![]() Outbreaks of smallpox (1817, 1848) and cholera (1849) took a major toll on the Comanche, whose population dropped from an estimated 20,000 in mid-century to just a few thousand by the 1870s. While the Comanche managed to maintain their independence and increase their territory, by the mid-19th century they faced annihilation because of a wave of epidemics due to Eurasian diseases to which they had no immunity, such as smallpox and measles. His efforts were thwarted when the Texas legislature refused to create an official boundary between Texas and the Comancheria. At one point, Sam Houston, president of the newly created Republic of Texas, almost succeeded in reaching a peace treaty with the Comanche. Similarly, they were, at one time or another, at war with virtually every other Native American group living in the Great Plains, leaving opportunities for political maneuvering by European colonial powers and the United States. The Comanche were valued as trading partners but were feared for their raids. The Comanche maintained an ambiguous relationship with Europeans and later settlers attempting to colonize their territory. The majority of Comanche raids into Mexico were in the state of Chihuahua and neighboring northern states. This led to the term "Comanche Moon," during which the Comanche raided for horses, captives, and weapons. Comanche raids into Mexico traditionally took place during the full moon, when the Comanche could see to ride at night. Warfare was a major part of Comanche life. They were formidable opponents who developed strategies for using traditional weapons on horseback. Their stealing of livestock from Spanish and American settlers, as well as the other Plains tribes, often led to war. The Comanche had stolen many of the horses from other tribes and settlers they earned their reputation as formidable horse, and later, cattle thieves. By the mid-19th century, the Comanche were supplying horses to French and American traders and settlers and later to migrants passing through their territory on the way to the California Gold Rush. Some scholars have suggested the Comanche broke away from the Shoshone and moved southward to search for additional sources of horses among the settlers of New Spain to the south (rather than search for new herds of buffalo.) The Comanche may have been the first group of Plains natives to fully incorporate the horse into their culture and to have introduced the animal to the other Plains peoples. ![]() The horse was a key element in the emergence of a distinctive Comanche culture. These groups shared the same language and culture, and rarely fought each other. ![]() The Comanche never formed a single cohesive tribal unit but were divided into almost a dozen autonomous groups, called bands. During that time, their population increased dramatically because of the abundance of buffalo, an influx of Shoshone migrants, and the adoption of significant numbers of women and children taken captive from rival groups. Their original migration took them to the southern Great Plains, into a sweep of territory extending from the Arkansas River to central Texas. This coincided with their acquisition of the horse, which allowed them greater mobility in their search for better hunting grounds. The Comanche emerged as a distinct group shortly before 1700, when they broke off from the Shoshone people and began living along the upper Platte River in Wyoming.
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