When you think about the American west, the history, culture, landscape, monuments, and iconography is filled with the presence and clash of two civilizations: the Native American Indian and frontier settler. Even for those of us who live east of the Mississippi, the influence of the Native American Indians, in history historical events and present-day nomenclature, is still evident. However, despite the lingering influence, to those of us who are not a part of the native tribes, little is known. And that which is known is a thinly understood remnant of historical lore.
Though now relegated to tribal living on reservations or assimilation into the broader American culture, it wasn’t more than 150 years ago at the plains Indians roamed the American west. Among the plains tribes, the Comanche Indians, composed of multiple nomadic bands, lived, and roamed in what is now modern-day, Texas, New Mexico, southern Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma. They gained their ascendancy to power due to the introduction of horses by the Spanish in 1600s and 1700s. They rose to the heights of power in the early 1800s. However, the century that followed marked the decline and ultimate fall of the Comanche tribe owing to the westward expansion of a pioneering nation motivated by manifest destiny.
In this book, the S.C. Gwynne documents Comanche tribe from its early days of conflict with the Spanish all the way to its assimilation into broader American life. The Comanches were a nomadic, buffalo hunting tribe but known to be expert horsemen and were notorious for brutal raids on local villages and settlements. During a famous raid at Parker's fort in Texas, they captured a young girl named Cynthia Ann Parker. Though it wasn't known at the time, this young captive would profoundly influence the remaining history of the Comanche Nation.
I found this book fascinating for several reasons.
First, it covered and discussed a topic with which I know very little. I am familiar with the difference between the woodland and the plains tribes. I am familiar with their fascination beads and feathers, that they rode horses and shot arrows... but not much more. They say that history is told from the eyes of the victor in every conflict. So much of the conversation regarding American Indians and much of what I knew prior to reading this book was likely remnants of historical lore as seen through the eyes of story tellers like Buffalo Bill Cody. So, to read an academic piece that more thoroughly explains the historical context and key figures was illuminating and refreshing.
Second, it explained the nature of the Indians and settlers and the complexity of the clash in a more thorough manner. In our own intellectual circles, we have a tendency to gravitate toward one bias or another. We tend to either view the settling of the American west and manifest destiny in a very sanitized way and as the highest, most noble ideal. The settlers are innocent civilians seeking a better and freer life on the plains where opportunity is limited only by the imagination. The Indians, then, are brutal savages that serve as the antagonist in the dramatic realization of America's destiny.
On the other side of the spectrum, some have the tendency to romanticize the Native Americans and view them as a Rousseauian embodiment of the "noble savage." That is an individual that belongs to a primitive tribe, free from the corrupting influence of modern civilization. It is the American settlers, then, that are interloping on native land and disrupting the native means of subsistence. Any form of aggression, then, is a justified act of self-defense against a land hungry aggressor.
The reality is that while both sides make some valid observations, neither side has a complete grasp on the truth. As always, history is messier than that. In fact, history is riddled with the story of civilizations that rise and fall. Those that conquer and those that are conquered. In the context of the settling of the American West, the Americans (like the Spanish before them) sought to expand into the western plains. The Comanche Indians (already a fierce tribe with savage warring practices) responded by raiding the settlements, in the process brutally torturing, raping, and pillaging - particularly horses. To support the settlements and continued westward expansion, the Texans and Americans responded by raising up the Texas Rangers and deploying the Army to suppress Indian raids and to counter raid in Indian territory.
I found this book very helpful in my own understanding of the Comanche tribe and westward expansion in the history of the American Great Plains. The author did a good job of fairly describing the history of both the frontier settlers and native Comanches. He neither glorified nor romanticized either party - but simply told the story.
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