![]() ![]() In the 1860s, efforts began to move the Comanche to a reservation in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). By the 1870s, these illnesses had reduced their population to about 7,000 people. The fierce Comanche continued to maintain their independence and even increase their territory until new diseases, including smallpox and cholera, began to take their toll. Some were killed, but most often, their horses and cattle were stolen. Continuing to protect their territory, the formidable Comanche aggressively attacked the many settlers passing through on their way to the California Gold Rush. Many historians debate whether the Comanche deserve their ferocious reputation, indicating that they were only fighting for retrieval of the land they felt was theirs. Now dominating the Texas Panhandle area, including western Oklahoma and northeastern New Mexico, the Comanche were so well-heeled at their horsemanship that they began to supply horses to French and American traders. In an attempt to stop the raids upon the Apache, the Spanish offered help however, it was to no avail, and the Apache were finally forced out of the Southern Plains by the mid-1800s. There are two accounts of its origin, the most accepted being a Spanish corruption of a name the Ute called them - Kohmahts, meaning “those who are against us.” The second account is that it was a derivative of the Spanish word amino ancho, meaning “wide trail.” They were also called Paducah by early French and American explorers, but the preferred name of the tribe has always been Numunuh, meaning “The People.” The Comanche speak a Uto-Aztecan language, which is almost identical to the Shoshone from which they originated. Sharing the same language and culture, they sometimes fought between bands and at other times were at peace, cooperating one with the other.Īlthough the name Comanche is well known, it is uncertain where it originated. Though the tribe was large, they never formed a single tribal unit but were divided into eight to twelve independent groups. From the moment of their capture until their death or release, they were both physically and mentally abused. Unfortunately, the Comanche Indians did not treat their captives well, considering them little more than a slave and a commodity. ![]() Long known as war-like and aggressive, some estimates state that up to 20,000 people were kidnapped. Knew very well when we started in on this thing that we would bring matters toĪ head.Comanche Hunting Buffalo by George Catlin Plans for violence were deep-rooted, rather than based on circumstance. There would be relief.” However, Manning’s testimony later in 1895 suggests that whites’ “Something more serious than arrest andĬonviction had to take place an Indian or a white man had to be killed before Something that, without help, would be very hard to carry through,” wrote “The officers and settlers soon found out that they had started ![]() Rhoades fined them as well, but they didn’t have any money.Įventually the whites tired of the expense of jailing the Indians and told them ![]() About June 24, Manning and a posse arrested nine moreīannocks. Rhoades fined their leader $15 (about $450 in 2020 dollars), which On June 7, 1895, Manning arrested three Bannocks and confiscated Mountain Journal founder Todd Wilkinson We praise Wyohistory, project director Tom Rea and Clayton for diving deep into an issue that has important implications for public lands, indigenous rights and the West coming to terms with racist attitudes that still exist. Mountain Journal offers thanks to -a project of the Wyoming State Historical Society-for being able to bring you this piece that was just published in autumn 2020. As Red Lodge writer John Clayton notes in this important investigative report, what happened in Yellowstone and Jackson Hole at the end of the 19th century represent flashpoints for discussion. From incendiary racially-tinged debates over walleye fishing in Minnesota and Wisconsin to a victory by the Crow tribe involving hunting in the Bighorn Mountains of Montana and Wyoming, indigenous nations are exercising their legal authority through historic treaties. EDITOR'S NOTE: In recent years, court clashes over hunting rights involving the federal government, states and indigenous tribes have been in the news, rising to the US Supreme Court. ![]()
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