Carson marched out of Cimarron, New Mexico, in early November of 1864 with several hundred troops, along with a few dozen Ute and Apache scouts. However, the operation was less than successful, and though Carson went home with many of his soldiers remaining, he still went home; leaving this land to the Kiowas and Comanches that had been there before.
After the collapse of the Confederacy and the end of the Civil War, the nation was understandably sick of warfare. Therefore, a shift took place from trying to kill all Comanches to moving them onto a reservation. After exploratory meetings, Indian Agent Leavenworth and United States commissioners met with delegates of the Comanches, Kiowas, and Kiowa-Apache in October of 1865. The terms that were established at this conference were the same as all other treaties before that: stop raiding, return captives, and move to a smaller, different area in Indian Territory, which was quite a distance away from the heart of Comanchería. Just as before, no terms were kept by either side. The Comanche still rode where they pleased, raided who and when they pleased, and killed when they pleased. When a government agent was sent into Comanchería to establish the reason why the treaty was not being kept, and he found that most everyone in the area, including the officers that were supposed to be keeping the peace in the area, were exceptionally ignorant when it came to “dealing with the savages.” Finally, a new Indian Peace Council was formed. This new council led to the last sad charade of Indian policy in the West.
A great council was convoked at Medicine Lodge Creek, in the present Barbour County, Kansas, in October of 1867. Comanches, Kiowas, Kiowa-Apache, Cheyennes, and Arapahos attended, but the Kwerhar-rehnuh and part of the Kuhtsoo-ehkuh divisions of the Comanche decided not to attend because of indifference and fear of white man. Still, despite the two divisions that did not attend, Medicine Lodge was the most represented of all previous treaty meetings. Proceedings went on in the fashion that had been done before, chiefs from various tribes came backed by overly gaudy and overdressed warriors, where the Americans did the same. Gifts were exchanged; in fact, some Comanches came early as to receive the better gift. There were kitchens set up so that finding food would not disrupt the proceedings of the meeting. Finally, the Americans broke down and gave the Comanche their reservation of choice: 5,496 acres of pristine land in Oklahoma, part of the original and ancestral Comanchería.
The beginnings of this reservation policy were not good. The Comanches terrorized the surrounding peaceful, Americanized tribes by leading raids into territory that was legally not theirs. They paid no attention whatsoever to the boundaries set forth by the United States government, and hunted where they pleased and when they pleased. It wasn’t until the most famous of all Comanche chiefs, Quanah Parker that the Comanches began to settle down into the post-nomadic community and reservation life.
Quanah Parker was born in 1850, the son of a White woman and a powerful warrior, the chief of the Quohada band of Comanches. The Quohada band of Comanches was one of the last bands to join the reservation way of life; instead they opted to continue to ride and raid all over the Great Plains. Quanah’s mother was captured at one point in the 1860s, and escaped several times until she was locked in a room to starve and die. Quanah and his father rode all over the plains to find the location of Quanah’s mother, and when the truth was told, it broke Quanah’s heart. They continued to ride the warpath until the death of his father, at the Battle of Mule Creek, near the Canadian River. At this point in time, young Quanah could no longer take the path of war, for his losses numbered too many. However, despite saying and implying this to the members of his tribe, he became one of the most powerful Comanche war chiefs ever.
During the late 1800’s, General Mackenzie of the United States cavalry wreaked havoc upon the Comanche tribe. His forces would creep up on sleeping camps, and attack, killing most, if not all, of the people encamped there, women and children included. Quanah would lead war parties against these horrible raids and surprises lead by the United States Army. In fact, if there was an FBI ten most wanted list in the 1880’s, Quanah Parker’s picture would have been right there on top.
Finally, Quanah and his division of the Comanche tribe realized the inevitable: the only future that awaited them was bloodshed, death, and destruction. Quanah Parker presented himself before General Mackenzie (a rather brave gesture, as he was responsible for the deaths of numerous American soldiers) and surrendered himself and others around him to the Army, saying that his and his people’s futures depended on the United States. In short, he allowed the American government to remove the remaining Comanches and put them on a reservation.
When Quanah arrived on the reservation, he found that the notable dignitaries that had thrived off the reservation were locked in tall, roofless icehouses, thrown meat over the walls, and treated like lions. From this point forward, Quanah fought more fervently for the equal and decent treatment of his people than he ever did on the battlefield as a “free” man. As time passed, he became a sheriff, a judge, and a crusader for all Native American’s rights. He befriended President Teddy Roosevelt, and even went hunting around what had been Comanchería with the Chief. In 1884, less than a decade after his final battle with white man, the town of Quanah, Texas was named after him. He gave the town these blessings: It is well, you have done a good thing in honor of a man who has tried to do right both to the people of his tribe and to his pale faced friends. May God bless the town of Quanah. May the sun shine and the rain fall upon the fields and the granaries be filled. May the lightning and the tempest shun the homes of her people, and may they increase and dwell forever. God bless Quanah. Subetu Ma! I have spoken.” And so the Comanches were effectively “civilized” and “controlled” by the American government.
Today, the Comanche tribe numbers around 10,000 people, most live in the area around Lawton, Oklahoma. An official Comanche reservation no longer exists today, though there is still a Comanche Tribal government and Comanche land, called the Comanche complex. Most Comanches do not live on the tribal land, but on ancestral land outside the original reservation. This is one bright spot in American Indian Policy, that some members of some tribes were eventually allowed back onto the land that was originally theirs.
Comanches are considered the best educated of all Native Americans, with more students per capita pursuing a higher education. There are doctors, nurses, lawyers, even CEO’s coming out of what was once considered to be the most brutal, stupid, and uncivilized Indian nations.
Even after the transition, the Comanche people consider themselves to be the Lords of the Plains, as they once were. Instead of warring, raiding, and killing they are more Americanized with a peaceful life, income, and a nine-to-five job. This does not take away who they once were. The following is taken from A COMANCHE HISTORY: “The Comanches were once known as the Lords of the Southern Plains, and it is our vision to again be considered as such. The Comanche Tribe as a whole and the Comanche people as individuals have gone through some very difficult times, but we are survivors. We are the Numunuu.”
Bibliography
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Fehrenbach, T. R. Comanches: the Destruction of a People. New York, NY: Knopf [distributed by Random House], 1974
Foster, Morris W. Being Comanche: A Social History of an American Indian Community. Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press, 1998
Kavanagh, Thomas W. Comanche Political History: An Ethnohistorical Perspective, 1706-1875. Lincoln, NE: The University of Nebraska Press, c1996
Kavanagh, Thomas W. The Comanches: A History, 1706-1875. Lincoln, NE: The University of Nebraska Press, 1999
Pelon, Linda. “Comanche Women: Power and Influence: Tabba Pete.” 13 April 2004: 1 pag. On-line. Internet. 13 April 2004. Available WWW: http://www.web-access.net/~hdo/Comanchewomen.html
Pelon, Linda. “Extraordinary Texans: Warrior Women/Comanche Women and the Power and Influence.” 13 April 2004: 2 pag. On-line. Internet. 13 April 2004. Available WWW: http://www.web-access.net/~hdo/ExtraordinaryTexans.html
Sultzman, Lee. “Comanche History.” 13 April 2004: 22 pag. On-line. Internet. 13 April 2004. Available WWW: http://www.tolatsga.org/ComancheOne.html
Unknown Author. “Quanah Parker.” 8 May 2002: 2 pag. Online. Internet. 13 April 2004. Available WWW: http://www.lnstar.com/mall/texasinfo/quanah.htm |
