To begin with, I want to acknowledge that I'm no expert on the Comanche. I've only come across a few bits of information about them over the years, but what I've learned fascinates me. In my last post I told the stories of Cynthia Parker, who, kidnapped by Comanches as a child, grew so attached to them that after she was "rescued" she begged to return, and the story of her son, Quanah Parker, who transformed himself from the leader of the most feared band of Comanche warriors, to a successful rancher, respected by his neighbors and friend of President Theodore Roosevelt.
Lately I've been rereading some excerpts from the journal of Captain R. B. Marcy who spent 30 years stationed on the frontier in the early 1800's. His descriptions and his understanding was not from the Comanche perspective, which makes a difference, but he did sympathize with the Indians, and he was fascinated by the Comanche.
The following excerpt from Marcy's journal describes the horsemanship of the Comanche. I first read it several years ago and it still amazes me. He first describes the horsemanship of the Comanche brave:
He is in the saddle from boyhood to old age, and his favorite horse is his constant companion. It is when mounted that the Comanche exhibits himself to the best advantage: here he is at home, and his skill in various manoeuvres which he makes available in battle - such as throwing himself entirely upon one side of his horse, and discharging his arrows with great rapidity towards the opposite side beneath the animal's neck while he is at full speed - is truly astonishing.
Even more amazing is Marcy's description of the display of skill of two young Comanche girls that Marcy witnessed himself:
Many of the women are equally expert, as equestrians, with the men. They ride upon the same saddles in the same manner, with a leg upon each side of the horse. As an example of their skill in horsemanship, two young women of one of the bands of Northern Comanche, while we were encamped near them, upon seeing some antelopes at a distance from their camp, mounted horses, and with lassos in their hands set off at full speed in pursuit of this fleetest inhabitant of the plains. After pursuing them for some distance, and taking all the advantages which their circuitous course permitted, they finally came near them, and - throwing the lasso with unerring precision, secured each an animal and brought it back in triumph to the camp.
Every time I see a herd of prong horned antelope standing by the road, I think of this story. Once or twice I've stopped the car and walked toward these beautiful creatures and watched as they loped easily away, launching themselves like arrows through the air. It's hard to imagine running one down on a horse, let alone lassoing one. Certainly, of all the animals I've seen, they are the fleetest of foot.
Marcy went on to describe the nomadic life of the Comanche, their simple needs and their dependence on the buffalo for food shelter and clothing. He told how their chiefs were chosen for bravery and skill in battle, and were quickly removed for any display of cowardice or poor judgment.
In spite of the Comanches' reputation for ferocity in battle, Marcy described them as being
… hospitable and kind to all with whom they are not at war; and on the arrival of a stranger at their camps, a lodge is prepared for him, and he is entertained as long as he chooses to remain with them. They are also kind and affectionate to each other, and as long as anything comestible remains in the camp, all are permitted to share alike.
Marcy continues to describe the hospitality of the Comanche, relating an experience of his own:
The manner in which they salute a stranger is somewhat peculiar, as my own reception at one of their encampments will show. The chief at this encampment was a very corpulent old man, with exceedingly scanty attire, who, immediately on our approach, declared himself a great friend of the Americans, and persisted in giving me evidence of his sincerity by an embrace, which, to please him, I forced myself to submit to, although it was far from agreeable to my own feelings. Seizing me in his brawny arms while we were yet in the saddle, and laying his greasy head upon my shoulder, he inflicted upon me a most bruin-like squeeze, which I endured with a degree of patient fortitude worthy of the occasion; and I was consoling myself upon the completion of the salutation, when the savage again seized me in his arms, and I was doomed to another similar torture, with his head upon my other shoulder, while at the same time he rubbed his greasy face against mine in the most affectionate manner; all of which proceeding he gave me to understand was to be regarded as a most distinguished and signal mark of affection for the American people in general, and in particular for myself, who, as their representative, can bear testimony to the strength of his attachment. On leaving camp, the chief shook me heartily by the hand, telling me at the same time, that he was not a Comanche, but an American; and as I did not feel disposed to be outdone in politeness by an Indian, I replied in the same spirit, that there was not a drop of Anglo-Saxon blood in my veins, but that I was wholly and absolutely a Comanche, at which he seemed delighted, duly understanding and appreciating the compliment.
In spite of his patronizing tone, I enjoyed reading Marcy's description of the old chief's attempt to make him feel welcome.
Marcy lamented the effect on the Comanche of the extinction of the buffalo, which was approaching rapidly in 1853, the date of his report. Thousands of buffalo were being slaughtered every year,
…for their skins, and often for their tongues alone; animals whose flesh is sufficient to afford sustenance to a large number of men are sacrificed to furnish a 'bon bouche' for the rich epicure….It is only eight years since the western borders of Texas abounded with buffaloes; but now they seldom go south of Ted River, and their range upon east and west has also been very much contracted within the same time; so that they are at present confined to a narrow belt of country between the outer settlements and the base of the Rocky Mountains. With this rapid diminution in their numbers, they must in the course of a very few years become exterminated. What will then become of the prairie Indian, whom as I have already remarked, relies for subsistence, shelter, and clothing, on the flesh and hide of this animal. He must either perish with them, increase his marauding depredations on the Mexicans, or learn to cultivate the soil.
(The above descriptions by Captain Marcy are taken from a report he submitted to Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War for the United States, in 1853. See Advancing the Frontier, by Grant Foreman, Chapter 16.)
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