Comanche - One of the most famous tribes of the Plains.  They were typical Plains Indians - expert horsemen, buffalo hunters, and warlike in character.  When the Comanche came into history they had the horse and were considered the finest horsemen of the Plains, with dash and courage.

They were believed to have been an offshoot of the Shoshoni of Wyoming.  When the Shoshoni were beaten back into the mountains by the powerful Dakota, the Comanche were driven south.  In early times the Comanche, Kiowa, and Shoshoni were all termed Snakes, and sometimes Horse Indians.  The three tribes formed a long line from Montana to mexico - the Shoshoni in the north, the Kiowa between Denver and Amarillo, and the Comanche south and east of Amarillo.  As Plains Indians, each tribe needed a ranging area of from 500 to 800 square miles.

The Comanche, bitter enemies of the Texans, carried on a war with them for almost forty years.  In 1867 they agreed to go to a reservation between Washita and Red Rivers in southwest Oklahoma.  But some, led by their chief, Quanah Parker, refused.  Not until the last outbreak of the southern tribes in 1874-1875 did they and their allies, the Kiowa and the Kiowa Apache, finally settle on the reservation.

The Comanche language was a trade language in the Southwest and understood by most neighboring tribes.  It has a nice, flowing sound, with a rolling "r".

In 1901 the Comanche reservation was thrown open to settlement, and today they are attached to the Kiowa Agency in Oklahoma.  Counties in Kansas and Texas are named for them, as is a mountain in Texas and a river in Colorado.  There is a Comanche in Montana, Texas, and Oklahoma.

Related Information within this Site
[ Horse ][ Horse Indians ][ Indian Language ][ Kiowa ][ Kiowa Apache ]
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