Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938 Page: 41 of 264
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OOLDKN ANNIVERSARY EDITION, 1938.
AMARILLO SUNDAY WEWB AND GLOBE, AMARTLLO, TEXAS.
SECTION A PAGE FEVFNTEEN
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Indians of the
Plains Red Men Were
Warriors by Necessity
) By CHARLES RKNFJIOR
i Much of the history of the Panhandle will never he
written. Men who settled on (he Texas frontiers seldom
wrote of I heir adventures. Much that is now finding its
way into the pages of books and magazines is a travesty
en 1 he land and the people. However, men like .1. Frank
Pobie, Walter P. Webb, Rupert N. Richardson, J. Evetts
Haley and other serious students have done more to un-
cover the hidden pages in the saga of the Llano than the
individuals who participated in the opening of the frontier.
The Plains Indian,'in the mind of some writers, stood
in a sort of half light of untruth and misapprehension,
lie was either God's chosen nobleman or the lowest human
Ktum that ever scalped a baby or killed a white woman.
Proud, arrogant 'Cos-
Llano Contribute Colorful Chapter in History
crossed Into New Mexico by the
Canadian River route, making a trail
through the finest part of the Co-
ninnche range. (12). nil* irresis-
tible movement aroused distrust and
fear in the hearts of the Indians.
One old Kiowa Chief thought the
Americans were crazy. (13).
Another source of worry to the
Pima who had spent his peaceful
days growing a fine head of hair
in Mexico would have been surprised
and pained if he could have seen
how his scalp was passed to gullible
presidentes as hair grown far to the
north on that hazy piateau known
as the Ma no Kstacado.
In South Texas the hostile front
sack,' the Comanche and
his allies, the Kiowa, Chey-
enne, Arapahoe, and Kiowa-
Apache. have written their
that older tribes had followed in
their long search for food and
warmth after leaving the Gobi
plateau and crossing the Bering
names in blood and flame Strait into the strange new land
the pages of Llano |10 the soufch- They lived in the vi-
across
history. For 150 years they
defended their land against
both red and white men manche migrated. There they fought
with all the craft, ferocity
and courage of which they
were capable. They resist-
ed with savage stubborness
the advancing white fron-
tier. They fought, in a
series of encounters, all the
way from the Platte River
to the plains of Durango.
They made the Americans
and the Spanish pay in blood
for the country taken away |thR southern Penatckn.- were raiding
r ji T>„..v,n.-.o in +Vini white settlements. They followed
from them. eilv 1 . - with their Comanche allies the old
worlds history there nas j Comanche war trail which led across
been no equal to the fight, the Llano down into the wide salt
which a hopelessly outnuin-; flats of the Boison de Mapima, as
cinity of the Comanche along the
Yellowstone, and moved down into
the south shortly after the Co-
m
the Comanche for many decades.
Finally, according to Kiowa tradi-
tion, the two tribes made a treaty
on a date which Moony fixes at
about 1790. (8). This peace treaty
was never broken, an unflattering
comparison to civilized man and his
"scraps of paper."
The Kiowas moved into the Pan-
handle and allied themselves so
closely with the Kwahadi Comanches
that some observers considered them
the same tribe. They were seldom
found south of the Red River where
Photo Courtesy Floyd Studer.
INDIAN ART is found on cave and canyon walls
throughout the Plains area. These Indian paintings
were photographed near Amarillo.
I far south as Durango. Among the
graybeards in Chihuahua, Septem-
ber is still known as the Moon of
j the Comanches, after those fierce
I warriors who late in the summer
| swept off the remote highland of
the I la no into Mexico, stole horses,
killed, burned, and captured small
Camanrhe or Com- children to be ransomed or sold. (0).
probably of Spanish j in 1840 a treaty was made between
bered and poorly equipped
race of nomads waged for
their homeland.
The Comanche called themselves
NRPM or N1MMA, an Indian word
meaning "the people." The word
Comanche,
manche is
origin, but. its meaning is unknown. [ the Llano tribes and the Cheyenne
They belonged to (he Shoshonean
family, being related to the Sho-
shoni, Ute, Bannock and several
other Rocky Mountain tribes. (1)
and Arapahoe. This treaty also
was never broken. (10).
The Comanche were rated the
best horsemen in the country. They
Little is known of their history had bright copper complexions, thin
before they secured horses. They ; Hps, J?Jack eyes, very little beard,
were a relatively unimportant and black hair. The mm were of
mountain tribe living along the
flanks of the Rockies in the coun-
low or medium stature and well pro-
portioned. The women were inclln-
try between the Yellowstone and j ed to dumpiness and aged prema-
the Platte. The last of the 17th J turely,
Century, for some unknown reason,
they moved down into the South
Plains.
The well-dressed Indian usually
wore moccasins of buckskin and
j close-fitting leggings extending from
Grinnell says that the Comanche | the upper portion of the thigh to
were driven into the plains by ad- the heel, with a fringe along the
vancing bands of Kiowa, Sioux and seam. A breech clout was worn, and
Cheyenne. (21 Richardson, however, in cold weather he wore a buffalo
thinks that the Comanche moved robe <.r blanket over his .shoulder,
into the South Plains in order to! On dress occasions a warrior wore
secure a more abundant supply of headdresses of buffalo horns. Some-
horses. (3) There was no better j times feathers were wox'n as plumes,
country for a "horse culture" than j Vermillion and red clay were used to
the broad grassy plains of the Llano ! daub designs on their bodies. Bear
Kstacado. Small canyons and! claws, horse hair, and mule tails
breaks in the Panhandle afforded J might be attached to the costume,
the Indians ideal camping places j Bands of copper were worn on the
situated near their food supply, ! wrist to protect it from the impact
the enormous numbers of buffaio 1 of the bowstring. Upon entering a
which overran the Llano before the I battle, they stripped down to a
white man decided that money , breech clout and moccasins, and nev-
could bo made on buffalo robes. : r r encumbered their mounts with
The tribe wa.., divided into a num- j useless trappings—Hollywood to the
her of bands or permanent tribal contrary. (11).
parts. Mi. The Comanche tribe! Each ave was allowed to use his
was never uniled in historical times, own Judgment as to the number
even though the different bands re- of wives he could support,. That
maincd on friendly terms with each they were intelligent, farseeing peo-
Indians during the period from
11830 to 1860 was the failing buffalo
| supply. There was so much de-
j struction of the buffalo that the
| Indians found it very difficult to
' feed their families. At times, and
j in certain places large herds could
be found and plentiful kills could be
made, but the harassed herds mov-
j ed swiftly and large Comanche vil-
lages could not secure this meat
I which was their only means of liye-
j lihood. By 1860 most of the larger j
I herds were in the remoter parts of
t t Panhandle. Tribes like t.hp j
Cheyennes and Arapahoes on the
slopes of the Rockies had to move {
j down into the South Plains to do |
j their hunting. The Southern Co- j
I manche had to go as far north as J
j the Panhandle In order to secure
enough food.
The spectre of starvation began
| to stalk the Comanche trails. They |
began to degenerate into half-starv- |
1 ed thieving bands. The border tribes j
had learned other methods of se- j
curing their livelihood, and turned to j
these methods when the buffalo fall- ;
I ed. The Comanche knew no other j
I life. It became a choice either to go
into the hated reservations or make
relentless war on the white settlers
and steal enough food and horses to
! stay alive.
• • •
i By 1855 increased military forces
; in Mexico, augmented by adventur-
ers from Texas, formed a barrier
:ilong the Comanche trail into the
j Northern Mexican states. Gover-
nors of the states paid bounties on
Comanche scalps. Unscrupulous
Texans often killed law-abiding,
l>eaceful Indians and passed their
. calps as Comanche. (14), Many a
| Tarahumare, Jumano, Papago and I
offered to the Indians by the Tex-
ans caused them to retreat far into
tiie interior of the Llano. Pressure
from settlements and hunters com-
ing down from the north also nar-
rowed his territory. Even in the
isolated region of the Panhandle the
white man would not let him alone.
The Comanche turned his war ar-
rows on the encircling ring of white
settlements that encroached more
and more upon his domain each
year.
The while government began to
have trouble of its own with civil
war. Taking advantage of this fact,
the Comanche, Apache, Cheyenne,
Arapahoe, Kiowa and Sioux formed
an alliance for the purpose of gen-
eral Indian warfare. <15).
The North, anxious to step any
trouble on the frontier while their
hands were full with the South,
commisioned the famous Indian
Scout, Christopher (Kit) Carson, to
lead a punitive expedition into t.hp
heart of the Llano and impress the
Comanche with bright blue uniforms
and two howitzer field cannon.
On November 10, 1864, Carson and
a force numbering about 400 moved
into the Canadian river valley from
Fort Bascom, N. M. They followed
the sandy windings of the river to
a site above Bent's old abandoned
fort near the present town of P!em-
ons. Here, on the 24th of November,
he attacked an Inidan camp of 150
lodges. The Indians fled from the
camp and retreated to the adobe
building where they fought the sol-
diers like wildcats. Another Indian
band about three miles from the
first village, hearing the sounds of
battle, saddled up and rode into the
fray. Carson soon found himself
fighting a force of more than a
thousand well-armed warriors. The
howitzers coughed and leaped like
frisky puppies kicking up bits of
the Llano prairie. Arrows flew and
the long rifles barked. A small
group of Indians rode around to the
windward and set fire to the prarie
grass. The soldiers harassed by
the flame and smoke, decided to re-
treat without attacking the larger
village. Carson thought the Indians
lost about 60 killed and wounded
while his own force lost two killed
and 21 wounded, sacral mortall'. In
all probability the presence of the
howitzers was all that, saved the
punitive expedition from annhila-
tlon. (Jdi.
In 1866 tho Kwahadi.-, were en-
gaged in stealing ioi-'k and m lling it
to dealer.", as far fast a.-. Arkansas.
The Comanches were happy because
at last they had found a commodity
that was easy to procure and could
be supplied in limitless quantities.
They arranged meeting places with
the Comancheros and sold all their
stolen stock to them. A place
called Much a Que, which Is probably
the Yellowhouse Canyon near Mule-
shoe. was a favorite rendezvous. (17).
Cattle rustling became more and
more lucrative. Weallhy Americans,
attracted by easy cash, supplied the
capital on which the Commancheros
were to operate. Some of these men
supplied the Indians with arms and
ammunition to assure the safety and
speed of cattle deliveries. The trails
of the Comancheros were to be seen
on the Plains for years afterwards.
| "almost as big and plain as the
roads of today." (18) The trade
anche and other Plains tribes.
Those few Indians who had reluc-
tantly decided to come upon the
reservations were poorly fed and
treated with contempt by Incom-
petent pollticos acting as agents.
The Plains tribes decided that
Washington had spoken with a
"forked tongue" and went back to
efforts to get every Comanche onto
the reservation or to kill him.
In the fall of 1872, Mackenzie
again took the war trail along the
Fresh Water Pork of the Brazos,
i He located his suply camp near the
! mouth of Blanco Canyon. From
there he moved to McCleJlan's
I Creek, a tributary to the North
■ *
wmm<frz
QUANAH PARKER—
One of the most famous
of the Plains Indians of
the later era, which fol-
lowed the invasion of the
Spaniards and was fea-
tured by warfare with the
white settlers.
was not wholly discontinued until
ail the Indians had been moved
into the reservation.
• • •
The winter of 1866 was a. sea-
son of discontent and si rile. A
blundering United States Indian
service made promises to the Com-
Photo Courtesy Floyd Stufler.
CORN WAS GROUND by patient Indian women in
the~e depressions which are found in great numbers
on rocks near creeks and springs in the Panhandle.
[ t he Llano. They began to sweep
.'off the Caprock again, stealing cat-
tle and horses and killing families
If it was necessary.
In December an advance column
under the direction of Gen. George
Custer marched into the valley of
the Washita near the Texas-Okla-
homa line. They destroyed the vil-
lage of the Cheyenne chief, Black
Kettle, and fought a large party of
Kiowa and Comanche warriors
who came to the aid of their Chey-
enne friends. A large number of
Indian women and children were
massacred by the white soldiers.
In 1870 the Indian department
under Quaker Laurie Tatum ad-
mitted they could do nothing with
the Indians and called in the army.
To Col. R. S. Mackenzie was as-
signed the task of subjugating the
savages. In October, 1371, he en-
tered Indian territory with a force
of about 600 men.
At. camp on the Fresh Water
Fork of the Brazos, the Comanches
in a night attack surprised Mac-
kenzie, stampeded his horses, and
caused him to lose several of them.
Later, an advance column of his
force attacked the savages near
the mouth of Blanco Canyon.
Quanah Parker and the Kwahadi
fought off the soldiers until all the
women and children had escaped.
Mackenzie pursued the Indians up
the canyons and onto the high
plains on either side. A norther
I swept down and forced Mackenzie
to give up the chase. Quanah Park-
er end his Kwahadis escaped by
! marching across the Llano, pro-
tected by a blinding fog of cold
i snow and rain. (19).
The "colonial expansion" con-
tinued. The soldiers continued their
Fork of Red River near the pres-
ent town of McLean. Here he came
upon a village of some 262 lodges
placed snugly among the cotton-
woods. in the valley of the creek,
about seven miles from its mouth.
Though taken by surprise, the Kwa-
hadi and Kiowa fought with their
usual desperation and courage. The
battle lasted about 30 minutes, at.
the end of which time the village
was in the hands of Mackenzie, and
about 180 Comanches were cap-
tured. More t.han 20 warriors were
killed, but. most of the braves es-
caped. Mackenzie lost three men
killed and several wounded. The
lodges were burned and a large
number of horses takpn. That night,
the Indians managed to stampede
the herd, recovering all their horses
in addition to some that, belonged to
Mackenzie. The dlsgus'ed Mac-
kenzie vowed that never again would
he try to hold the horses of the
Kwahadi. Hcnceforth he would
shoot them.
A wary sort of peace descended
on the IJano. There were a few
depredations, but the Indians,
smarting under the defeat at Mc-
Clellan's Creek, staved close to the
reservation, listening to the inevit-
able council of conservatism as
taught by all the old men. People
on the reservation began to breathe
easier.
But not for long. In 1874, under
the guidance of a young medicine
man named I'satal, a man suppos-
edly possesed of supernatural pow-
ers, the Indians decided to attack
the buffalo hunters. The very peo-
ple who represented the despolia-
tion of their land were responsible
in a large measure for their being
wards of the government.
Heretofore the Cimmaron had
L.ano tribes,
bv seasoned
white and In-
e hostiles. Thev
Through the
m til t.he first
paign
of th
recro;
Some Historians of the Plains Region
other. Sometimes two
pie can be seen when it Is known
bands linked their common causes that most of them had only one wife,
end cooperated on some undertak-I The average man could not supply
ing. The fact that there were sev- ! more than one family with enough
eral independent tribal divisions game to sustain them. The num-
with no general government, often | ber of women was about equal to
caused the Comanche to be charged ;(hat of the men, and this did not
unjustly wilh treaty violations. (5), permit a great deal of polygamy.
Among the bands there were slight! Wives were generally purchased out-
differences in language or in cer-j right, with horses being used as a
tain dances For instance, (he Pen- sort, of non-inflatable currency,
etekas (Southern Comanche) pro- j War was the principal occupation
nounccd their words more slowly of the Comanche. In organizing
them have achieved national repu-| inquiry Professor Sheffy gave me tainly no greater than those claimed
tation and made the country of the name of about everybody in the !^or the land.
which they have written known to Professor Sheffy chase to turn to
the whole nation and even abroad. some in .1,8 sk .. - R0WS an(j horses as a subject for
Those who have won distinction ;that shouId not be overlooked- 'nien : later writing. In "The Cattleman"
have done so because they have told j he added: "I feel that it would re- ; for March, 1928, he published "A
the story of their own country. They j quire quite a stretch of the lmagin- ! History of the Purebred in the
have written about the plains while ation for me to be Included in such
a list. I shall not feel offended in
the least, therefore, if after you start
to write your article, you find that I
cannot make the grade." The trou-
ble with Sheffy is that he meant
that and all who know him know
he meant it,. In one of his stories
the pioneers were still alive to say
whether they told the truth. The
fact that thev began so early has
made their work difficult.. The ma-
terials were and are still scattered,
to be had only by much travel and
hard labor. These historians can-
not shut themselves up in a library
Southwest." In the American Here-
ford Journal!.' for October, 1986, he
had an article on "British Pounds
and Purpbreds." He thinks his story '
of "The Spanish Horse on the Great
Plains." published in "The Panhan-
dle Plains Historical Review" in
1933. is his most important contri-
bution. He admits he is working on
and hatch out a book. They have ; O. Henry described just, such a char- something now, but declines to stale
than the Kwahadi
the Panhandle.
Comanches of ! parties the fighting was voluntary.
[ Of course, if any brave absented
• • I himself for any length of time from j
a shaky peace was j the war trail, he would have been j
met with the same disdain as a 1914 I
conscientious objector in a Legion \
convention. War parties usually met |
stealing parties. Comanche men- j
tality was too simple to figure out j
the ethics of stealing horses from
white men who had ruined his food
In about 1786
established with the New Mexicans
on the western fringe of tho Llano.
From then on a constant stream
of Comancheros, or Indian traders,
packed Into the Panhandle and ad-
jacent territory, bringing with them
horses, guns, ammunition, metal ar
rowheads, lance points and whiskey, supply by violation of at least three
They traded mostly with the j treaties. Perhaps in his simple way
Kwahadi. 'he red man figured that, the horses
The Kwahadi made (he Llano F.s- i of the white man belonged to them
♦ncadO their home. The word Kwa- as much as the buffalo belonged to
had! is Comanche for antelope. I the white hunters.
These savages were the most power- i Their religious beliefs were ric-
ful of the Comanches. Their re- ! fined. Tho great spirit was the
moteness and Inaccessibility made sun The Comanches sometimes
them the last, to go into the reser- I called the sun "father," while the
ration. It was in their homeland, j earth was "mother"—a singularly
the Llano, that the curtain was! poetic differentiation. When smok-
drawn on the last Indian uprisings, j ing, the first puff was blown to the
No careful study of the Comanche sun, the second to the earth. The
has ever been made by a trained j sun was not worshipped so much
ethnologist. Jt is known, however, as the greater creator or father of
that these Indians were comparative j the Comanche rare who lived bc-
newcomers to the Plains. A migrn- yond the sun, a deity of gigantic
tory people who did not, rrmain In size who would never die.
one place for any length of time, j * * *
they transported their belongings Tn the first contacts with white
by means of Ihe horse and travols (a men the Comanches were friendly.)
V-shaped frame with an intervening I Several broken treaties engendered j
section of net or wood upon which a deep distrust in the minds of the ,
the load was placed; Hie ends of the red men against, their white "broih- [
V dragging along the ground like j era." Along the borders there be- j
sled runners). It is likely they were • gan a series of raids and counter
nomads before the advent of the | raids. The Texas Rangers were or-
horse, using the dog as a beast of ganlzed in Southern Texas to com-
burden. (6). I bat the Indians in their forays. In
It Is not known when the Co- the north, the Kwahadi remained
manche first acquired horses. The aloof from contact with the whites
Kiowa were mounted by 1682. The fin their hunting grounds on the
Comanche by 1714. How much Llano. The Southern Comanche
earlier than this we cannot say. It is | quickly became degraded anil did
known however, that by 1784 the j not fare so well as his brothers to
dispersion of horses throughout tlie the nor'h. The white man's lnvin-
Bv WALTER PRESC'OTT WEBB
Author of "The Great Plains"
Editor John McCarty paid me
the compliment of asking me to
write something: for this edition
of The Globe-News. He took a
long: chance by stating: that he
would accept anything: I wrote.
This proves him to he the best
editor I have ever known because
no other one has allowed me such
latitude. I always knew that this
Amarillo crowd was a courageous
outfit. In the old days they were
willing: to tackle anything: from
faro to farming:. In the last few
years they have tried the stock
market. Mary Garden and Col-
onel Lindbergh, and according to
my Information, they came out
second best in only one encount-
er. I'll leave it to them and the
readers to pick their one loss.
Tho subject that I selected stands
as the heading of this story. It
may appear a little curious amid fill
the accounts of cowboys, gunfights,
early Plains expeditions, and other
pioneer narratives that surround it
in these pages. As a matter rf fact,
the subject is very appropriate be-
cause this edition is Itself a his-
torical work. These special editions
are much sought after bv history
students and they insure the preser-
vation of much valuable material
that would be last otherwise.
Historians are not accustomed to ' all the people who have written on sents. At. the annual meetings it darri, Colorado Record and Sweet
to go out, among the people, talk to acter. O. Henry said that the world
those who carry the lore of the com- ! stood on the hack of a turtle, the
munlt^ only In their heads, ran- turtle stood oil ft board walk, and
sack allies and cellars, and thenithe board walk was held up by a
tell the story so that, they won't, be man such a. man as L. F. Sheffy.
shot by those they write about, So there you are, Mr. Sheffy. at, the
These historians are real pioneers head of the list. If you don't like
and some of t.hem have done much
of the hard work of pioneers and
taken some of the risks. Their skill
is attested by the fact that, none has
been shot and many have won na-
tional recognition. Incidentally I
happen to know that some of these
plains historians have at limes had
my arrangement, you can make
list of your own.
I am not sure that Sheffy found
what, it, is on the ground that its
completion lies too far in the fu-
ture. If the writings of t.he Plains
authors should be weighed on scales,
Sheffy's would not be the weighti-
est. The service he has rendered to
the writing and preservation of
Plains history Is of the sort that can
not be measured by a balance.
From here on I shall make no at-
ed t.he Panhandle-Plains Historical tempt to rank these historians. They
Societ.v, but I do know that he has
contributed greatly to its success.
He edits The Panhandle-Plains
Historical Review and sees that it
to carry at, least two articles marie hoMs up a high standard. I don't
by Remington. To their credit be krmw that he founded the museum
it said rnat tney have only used the | at. canyon, but. 1 know that he works
typewriter. constantly to make it, reflect the cul-
arc put down as they come to hand.
Dean of "West Texas Historians
Judge R. c. Cran© of Sweetwater
has been called the dean of West
! Texas historians. Long before there
ras much historical sctivit.v be-
gan contributing articles to The Dal-
las News. Fort Worth Star Telegram,
It is imposible for me to list here j ture of the great region it repre- Abilene Reporter. San Angeio Stan-
having themselves written up in
newspapers and I suppose that this
is Ihe first time that, they were ever
treated as a group in a sperial edi-
tion. There are several good rea-
sons for including them here. In
the first place, the Great Plains
region of Texas, what is commonly
called West Texas, is remarkable for
the large number of able historians
who have done and are doing out-
standing work. Despite the fact
that, the country Is new and the pop-
ulation still comparatively sparse,
one can name a large number of
men and women who have dis-
tinguished themselves as historical
students and writers. Several of
! water Reporter. In 1935 he publish-
ed "Some Early History of the Pan-
i handle-Plains Region" in The Pan-
j handle-Plains Historical Review. He
! has contributed to The Southwest-
ern Historical Quarterly, and the
{ West Texas Historical Year Book. At
present he is working on "The Me-
some phase of Plains and West Tex- i is he who keeps the program mov-
as history. Mv time and the erii- Ing and does it in such a manner
tor's space were both limited. In that, people who do not, know bet-
some cases I could not, locale the ter think it is moving of its own
Individuals; some I did not, know; accord.
and a few did not, respond to my In- Professor Sheffy prepared to be
quiry. Therefore the incomplete- a plains historian by specializing in
ness of this account. medieval history For his thesis he
L. F. Sheffy Gets Accolade wrote on "Tile Use of the Holy Lance chanics of the Establishment of the
The first man I am going to put in the First Crusade." My guess is University of Texas and the First
on the list is L. F. Sheffy, professor that Sheffy found a deal of fraud Normal College."
of history at State Teachers' Col- , mixed up with that lance. The un- Judge Crane states that 20 years
lege at Canyon. I am putting him ! derstanding he gained in this study j ago he could find no one who had
first because of the quiet service and | should induce him to investigate j any knowledge of West Texas his-
t.ha great service he has done and some of the early land promotion tory. There was some knowledge of
because of an innate modesty that schemes when the Plains was being the incident at Adobe Walls, and
probably would lead him to put him- ; opened up to agriculture. The vir- ! Judge Crane believed that the farts
self down last. In response to my j tues claimed for the lance were cer- j about this affair had not been prop-
erly presented. He began to inves-
tigate the route of the Butterfleld
Trail, Baldwin's wagon train, and
scores of other subjects. In addi-
tion to being dean of West Texas
historians, he Is the most respected
critic. If any one makes an error
in or about West. Texas, Judge Crane
is almost sure to recognize it and
to point It out. His knowledge of
evidence gained from the practice
of law has been of great service to
him and has enabled him to pass
judgment on the work of others.
Richardson Knows Comanches
Rupert. N Richardson belongs to
Hardin-Simmons University a? Aoi-
lene. He holds a. numb"r of de-
grees but has never hung anv of
them on the wall. In addition to
serving as vice president, of Hardin-
Simmons, he has written numerous
magazine articles and a definite
history of the Indians that origin-
ally pos.sessed the Panhandle. The
Comanche Barrier to the South
Plains Settlement was published in
1933 and has been Justly rcrognized
as a standard work. He collaborated
with Professor C. C. Rister In "The
Greater Southwest," published in
1934. Since 1931 Richardson has
hpjnn r\i
the West Texas Historical Associa-
tion. At present he Is writing a his-
tory of Texas and "giving some at-
tention to the peopling of the
Plains." He is to be commended for
that, because some people have writ-
ten a history of Texas and over-
looked the Plains entirely.
Professor Richardson's statement
as to why he likes Plains history is
worth quoting as it represents the
views of others;
Plains history Is both old and
new. Here the frontier rested
longest. Then, at last, it was dis-
pelled in a marvelously brief
period after the forces of otir lale
nineteenth century civilization
were set against it. It is a land
of mystery, a land unique and
(Continued on Page 18)
Plains was completed. (7). All the
Panhandle tribes became horse cul-
tures.
On horseback, the Comanche be-
cible weapons- smallpox, starvation,
syphilis unci whiskey—proved the
undoing of many South Texas tribes.
In 183G Chief Traveling Wolf told
Came the most formidable Indian Major LeGrand that he believed the
to be found anywhere on the aiht- I ultimate dc.slre of the white men
Iran frontier. After penetrating the was lo drive the Indians out of the
High Plains from the north, he country. Tills proved to be a
drove the Apache off the Plains and j prophctic vision. In less than a
Into Mexico and Arizona. Then for
* long period he fought the Kiowa.
• I
Like the Comanche, the Kiowa
and the Kiowa-Apache were mi-
grating along the old trail at the
loot of the Rockies. The same trail
hundred years their homeland had
been taken away fiom them.
When the great migration of 1849
began the emigrants broke through
at new places or over old trails
w'i|ch had been abandoned. In that,
year gome three thousand persons
II. B. CARROLL
Director of social sciences. Eas-
tern New Mexico .Junior College,
Port ale*. Authority on Texan
.Santa l « Expedition.
WIM.IAM CURRY IIOMH.N
Professor of History, Texas
Terli nolof> ical College, I.ubloiek.
Author of "AlltaJI Trails, I'h«
Spur Ranch."
EARNEST SHEARER
Of Amarillo. Head of the his-
tory department of Amarillo Jun-
ior College and author of a thesis
on Potter County.
L F. SHEFFY
Professor of history and secre-
tary of The Panhandle Plaint
Historical Society at Canyon.
11R. WALTER PRESCOTT WEBB
The writer, also the author of
"Ihe (ireat Plains." I)r. IVehb
Is * member of th« faculty of the
University of Texas, Austin.
<8
been regarded as the deadline south
of which no hunter was supposed
to go. The United States maintain-
ed an inadequate patrol along the
border to aid the Indians in keeping
out intruders. The country north
of the Cimmaron, however, had been
depleted of buffalo, so the hunters
moved south into the Panhandle, in
violation of treaties marie by the
government with the Indians
A party of hunters, Including the
famous scout, Billy Dixon, with Bat
Ma.sterson, had established head-
quarters near the ruins of Bent's
old adobe buildings In the summer
of 1R74. J,er| by Quanah Parker, a
party of Kiowa, Chevenne and Com-
anche attacked the jyift, on the
morning of June 27 Just before day-
light. The battle of Adobe Wafts
followed. After charging and coun-
ter-charging against the weli-fortl-
fieri hunt.er.s, the Comanche retreat-
ed leaving several dead. (20;.
The buffalo hunters, encouraged
by rhi• small victory began to swarm
onto the plain? The wholesale
slaughter of buffalo reached a new
high. Bv 1881 the "great kill" was
over and the bison became almost
cxtinct.
In a series of marches and coun-
termarches a cross the Llano, com-
panies of the army under Col. Nel-
son A. Miles, Maior Price. Colonel
B .°H and the veteran Mackenzie
continued the campaign of killing
and punishing the
Troopfi commanded
plainsmen with bot
i riian scouts trailed t
allowed them no re
hot months and
northers camr tl e war was pushed
Dei a! .• of the cam-
re difficult, to follow. Trails
different forces crossed and
d each other.
Mi pr struck the Indians on the
Washita, pursued them for a week,
atuckeri them near Bed River, and
chased the*,- into Tule Canyon. This
was a band of Cheyennes number-
ing about 250. Bpt ween the Sweet-
water Creek of t.he Red River and
•he Washita. Major Price met and
defeated some :,y) 1 >d;ans r ~cpt,.
12. On Sept.. ?a tc,, - ,5Ut
to flight a large Indian vll - e' in
'he Palo Duro Canyon, and' this
time a large number of horses that
taken were kil:rd In order that
they might not be stampeded and
retaken.
Now Miles, from a position on Mc-
CleJIan's Crep^ sent scouts Billy
Dixon and Amos Chapman with four
i enlisted men to Camp Supply. At
sunrise of the second dav out the
party was surrounded by a part.v of
Comanche and Kiowa on a divide
between 'he Washita River and
Gageby Creek. The white men.
though a'! were wounded, managed
:o make their way to a nearby buf-
falo wallow where they stood off the
Indians until help came.
• • •
Few Indians were killed In these
battles of the Comanche-American
war. Their mounts and supplies,
however, were so depleted that, they
could not continue their existence
on the plains. One by one they
straggled into Fort Sill. Santanta,
an old Cheyenne chief, was taken to
,the Texas prison where, heartbrok-
en and bitter, he committed suicide
! in 1878.
Raiding had practically ceased by
1875. The buffalo hunters were
| on the plains and instantly shot any
Indian with no questions asked. Col-
onel Mackenzie sold the horses
which the Indians gave him and
purchased sheep and cattle. Chil-
dren began to come to the schools.
Men went to work in the fields.
Another page in the Llanos "book
of years" had turned. A page writ-
ten with the faint ink of blood and
memories. The Llano remembers its
peoplp of courage. To the peoples
who lived before history was ever
written, the Llano was a haven of
refuge, ft rich country full of pamc
Each of these peoples who have lived
in its rolling plains have been driv-
en out by superior, stronger peoples.
But, always have the people of the
Llano fought with "last, ditch" cour-
age to hold that which was most
: dear to them. Ancient Folsom man
and his restless bravery In attack-
ing the huge elephant armed only
with a cruri0 stone-tipped spear, th°
unknown tribe who settled on t.he
banks of the Canylian and built
homes In t.he wilderness and
watched the corn grow g'"een along
1 the river flood plains. The Llano
tribes who have heard the thunder
j of war horse s hoofs In their ears,
have known the dark morning hours
when ihe plains were a great etern-
ity of distance, titanic, dwarfing
j tiny figures of copper colored men
and shaggv bison. The land j* oKnijt
the men who have lived on the
l.iano All about, them is the dark
-urf of the land, old, timeless, and
full of secrets. Few people realize
the effect which the physical en-
| vironment may have on the group
personality of a people. That it has
had a grea' and lasting effect on the
■lecipie of the plains, can be se«n by
following the history of Its people.
Those • to stayed for any length of
time on me Llano have learnea the
lessons that, it teaches so well—cour-
age fa t: persistence, and—Just *
! little—ruthlessness.
• • •
(1) Wissler, "The American In-
dian," 309, 409.
2> Grinnell, 'Fourteenth Annual
Report of the Bureau of American
| Ethnology.' part 1, 1R2.
31 Richardson, "The Comanche
Barrier to South Plains Settle-
ment," 19.
4t Mooney "Handbook of the
' American Indians North of Mexico."
15) B.irhardson, op, cit.
<6i wissler. op. cit.
• 71 Webb, "TTie Great Plains,"
57.
18> Moonev "Calendar History of
the Kiowa Indians "
(9> Dobie "Voices of the Monte."
' 10) Grinnell The Fighting
Cheyennes." 1, 39-40.
IL Catlln, "North American In-
dians," 11, 74; Wissler, op. elt. 41.
112' Bieber, "Southwestern Trails
to California," 360.
(13 George Bent, quoted br Grin-
nell, "The Fighting Cheyennes," 110,
(141 Richardson, op. cit., 202.
i (15) Richard, on, op cit.
(16) Carson to Carleton. Dee. Jtl,
18R4, "War of the Rebellion, Official
I Records," series 1, vol XLVI, part 1,
| 943,
j 171 B ,rton, "A History of the JA
j Ranch," fl5,
(18) Quotation of Charles Oood-
] night, J Evetts Haley, "The XIT
Ranch of Texas," 2fi.
(19) Richardson, op. cit,
<20i Dixon, "The Life of Billy
Dixon."
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Amarillo Sunday News-Globe (Amarillo, Tex.), Vol. 13, No. 33, Ed. 1 Sunday, August 14, 1938, newspaper, August 14, 1938; Amarillo, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth299921/m1/41/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hutchinson County Library, Borger Branch.