The Comanche people roamed the southern Great Plains of North America in the 18th and 19th centuries. As one of the first Native American tribes to use horses extensively, the Comanche set the pattern for the nomadic lifestyle typical of the Plains Indians.

Society and culture

The Comanche were loosely organized in about 12 independent bands, or groups. These bands lacked the clans, military societies, and tribal government of most other Plains Indians. The Comanche also did not perform rituals or ceremonies to the extent of other tribes.

The lifestyle of the Comanche changed after the Spanish brought horses to North America in the 17th century. The Comanche became skilled horse breeders and began to roam over a wide territory. Comanche raids for goods and captives carried them as far south as Durango in north-central Mexico. During their travels they introduced other tribes to the use of horses through trade.

The Comanche used their horses to hunt buffalo. They ate buffalo meat and used the animals' hides for clothing and coverings for their tepees.

History

The Comanche were a branch of the Shoshone people of Wyoming. The Comanche moved southward in stages, attacking and displacing other Plains tribes, including the warlike Apache. By the early 1800s the Comanche had become a powerful tribe numbering about 7,000 to 10,000.

In the mid–19th century the southern branch of the Comanche were settled on a reservation in the Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). The northern branch of the tribe continued the struggle to protect its hunting grounds against white settlers. In 1864 the famous frontiersman Kit Carson led United States forces in an unsuccessful campaign against the tribe.

In 1865 the Comanche and their allies the Kiowa signed a treaty with the United States that gave the tribes land in what is now western Oklahoma. The government failed to abide by the terms of the treaty, however, and hostilities between the tribes and white settlers resumed. In 1867 the Comanche and the Kiowa agreed to settle on a reservation in Oklahoma. The government, however, failed to keep white settlers out of the area. Over the next several years many Comanche were killed in battles with federal troops. In the late 20th century about 3,000 Comanche lived on private lands in the area of Lawton, Oklahoma.