THE COMANCHE AND HIS HORSE

The Spanish mustang was the original Indian pony.  Dubbed "mestenos" by the Spanish, stray horses came to be called mustang, the name by which they are called today.  Rustled from Spanish settlements in the southwest, the pony gradually became crossed with other breeds after the annexation of the Plains by the United States in 1803.  By the end of the century it bore little resemblance to the early horse.

The culture of the Plains Indians was so expanded after their introduction to the horse that they were able to resist the encroachment of the white intruders better than other Indian tribes.

Used only as a source of food at first, the Indians observed the Spanish methods of training and handling domesticated horses and so began to acquire horses as well as develop horsemanship.  When riding, the American Indian was the finest of horsemen.  Then enabled the skilled Comanche rider to carry out raids deep into Mexico.

1640 to 1880 has been called the period of the Indian Horse Culture.  Comanches acted as brokers to the Northern tribes, providing horses already broken.  The lives of the nomadic Plains tribes was revolutionized by the use of the horse.

Before the acquisition of the horse, hunting was a necessity of life for the Indian.  With the Horse Culture came endurance, mobility and speed that changed hunting to a sport.  A sport the Indians responded to with enthusiasm that enabled them to keep their camps supplied with food.

Following the herds of buffalo was simplified.  Children and elders, who in the past slowed the tribe's progress, were mounted or tied onto saddles.  Belongings were loaded onto other horses and as many as fifty miles could be covered in a day.

The size of the horse allowed the Indian to acquire larger lodges and more possessions than was possible when dogs were used for transportation.

Parti-colored ponies created a flamboyant effect that the Indians liked.  A particular type of pinto was developed by them and known as the Medicine Hat or War Bonnet because of the markings over its body.  A special mystique surrounded this horse and a Comanche warrior believed himself invincible if he rode one into battle.  A simple color phase of the Spanish mustang, this war-horse was desired by all Comanches, who considered them sacred and possessed them in great numbers.

The horse enabled the Indians to prevent the Spanish from colonizing the Southwest and held back white settlement for two centuries.

Comanches perfected horse stealing to an art.  They were the most aggressive horse thieves in the Southern Plains.  Known as the most powerful warriors, their lust for horses made life along the border perilous for all settlers.  They even bragged that they only allowed the Spanish to remain in their region to raise horses for them.

All efforts to negotiate peace with the Comanches by the Spanish Government failed.  The Indians' terms were all the horses in Mexico.

Horses became a source of trade for the Comanches, who exchanged them for such items as exotic furs and white buffalo skins from the Northern tribes, to guns and powder from the first white traders and trappers that entered the region.  The Spaniards refused to trade with these merchants, thereby putting the Comanche, who viewed the traders as friends, in the role of middleman.  Indian camps were surrounded by horses of every shape, size and color.  Their appetite for owning enough horses was never satisfied.

In 1874 thousands of animals, considered by the southern Comanche as their best horses, were slaughtered at Tule Canyon near the Texas Panhandle.

In 1876 General Sheridan sent a telegram to the War Department to request permission to sell Indian ponies that had been either captured or surrendered and the funds from the sale to be used to purchase cattle for the Indians ?at the proper time.?  His objective was to get the horse away from the Indians, as had been the government policy when  horses were confiscated illegally from several Northern tribes to bring these tribes under control.  This, along with the slaughter of the buffalo, brought the Comanche Horse Culture to a halt and ended the spectacular era of Comanche Rule over the Southern Plains.

(Source: Ryden, Hope, America's Last Wild Horses.  Lyons & Burford, Publishers, 1990)