southern Great Plains.

88 Marriott, Plains Indian Mythology, 96-97.

16

Appendix A

West, Elliott. E-mail message to author. February 3, 2020.

Map of Indian Trade Routes

This map shows the trade routes of the Plains Indians. It reveals that all trade routes in the

Southern Plains connect to Santa Fé, where the Spanish had kept their horses and where the

Comanche later established their trade empire. Thus, Santa Fé was a key town in regards to the

history of the horse in the Southern Plains.

17

Appendix B

Drawing Made by a Comanche Indian, illustration. Box 1, Folder 44. W.H. Jackson Photographs…of North

American Indians, 1870-1877. Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, WI.

Drawing made by a Comanche Indian

This drawing depicts a Comanche warrior. On his head are bison horns and a feathered

headdress, both of which are indicative of war honors. Therefore, this warrior must have been

distinguished in war honors. Most importantly, however, this picture illustrates the importance of

the horse in Comanche society. The drawing focuses as much on the Comanche as it does his

horse, demonstrating that Comanches were inseparable from their horses.

18

Appendix C

Páez, José de. The Destruction of the Mission of San Sabá in the Province of Texas. 1765.

Illustration.

The Destruction of the Mission of San Sabá

This painting depicts a Comanche and Wichita raid on a Spanish mission, located on the

San Sabá river in Texas. In 1758, the Comanche and Wichita attacked San Sabá because they

believed it was proof of an alliance between the Spanish and the Apache, the Comanche’s rivals.

This painting depicts Comanches riding armored horses, a method used by the Spaniards in the

region. The Comanche’s use of leather armor demonstrates that they initially developed their

horse culture from Spanish horse culture, which the Pueblo Indians passed on to them.

19

Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources

Abel, Annie Heloise and Sibley, John. A Report from Natchitoches in 1807. New York, NY:

Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation, 1922.

This work is a collection of primary sources from the surgeon Dr. John Sibley. In 1804,

Sibley was instructed to be a surgeon’s mate for American troops located in

Natchitoches, a military post established on the Red River. Later on, he became an Indian

agent for territory south of the Arkansas River. His notes on the different tribes, including

the Comanches, were incredibly useful for me. I used this source to demonstrate that the

horse introduced many new burdens on Comanche women, who were expected to take

care of the horses, tan bison hides, and also perform domestic tasks.

"Apaches." Box 1, Folio 11. W.H. Jackson Photographs from the United States Geological

Survey of the Territories as Described in the Descriptive Catalogue of Photographs of

North American Indians. University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI.

Box 1 folio 11 contains a description of the Shawnee, the Apache, and a photo of a

certain Charles Tucker. I used the description of the Apache to demonstrate their tactic of

raiding to obtain resources.

Bent, George, and George E. Hyde. Life of George Bent Written from His Letters. Edited by

Savoie Lottinville. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010.

George Bent was one of the founders of Bent’s For, a trading post in Colorado. This work

is a collection of the letters he exchanged with George Hyde detailing his encounters with

20

the Cheyenne people and other Plains Indians with whom he traded. I used these letters to

show how Plains Indians treated their captives.

Bonilla, Antonio. “Bonilla’s Notes Concerning New Mexico.” In New Spain and the Anglo-

American West: Historical Contributions Presented to Herbert Eugene Bolton, edited by

Charles W. Hackett, George P. Hammond, and J. Lloyd Mecham, 191–209. 2 vols.

Lancaster, Pa., 1932.

New Spain and the Anglo-American West is a collection of primary sources, specifically

letters detailing the current situation of New Spain. I used it for a Spanish perspective on

the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.

Cachupin, Thomas Velez. “Declaration of Luis Fuesi, Frenchman” In Coronado Cuarto

Centennial Publications, edited by George P. Hammond, 106-8. Translated by Alfred

Barnaby Thomas. Vol. 11 of The Plains Indians and New Mexico, 1751-1778.

Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1940. Text-fiche.

This letter speaks of intelligence, provided by the Frenchman, Luis Fuesi. I used it to

prove that the Comanche and the Pawnees became allies with each other.

Cachupin, Don Thomas Velez. Letter to Don Francisco Marin del Valle, "Copy of the Instruction

Which Don Thomas Velez Cachupin, Governor and Captain General of New Mexico,

Left to His Successor, Don Francisco Marin del Valle, at the Order of His Most Excellent

Sir, Conde de Revilla Gigedo, Viceroy of this New Spain," 1754. In Coronado Cuarto

Centennial Publications, edited by Alfred Barnaby Thomas and George P. Hammond,

129-43. Translated by Alfred Barnaby Thomas. Vol. 11 of The Plains Indians and New

Mexico, 1751-1778: A Collection of Documents Illustrative of the History of the Eastern

Frontier of New Mexico. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1940.

Text-fiche.

Cachupin left this letter to del Valle, who was his successor as governor of New Mexico.

In this letter, he instructed del Valle how to manage New Mexico in a manner that

21

avoided conflict with Plains tribes. I used it to prove that the Spanish tried to prohibit

Indians from obtaining horses.

Carter, Robert. On the Border with Mackenzie; or, Winning the West from the Comanches. New

York, NY: Antiquarian Press, 1961.

Robert Carter fought for the United States during the Indian Wars, including the Red

River War. On the Border with Mackenzie is regarded as one of the most complete

accounts of the Red River Wars by someone who fought in them. I used it in my paper to

show that the Comanche turned to other animals for food once bison populations fell. I

also used his account of the battle of Palo Duro Canyon and the subsequent slaughter of

Comanche horses.

Castañeda, Pedro. The Coronado Expedition, 1540-1542. Washington, DC: U.S. Government

Printing Office, 1896.

The Coronado Expedition is a compilation of documents from participants of Francisco

Vázquez de Coronado’s exploration of the Southern Plains. I used this source to

demonstrate that early Plains Indians used dogs as beasts of burden.

"Comanches." Box 2, Folio 26. W.H. Jackson Photographs from the United States Geological

Survey of the Territories as Described in the Descriptive Catalogue of Photographs of

North American Indians. University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI.

Box 2 folio 26 of the W.H. Jackson Photographs contains a picture of a Cheyenne, a

biography of an Indian—a certain Asa Havie—and a description of the Comanches. I

used it to understand how the Comanche were viewed by other non-Comanches in the

1800s.

Cook, John R. The Border and the Buffalo: An Untold Story of the Southwest Plains. Topeka,

KA: Crane & Company, 1907. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/51448/51448-h/51448-

22

h.htm

In The Border and the Buffalo, Cook recounts the destruction of the bison. He provided

an American perspective, showing that some Americans fought hard to protect the bison,

and some fought hard to eliminate it—they argued that eliminating the bison would

“pacify” Plains Indians—but most simply did not care. I used it to demonstrate that many

in Washington wanted to do nothing about American hide hunters because they were

weakening Plains Indians by killing bison.

Corwin, Hugh D. Comanches and Kiowa Captives in Oklahoma and Texas. Guthrie, OK:

Cooperative Publishing Company, 1959.

This work is a compilation of Comanche and Kiowa captivity narratives. While captivity

narratives often have a great bias against Indians, this particular source provided

thoughtful insights into the life inside a Comanche or Kiowa camp. I used it to

demonstrate what life was like for Comanche captives and that it varied greatly, being

incredibly harsh for some and very comfortable for others. I also used it to explain that

Comanche captives were very important in tanning hides and doing other domestic

activities.

Dodge, Richard Irving. The Plains of the Great West and Their Inhabitants. New York, NY: G.

P. Putnam's Sons, 1877.

Richard Dodge was a colonel in the U.S. Army, in which he served for almost 50 years.

He established multiple forts in the Southwest and, as such, observed the Southern Plains

Indians. This source was particularly useful to me because he calculated the number of

bison killed by American hunters from 1872-1874, which helped me to demonstrate that,

23

although the Comanche slowly depleted bison populations, American hide hunters were

what destroyed the bison in the Southern Plains.

Ervin, William V, and Clint Padgitt. Clint Padgitt. Texas. Manuscript/Mixed Material.

https://www.loc.gov/item/wpalh002336/.

In this document, Padgitt recounts his life during the pioneer years. For example, he

recounted an experience in which he and his family were approached by a band of

Comanche, who asked his children to show them where beef was kept. After they did so,

the boys were safely returned, although Padgitt thought that they were going to be killed.

I used this story to demonstrate that the Comanches turned to other sources of food, such

as cattle, when bison populations started to rapidly fall.

Fowler, Jacob. The Journal of Jacob Fowler Narrating an Adventure from Arkansas through the

Indian Territory, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico, to the Sources of Rio

Grande Del Norte, 1821-22. Edited by Elliott Coues. New York, NY: Francis P. Harper,

1898.

This Journal details Fowler’s journey along the Arkansas River, following the Santa Fe

Trail. Along his journey, he encountered and stayed with Comanche bands. As such, his

work was very helpful for me to learn about the customs of the bands he stayed with. I

used his estimates that each Comanche person used 6.5 bison per year. This evidence was

very important in understanding the strain placed on bison populations later on.

Glass, Anthony. Journal of an Indian Trader: Anthony Glass and the Texas Trading Frontier,

1790-1810. Edited by Dan L. Flores. College Station: Texas A & M University Press,

1985.

Anthony Glass was a white American who traded with the Plains Indians. As such, he

periodically lived with Plains tribes. I used him to primarily show that Plains Indians

24

lived in constant fear of other Indian raiders and took precautions to prevent their horses

from being stolen.

Gregg, Josiah. "Commerce of the Prairies." 1845. In Early Western Travels, 1748-1848, by

Reuben Gold Twaites, 21-336. Vol. 20. Chicago, IL: The Lakeside Press, 1905. Accessed

March 20, 2020. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015070243624&view=1up-

&seq=10.

Early Western Travels brings to light many sources during the mid-1700s to the mid-

1800s. This particular document was very helpful for my understanding of Comanche

trade. I used it in my paper to show that many settlers on the Southern Plains recognized

that if nothing was done about the American hide hunters, then the bison would become

extinct.

Hoebel, E. Adamson, Waldo R. Wedel, Gustav G. Carlson, and Robert H. Lowie. Comanche

Ethnography: Field Notes of E. Adamson Hoebel, Waldo R. Wedel, Gustav G. Carlson,

and Robert H. Lowie. Compiled by Thomas W. Kavanagh. Lincoln, NE: University of

Nebraska Press, 2008.

This work was one of the most important works that I used because it consists of

interviews with Comanches. Further, these interviews were conducted shortly after

reservation life, with many interviewees having a firm memory of pre-reservation life.

Lastly, these interviews were conducted by anthropologists, meaning that there it

contains no colonial biases, unlike primary sources written by colonists. This source was

so important because it allowed me to view Comanche history through the Comanche

lens. I used it to evaluate marriage customs and how the horse affected female

Comanches.

Indian Affairs, S. Rep. No. 33, 1st Sess. (Nov. 1, 1853).

25

This document communicated the current state of the mid 1800s Kiowa, Apache, and

Comanche Indians to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. It was very interesting to see

how these tribes reacted to the ongoing bison crisis at the time. I used it to show that

Comanches would raid Mexican settlements and then integrate the captives into their

society.

James, Thomas. Three Years among the Indians and Mexicans. New York, NY: Garland

Publishing, 1978.

In this work, James detailed his experiences living among the Plains Indians as an

explorer. I used it to illustrate what trading with the Comanche looked like. It was also

very helpful to see the importance of gift-giving for the Comanche.

Jonquière, Jacques-Pierre. Letter to the French Minister, "1751: Reports from the Southwestern

Posts," September 25, 1751. In Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin,

edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites, 85-98. Vol. 18. Madison, WI: Democrat Printing

Company, 1908. Accessed March 18, 2020. http://content.wisconsinhistory.org/cdm/ref/-

collection/whc/id/14910.

This letter is a report from the Frenchmen Jacques-Pierre Jonquière about the condition

of posts on the Southern Plains and important events surrounding those posts. This source

details many attacks made by the Comanches against different rivals, but I used

Jonquière’s description of the Comanche war parties, specifically how they were armed

similar to the Spanish and used their war horses similar to the Spanish too, suggesting

that they adopted some Spanish equestrian techniques

Kelly, Fanny. Narrative of My Captivity among the Sioux Indians. Philadelphia, PA: Mutual

Publishing Company, 1872.

26

Kelly was a frontierswoman who was traveling down the Oregon trail when she was

captured by a group of Sioux. This work documents her life among them. Although it is

at times hyperbolic, it is a still very good primary source. I used it to demonstrate that

traders bought bison hides at incredibly cheap prices and then sold them for much more.

Letter written at Fort Gibson, August 1, 1833. Letter to the editor. American Turf Register and

Sporting Magazine, October 1833, 70-75. PDF.

The American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine was a monthly sporting magazine

that largely dealt with horses and horse racing. This specific letter details the author’s

journey from Fort Gibson to the Pawnee and other Indians. The goal behind the journey

was to maintain a friendly relationship between the U.S. and the Indians that the party

met. I used this source for the author’s descriptions of animals. This source was

incredibly important because it provided evidence that bison were scarce on the Southern

Plains as early as 1833.

Marcy, Randolf B., and George B. McClellan. Adventure in Red River: Report on the

Exploration of the Headwaters of the Red River by Captain Randolph Marcy and Captain

McClellan. Edited by Grant Foreman. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma, 1940.

Adventure in Red River documents the travels of George McClellan and Randolf Marcy.

It was incredibly helpful for background research and I used it in my paper to explain the

role of women in tribes.

Marriott, Alice, and Carol K. Rachlin. Plains Indian Mythology. New York, NY: Meridian,

1975.

Plains Indian Mythology lists many myths of various Plains tribes. I used a Cheyenne

myth that illustrated that the Comanches obtained horses through theft.

27

Mendinueta, Pedro Fermin. "Copy of the Letter of the Governor of New Mexico." 1768. In The

Plains Indians and New Mexico, 1751-1778, edited by George P. Hammond, 159-62.

Compiled by Alfred Barnaby Thomas. Albuquerque, NM: The University of New

Mexico Press, 1940. Text-fiche.

This letter details the Spanish and Comanche skirmishes in 1775. It was very helpful for

me in understanding the often-hostile relationship between the Comanche and the

Spanish, as well as Comanche relations with other nations. I used it to illustrate that the

Comanche purchased guns from the British.

Mendinueta, Pedro Fermin de. Letter to Antonio Maria de Bucareli y Ursusa, August 19, 1775.

In Coronado Cuarto Centennial Publications, edited by George P. Hammond, 173-77.

Translated by Alfred Barnaby Thomas. Vol. 11 of The Plains Indians and New Mexico,

1751-1778. Albuquerque, NM: University of New Mexico Press, 1940. Text-fiche.

Pedro Fermin de Mendinueta was the governor of Spanish New Mexico from 1767 to

1777. This particular letter details the state of the province of New Mexico and is, in

essence, a plea for help. He pleaded that New Mexico was in dire condition and needed

support, or else it would collapse. I used this letter to demonstrate the magnitude of

Comanche raids, which removed almost all of its horses from the Spanish control.

Miles, Nelson Appleton. Personal Recollections and Observations of General Nelson A. Miles

Embracing a Brief View of the Civil War. Illustrated by Frederic Remington. Chicago, IL:

Werner Company, 1897.

Nelson Miles was a field commander during the Red River Wars. This source recollects

his experiences during the Civil War and during the Indian Wars in which he fought. I

used this source to show that American hide hunters killed so many bison that they nearly

drove them to extinction.

Neighbors, Robert S. Letter to H. R. Schoolcraft, "The Na-u-ni, or Comanches of Texas; Their

28

Traits and Beliefs, and Their Divisions and Intertribal Relations," n.d. In The Indian

Papers of Texas and the Southwest, edited by Dorman H. Winfrey and James M. Day,

347-57. Vol. 3. Austin, TX: Texas State Historical Association, 1995.

The Indian Papers is a compilation of many archival documents about Texas and the

Southwest. This letter describes the Comanches, including political and cultural aspects. I

found this work to be very helpful in understanding how the Comanche adapted to the

bison population shrinking. I used it to show that they adapted by eating their horses.

Ortiz, Francisco Xavier. Letter to Juan Bautista de Anza, May 20, 1786. In Forgotten Frontiers:

A Study of the Spanish Indian Policy, edited by Alfred Barnaby Thomas, 321-24.

Translated by Alfred Barnaby Thomas. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press,

1932.

Ortiz wrote this letter to ask for supplies for the colony of New Mexico. I used it for

horse numbers among the Comanche.

Pond, Peter. "Journal of Peter Pond." In Collections of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin,

edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites, 314-54. Vol. 18. Madison, WI: The Wisconsin

Historical Society, 1908.

Peter Pond was a fur trader, an explorer, and a cartographer. I used his journal to prove

the vastness of the Comanche trade empire, with its trade reaching even Wisconsin.

Rivera, Pedro de. Diario y derrotero de lo caminado, visto y observado en la visita que hizo a los

presidios de la Nueva España Septentrional el Brigadier Pedro de Rivera. N.p., 1945.

Pedro de Rivera was a Spanish general who inspected the state of New Spain from 1724

through 1728. He traveled over 8,000 miles during the trip and recorded entries about the

settlements, their inhabitants, and the Indians he encountered along the way. This primary

source was very interesting to read because it revealed a lot about the different tribes at

29

the time. Most interestingly, it revealed that the Comanches used dogs to transport their

camps before the horse.

Ruxton, George Frederick Augustus. Adventures in Mexico and the Rocky Mountains. London,

United Kingdom: John Murray, 1849.

This source is an account of British explorer George Ruxton’s journeys in New Mexico.

Along the way, he described the lack of game in the territory, specifically bison. I used it

to show to what extent the bison population had been eliminated in the Plains.

Sibley, John. Letter, "Historic Sketches of the Several Indian Tribes in Louisiana, South of the

Arkansas River, and between the Mississippi and River Grande," April 5, 1805. In

American State Papers: Indian Affairs, edited by Walter Lowrie and Matthew Clarke,

721-25. Vol. 1. Washington, DC: Gales and Seaton, 1832. Accessed March 16, 2020.

As its name suggests, this letter describes multiple Indian tribes south of the Arkansas

River. It ranges from the Caddo, to the Choctaws, to, of course, the Comanches. His

report on the Comanche was very accurate and provides excellent insight into the life of

Comanches, albeit he does exaggerate on a couple of occasions. I used his description to

show that the Comanches were nomadic, moving camp frequently to follow bison herds

or to find fresh pasture for their horses.

Tyler, S. Lyman, ed. The Indian Cause in the Spanish Laws of the Indies. Research report no. 16.

Western Civilization and Native Peoples. Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah, 1980.

The Indian Cause in the Spanish Laws of the Indies investigates the Spanish Laws of the

Indies—the laws which Spain applied to their colonies in the New World—in the

perspective of how they affected the Native populations. It includes an English

30

translation of all of these laws, which is what I found particularly helpful about this

source. I used it to show that Spanish law prohibited Indians from riding horses.

Ulibarri, Juan. "The Diary of Juan De Ulibarri to El Cuartelejo, 1706." 1706. In After Coronado:

Spanish Exploration Northeast of New Mexico, 1696-1727; Documents from the Archives

of Spain, Mexico, and New Mexico, edited by Alfred Barnaby Thomas, 59-77. Translated

by Alfred Barnaby Thomas. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1969.

After Coronado is a collection of Spanish documents from the late 1600s to the early

1700s. This particular diary details the state of different pueblos and what their

inhabitants were like. I used it to indicate Apache hostilities towards the Comanche,

specifically their attacks on the pueblos at which the Apache stayed.

Winfrey, Dorman H., ed. The Indian Papers of Texas and the Southwest, 1825-1916. Vol. 1.

Austin, TX: Pemberton Press, 1966.

The Indian Papers is a collection of primary sources from the Spanish. I used it to

demonstrate the Apache’s use of raids to accumulate horses.

Secondary Sources

Anderson, Gary Clayton. The Indian Southwest, 1580-1830: Ethnogenesis and Reinvention.

Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999.

The Indian Southwest demonstrates the adaptability of the Plains Indians; even in the face

of Spanish attacks, drought, and famine, they managed to modify their lifestyle to fit the

environment. I used it in my paper to discuss the Apache and Jumano wars, as well as

trade between the Plains and Pueblo Indians.

31

Bailey, Lynn Robinson. Indian Slave Trade in the Southwest. Los Angeles, CA: Westernlore

Press, 1966.

In this work, Bailey examines the causes and implications of the Indian slave trade. I

used it for her analysis that the Spanish fabricated the slave trade so that they might

strengthen their grip on the Plains.

Baxter, John O. Las Carneradas: Sheep Trade in New Mexico 1700-1860. Albuquerque, NM:

University of New Mexico Press, 1987.

Las Carneradas traces the history of the New Mexican sheep trade. I did not use it for his

analysis on the sheep trade, but rather for a 1757 census that reported the horses of the

Plains Indians to be two times more than those of the Spanish.

Betty, Gerald. Comanche Society: Before the Reservation. Elma Dill Russell Spencer Series in

the West and Southwest 23. College Stadium, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2002.

In this book, Betty looks at Comanche culture before its forced relocation. He analyzes

the Comanche’s political, cultural, and economic life through the lens of kinship, which

was incredibly interesting. I used it to examine Comanche life before and after the

introduction of the horse.

Blackhawk, Ned. Violence over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West.

Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006.

In Violence over the Land, Blackhawk explores the effect of colonialism on native tribes,

namely that it forced Indians to use violence as a mechanism to survive. I used it for

background information on where the Comanche originated from.

Bolton, Herbert E. "The Jumano Indians in Texas, 1650-1771." The Quarterly of the Texas State

Historical Association 15, no. 1 (1911): 66-84. www.jstor.org/stable/30243079.

32

In this journal article, Bolton sought to answer the question: what happened to the

Jumanos after the mid-1650s? I used it in my paper to show the Apache’s engulfment of

the Jumanos.

Bolton, Herbert E. Coronado: Knight of Pueblos and Plains. Albuquerque, NM: The University

of New Mexico Press, 1990.

Coronado: Knight of Pueblos and Plains accounts the journey of Francisco Vásquez de

Coronado into Spanish North America. I used it to show that Plains Indians kept their

horses near river valleys during winter.

Ellis, Clyde. "Boarding School Life at the Kiowa-Comanche Agency, 1893-1920." The Historian

58, no. 4 (Summer 1996): 777-93. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/24451910.pdf?refreqi-

d=excelsior%3A4491f26f84107e5f5920dbccb6ceee80.

In this article, Ellis looks at the boarding schools at Fort Sill, the Comanche and Kiowa

reservation. He examines what the purpose of them was, how they functioned, and how

the children responded to them. I used it to show that, once on the reservation, the US-run

boarding schools would try to “purge the savage” from Comanche children. This

included, among other things, forcing them to forget their Comanche culture, such as

their horse culture.

Ewers, John Canfield. The Horse in Blackfoot Indian Culture: with Comparative Material from

Other Western Tribes. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1955.

In this book, Ewers mainly examines the horse’s impact on the Blackfoot Indians, but

also examines its effects on other tribes. I used it for background information on the

Comanche, such as their horse wealth.

33

Flores, Dan. "Bison Ecology and Bison Diplomacy: The Southern Plains from 1800 to 1850."

The Journal of American History 78, no. 2 (September 1991): 465-85.

http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org/legal/esacitations/floresbisonecology.pdf.

This article presents the thesis that bison numbers had already begun declining at a

dangerous rate before the American hide hunters annihilated them in the 1870s. It was

incredibly helpful for me to understand the balancing game between hunting and

preserving the bison. Further, it helped me to understand the two different facets of the

bison’s demise: the slow, gradual decline that it faced from Plains Indians and the

immediate destruction of it by American hide hunters. I used it in my paper to

demonstrate how the horse greatly attributed to the depletion of bison populations. I also

used it to find primary sources and other secondary sources.

Fried, Morton H. The Evolution of Political Society: An Essay in Political Anthropology. New

York, NY: Random House, 1967.

The Evolution of Political Society set forth a schematic for the emergence of a state. He

lists three societies that exist before the society become a state: egalitarian, rank, and

stratified. I found this work to be incredibly useful in understanding how the notion of

private property changes society. I used his analysis on egalitarian and rank societies,

specifically that they redistributed essential goods among its population.

Frison, George C. Prehistoric Hunters of the High Plains. Edited by James Bennett Griffin. San

Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1991.

In Prehistoric Hunters of the High Plains, Frison examines archaeological data of the

Prehistoric Plains. I used it to show what hunting methods the Plains Indians used before

the horse.

34

Haines, Francis. "The Northward Spread of Horses among the Plains Indians." American

Anthropologist, n.s., 40, no. 3 (July/September 38): 429-37. Accessed October 14,

2019. https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/aa.1938.40.3.02a

00060.

Haines explains how horses spread from Southern Plains tribes to Northern tribes. As

such, this work was crucial for my understanding of how the southern tribes initially

obtained horses and then later traded them with other northern tribes.

Haley, James L. The Buffalo War: The History of the Red River Indian Uprising of 1874. Garden

City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1976.

The Buffalo War was the first synthesis of the battles of the Red River war. He provides

excellent analysis of the battles and their leadup. The notable only flaw about this work is

that the method the publisher employed for footnoting—the sources are referenced only

by the page number and a snippet of the reference—makes it difficult to find the sources

that Haley used. Nevertheless, it was incredibly useful for my understanding of the

causes of the Red River War and for understanding how American hunters drove the

Comanche to war as a last-ditch effort at resisting American imperialism.

Hämäläinen, Pekka. The Comanche Empire. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2009.

In The Comanche Empire, Hämäläinen deals with the rise of the greatest Indian empire in

the Southern Plains: the Comanches. I use it to demonstrate how the horse played a key

role in forming this great empire, but also led to its eventual demise.

Hämäläinen, Pekka. "The First Phase of Destruction Killing the Southern Plains Buffalo, 1790-

1840." Great Plains Quarterly 21, no. 2 (Spring 2001): 101-14. Accessed February 4,

2020. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3227&context=greatpl-

ainsquarterly.

35

In this article, Hämäläinen investigates the eradication of the bison. He argued that the

Comanche played a large role in its destruction and allowed American hunters to destroy

an already weening population. He also emphasized the US’ complacency in regards to

hide hunters. I used it to show that the U.S. and American hunters had a large role in the

depletion of the bison population.

Hämäläinen, Pekka. "The Rise and Fall of Plains Indian Horse Culture." The Journal of

American History 90, no. 3 (December 2003): 833-62.

Pekka Hämäläinen, a Finnish professor at the University of Oxford, deals with horses and

their impact on the culture of the Plains Indians in this article. He focuses on the effect of

horses on the culture of the Plains tribes that had them. His thesis is that the effect of the

horses depended on how northern or southern a tribe was. He also later argues that

complete equestrian nomadism was the best way for tribes to use horses.

Hämäläinen, Pekka. "The Western Comanche Trade Center: Rethinking the Plains Indian Trade

System." The Western Historical Quarterly 29, no. 4 (1998): 485-513. Accessed

February 2, 2020. doi:10.2307/970405.

In this article, Hämäläinen argues that the Western Comanches operated a major trade

center on the Arkansas Basin from the 1740s to around 1830. I used it in my paper

numerous times and it provided crucial background to the economic history of the region

Hickerson, Nancy Parrott. The Jumanos: Hunters and Traders of the South Plains. Austin, TX:

University of Texas Press, 1994.

In this book, Hickerson chronicles the rise and fall of the Jumano Indians. I used it in my

paper to show the incorporation of Jumano tribes Apache tribes.

36

Holder, Preston. The Hoe and the Horse on the Plains: A Study of Cultural Development among

North American Indians. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1970.

The Hoe and the Horse examines the effects of the shift from farming to hunting on

Plains Indian culture. I used it to demonstrate that the Comanche abandoned farming in

favor of hunting.

Hornaday, William Temple. The Extermination of the American Bison, with a Sketch of Its

Discovery and Life History. Washington, DC: Washington Government Printing Office,

1889.

The Extermination of the American Bison was the first secondary source detailing the

bison’s near-extinction. Hornaday wrote the work so that he might prevent the

overhunting of other animals in the future. His work is incredibly important because he

used firsthand accounts of hunters, ranchers, and soldiers to investigate bison population

numbers and why those numbers began to fall. I used his work to demonstrate that the

Comanches contributed to the bison’s decline by their unsustainable hunting practices,

which was fueled by American demand for bison robes and other bison byproducts.

Isenberg, Andrew C. The Destruction of the Bison. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University

Press, 2000.

As its name suggests, The Destruction of the Bison focuses on the near-extinction of the

bison in the late 1800s. This book provides an excellent analysis of the bison’s carrying

capacity and how the Comanche’s trade market weakened the bison’s numbers.

Furthermore, he includes brilliant analysis of how American hunters nearly doomed the

bison to oblivion and how the bison rebounded from certain extinction. I used it

37

throughout my paper and also used it to find primary sources about the bison’s

destruction.

John, Elizabeth A. H. Storms Brewed in Other Men's Worlds: The Confrontation of Indians,

Spanish, and French in the Southwest, 1540-1795. College Station, TX: Texas A&M

University Press, 1975.

Storms Brewed in Other Men’s Worlds investigates the interactions between the Southern

Plains Indians, Spanish, and French. I found her analysis of Comanche trade to be very

interesting because of how far it spread and how the Comanche used middlemen to trade

with individuals far away. I used it to show how the Wichita were the first middlemen for

the Comanche and allowed the Comanche to trade for guns with the French.

Kavanagh, Thomas W. "Political Power and Political Organization: Comanche Politics, 1786-

1875." PhD diss., The University of New Mexico, 1986. Accessed March 17, 2020.

https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1157&context=anth_etds.

In this dissertation, Kavanagh focuses on what he calls the “Comanche anomaly,” and

how political resources affect the political organization of Indian tribes. This work was

incredibly helpful for me to understand early Comanche hunting methods and how the

horse led to social hierarchies.

Kavanagh, Thomas W. The Comanches: A History, 1706-1875. Lincoln, NE: University of

Nebraska Press, 1996.

The Comanches is an anthropological work that details the history of the Comanches

beginning in 1706, the date of the first recorded mention of them, and ending in 1875, the

date that the last band of Comanches surrendered and moved into the Fort Sill

reservation. It examines a plethora of sources and uses them to construct a chronological

38

history of the Comanches. This work differentiates itself from other secondary sources

because Kavanagh investigates the claims of primary sources, considered to be canon by

many other sources, and determines their validity. I used this work throughout my paper

and also to find other sources.

Kenner, Charles L. A History of New Mexican-Plains Indian Relations. Norman, OK: University

of Oklahoma Press, 1969.

This work illustrates the relationship between Plains Indians and New Mexicans,

specifically focusing on Comancheros, New Mexicans who traded with the Comanches.

This work was very important for my understanding of the Comanche trade empire. I

used it to demonstrate how the Comanches began to raid for cattle once bison numbers

fell.

Knaut, Andrew L. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680: Conquest and Resistance in Seventeenth-Century

New Mexico. Norman, OK: The University of Oklahoma Press, 1995.

In this book, Knaut examines the causes leading up to the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 as well

as its effects on the Southern Plains. I used it to examine the causes of the Pueblo Revolt

of 1680.

Krech, Shepard, III. The Ecological Indian: Myth and History. New York, NY: W. W. Norton &

Company, 1999.

This book was very important for my understanding of the ecological circumstances

surrounding the bison at the time of its demise. I used it to show the many factors that led

to the bison’s disappearance from the Southern Plains and also used it to find more

sources, which proved to be very helpful.

39

Liebmann, Matthew. Revolt: An Archaeological History of Pueblo Resistance and Revitalization

in 17th Century New Mexico. Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 2012.

Revolt looks at the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 and its aftermath in regards to Pueblo culture.

This work differentiates itself from other histories of the Pueblo Revolt because he uses

archaeological sources instead of only relying on the accounts of the Spanish, which

contain a fair amount of bias in them. I used this source to show that the horse allowed

Indian raids to be far more lucrative because they allowed raiders to carry away far more

plunder than before the horse.

Lockwood, Frank C. The Apache Indians. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1987.

First published 1938 by Macmillan.

The Apache Indians was the first secondary source on the Apache to depict an accurate

account of their history that utilized deep research and primary source analysis. It was

very important for my understanding of early Apache history. I used it in my paper to

demonstrate that early Plains Indians used dogs to travel. I also used it to understand the

causes behind the Comanche’s attack on the mission of San Sabá.

McCollough, Martha. Three Nations, One Place: A Comparative Ethnohistory of Social Change

among the Comanches and Hasinais during Spain's Colonial Era, 1689-1821. New York,

NY: Routledge, 2004.

McCollough compares the Comanche and the Hasinais in relation to the Spanish

colonists. This work was very important for understanding the Comanche culturally,

economically, and socially. I used her analysis on the horse’s impact on the Comanches

and how it helped them to respond to Spanish colonialism.

Momaday, Navarre Scott. "A Word on the Plains Shield." In In the Presence of the Sun: Stories

40

and Poems, 1961-1991, edited by Bob Weil, 73-77. Manhattan, NY: St. Martin's Press,

1992.

In the Presence of the Sun is a collection of works by the Kiowa writer, N. Scott

Momaday. This specific poem, “A Word on the Plains Shield,” helped my understanding

of how deep the horse was integrated into Plains Indian society.

Foster, Morris W. Being Comanche: A Social History of an American Indian Community.

Tucson, AZ: University of Arizona Press, 1991.

Being Comanche lays out the social aspects of Comanche society and challenged many

common notions of the time about the Comanche’s social organization. I used it to find

many primary sources on the social aspect of the Comanches and also used it for analysis

on the Comanche slave market.

Murphy, Retta. "The Journal of Pedro de Rivera, 1724-1728." The Southwestern Historical

Quarterly 41, no. 2 (October 1937): 125-41. Accessed April 6, 2020.

https://digital.library.txstate.edu/bitstream/handle/10877/3848/fulltext.pdf?sequence=1&i

sAllowed=y.

This article evaluates the journal of Pedro de Rivera, an early Spaniard. It was very

important in understanding Comanche-Spanish relations in the early 1700s. I used it to

show that the Comanches used dogs to transport their camps before the introduction of

the horse.

Page, Jake. Uprising: The Pueblo Indians and the First American War for Religious Freedom.

Tucson, AZ: Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2013.

Uprising documents the Revolt of 1680. It was very helpful in my understanding of the

revolt’s underlying causes. Further, it provided key evidence in regard to the effects of

41

the revolt, such as the dispersion of the horse to Southern Plains tribes. I used it to show

that the Spanish diligently protected their horses from any raiders and that the Revolt of

1680 allowed Southern Plains Indians to develop their horse cultures.

Rollings, Willard H. The Osage: An Ethnohistorical Study of Hegemony on the Prairie-Plains.

Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1995.

The Osage focuses on the developments which allowed the Osage to gain a great amount

of power. One such necessary development was the horse, which allowed them to amass

a great amount of power through bison hunting. I found her analysis on the Wichita and

the Spanish-Comanche trade network to be very fascinating. I used it to show that the

Comanches traded slaves, horses, and buffalo robes for French firearms and other

manufactured goods.

Richardson, Rupart Norval. The Comanche Barrier to South Plains Settlement: A Century and a

Half of Savage Resistance to the Advancing White Frontier. Glendale, CA: Arthur H.

Clark Company, 1933.

In this book, Richardson investigates how the Comanche acted as a barrier to American

imperialism. It was very interesting to read his analysis on how the collapse of the beaver

fur trade led to increasing demand for bison furs. I used this book to show how the bison

collapse affected the Comanche and how they responded to its collapse by increasing

their raids on Mexican settlements.

Rister, C. C. "The Significance of the Destruction of the Buffalo in the Southwest." The

Southwestern Historical Quarterly 33, no. 1 (July 1929): 34-49.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/30237207.

42

This article examines the impact that the bison’s near-extinction had on the Southern

Plains, specifically on the Plains Indians, who relied on it for food. Rister provides

excellent analysis of this event and lists the causes and roles that the UsS. and the

Southern Plains Indians played in its demise. I used it to show that Plains Indians killed

5,000,000 bison between the years 1835 and 1845.

Smith, Foster Todd. The Wichita Indians: Traders of Texas and the Southern Plains, 1540-1845.

College Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, 2000.

The Wichita Indians investigates the Wichita and their role as traders on the Southern

Plains. I found it to be very necessary to my understanding of the Comanche-French trade

networks. I used it to show that the Comanche traded hides and other goods to the

Wichita for French firearms.

Smits, David D. "The Frontier Army and the Destruction of the Buffalo: 1865-1883." The

Western Historical Quarterly 25, no. 3 (Fall 1994): 312-38. Accessed February 4, 2020.

https://history.msu.edu/hst321/files/2010/07/smits-on-bison.pdf.

In this article, David Smits, a professor at the College of New Jersey, examines the role

of the U.S. army in the removal of the bison from the Plains. I used it to show that the

U.S. played a crucial role in the relocation of the Comanche because they did not take

action against the invading American hide hunters.

Speth, John D. “Some Unexplored Aspects of Mutualistic Plains-Pueblo Food Exchange.” In

Farmers, Hunters, and Colonists: Interaction between the Southwest and the Southern

Plains edited by Katherine A. Spielmann, 18-35. Tucson: The University of Arizona

Press, 1991

Farmers, Hunters, and Colonists is a collection of essays that examines the relationship

between Plains hunter-gatherers and Pueblo farmers. It also investigates the role that

43

colonists played in altering this relationship. In this chapter, Speth investigates food trade

between Plains and Pueblo Indians. I used it to show that Plains Indians needed plant-

based carbohydrates in their diets to avoid malnourishment.

Spielmann, Katherine A. Interdependence in the Prehistoric Southwest: An Ecological Analysis

of Plains-Pueblo Interaction. New York, NY: Garland Publishing, 1991.

In this book, Spielmann examines interdependence between the egalitarian societies of

the Prehistoric Southern Plains. I used it to look into food trade and cited it in my paper

to explain that prehistoric Plains Indians utilized both farming and hunting to produce

food.

Verbicky-Todd, Eleanor. Communal Buffalo Hunting among the Plains Indians: An

Ethnographic and Historical Review. Edited by David Burley. Alberta: Alberta Culture

Historical Resources Division, 1984.

This book examines the early bison hunting methods of the Plains Indians before the

horse. It analyzes different methods such as the stomp, surround, and drive. It utilizes

archaeological evidence when explaining these hunts. I used it to explain that the spoils

of the hunts would be evenly divided among those participating in the hunt.

West, Elliot. The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado. Lawrence,

KS: University Press of Kansas, 1998.

In The Contested Plains, West explores how the gold rush to Colorado affected those

areas outside of Colorado, specifically Indian territories. I use it to show how the horse

proved to be a groundbreaking force in Plains Indian life.

West, Elliott. " The Impact of Horse Culture." History Now, no. 28 (Summer 2011). Accessed

44

November 14,2019. https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-now/journals/2011-

06/american-indians.

In this work, Elliott West explores how horses shaped the Plains. I found its sources to be

very helpful, especially its primary sources. It also greatly aided in my understanding of

Plains Indian culture before and after the horse came to the Great Plains.

West, Elliott. The Way to the West: Essays on the Central Plains. Albuquerque, NM: University

of New Mexico Press, 1995.

In this book, West explores the migrations of the Cheyenne. He argues that the horse

drove the Cheyenne, and other tribes, to migrate onto the Central Plains because of the

possibilities it brought to Indians. I used it to show that, during winter, river valleys

provided horses the necessary protection from the elements.

Wheat, Joe Ben. "A Paleo-Indian Bison Kill." Scientific American 216, no. 1 (January 1967): 44-

53. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/24931373.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A25d551b2b91-

811a888263dac103bacd8.

This archaeological report details a bison drive from around 6500 BCE. It shows how the

hunters were able to kill nearly 200 bison in one single drive. It also provides insight into

how the animals were butchered after the successful drive and how the hunters kept

almost every part of the animal. I used it as an example of hunting methods before the

horse and how these methods could be highly successful.

Wissler, Clark. "The Influence of the Horse in the Development of Plains Culture." American

Anthropologist, n.s., 16, no. 1 (January/March 1914): 1-25.

45

Wissler was one of the first authors to push that horses influenced Plains Indian culture. I

used his works to show what the initial introduction of horses into the Plains Indian

society looked like.

Wolf, Eric R. Europe and the People without History. Illustrated by Noel L. Diaz. Berkeley, CA:

University of California Press, 2010.

In this anthropological work, Wolf criticizes the commonly-held belief that, before

European colonialism, non-European nations were isolated entities. He argues that the

opposite was actually true and that their cultures were constantly changing. He uses a

Marxist approach to the emergence of capitalism and its spread to non-European

territories. I used this work for its Marxist analysis on the horse, specifically that it

changed the ownership of the means of production from communal to private and

individualistic.

Works, Martha A. "Creating Trading Places on the New Mexican Frontier." Geographical

Review 82, no. 3 (1992): 268-81. Accessed February 4, 2020.

https://doi.org/10.2307/215351.

This article details the trade routes on the New Mexican frontier. I used it to show that the

Comanche traded with the French, allowing them to purchase guns.

Personal Communications

Betty, Gerald. E-mail interview by the author. Stoughton, WI. April 17, 2020.

Gerald Betty is a professor at Del Mar College. He is the author of Comanche Society:

Before the Reservation. In addition to giving me answers to my questions, he also gave

me high-quality background information about anthropology, specifically kinship,

46

culture, and the scientific method in regards to history. His answers challenged the

assumptions that my questions made, which opened up new perspectives on the history of

the horse and the Comanche. He also challenged a few beliefs prevalent in Comanche

history and the history of Plains Indians horse cultures. His answers built my

understanding of this topic and also led me to further research aspects of this history.

Barcena, Bernard. E-mail interview by the author. Stoughton, WI. March 21, 2020.

Bernard Barcena is the current Chairman of the Lipan Apache. He was a great help to me

in understanding how the horse changed Apache society, as well as why the Comanche

and Apache went to war. He helped me to understand how the horse impacted the Apache

differently from how it impacted the Comanche, which was incredibly important in my

knowledge of this topic.

Callahan, Martina. Telephone interview by the author. Stoughton, WI. February 2020.

Ms. Callahan is the current Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Comanche Tribe.

Her insights were incredibly helpful because of her deep knowledge of Comanche

culture. She explained the impact of horses on the Comanches and opened up different

perspectives on the topic, which helped me immensely in my research. I used her insights

throughout my paper and to guide my research.

Flores, Dan. Interview by the author. Stoughton, WI. March 27, 2020.

Dan Flores is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Montana. He has written many

environmental histories of the West. I talked to him about the destruction of the Bison in

the Great Plains—its causes and the history surrounding it. He was of incredible help

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because he explained all of the conditions that led to the bison’s destruction, the response

of the Comanche to falling bison numbers. One of the most interesting points that he

made was that the bison’s decline has two levels: the slow and gradual decline from

Plains Indians, which it faced before the Civil War, and the incredibly rapid destruction

after the Civil War, which was imposed by the American hide hunters. Talking to him

greatly increased my understanding of the bison’s fall.

Kavanagh, Thomas W. Telephone interview by the author. Stoughton, WI. March 13, 2020.

Dr. Thomas Kavanagh has written multiple highly important works on the history of the

Comanche and compiled very important interviews with early Comanches. I talked to

him for a little over 3 hours and was able to discuss a wide range of topics. He was able

to clarify many misconceptions and guide me away from certain secondary sources. Most

importantly, he informed me of lots of new areas in which I should research. His

anthropological insights were incredibly helpful in understanding the Comanche’s

political organization as well as in understanding the differences between egalitarian,

rank, and stratified societies. This interview greatly influenced the direction that I went

with my paper.

Munkres, James. E-mail interview by the author. Stoughton, WI. March 2020.

James Munkres is an archaeologist for the Osage Nation. He was very helpful for

understanding how the horse affected the Osage, but he also gave very insightful

information on how the horse changed Plains Indian culture in general. He also provided

other sources for me to look at, which helped me to understand the Comanche’s trade

relationship with other tribes.

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West, Elliott. Telephone interview by the author. Stoughton, WI. February 3, 2020.

Elliott West is a highly esteemed historian of the West. I was able to interview him,

which gave me a deeper understanding of my topic. He also helped inform me of articles

and books, which proved to be especially useful. Lastly, he provided me a map of

Comanche trade routes, which I used for my Appendix A.