The Comanche Indians of Texas
The Comanche Indians were great horsemen of the Southern Plains that held an important role in the history of Texas. The Comanche Indians were originally part of the Northern Shoshone tribe that wandered in the vicinity of the Great Basin, a region in the western United States. The Shoshone Indian nation were ill equipped hunters and gatherers. In the seventeenth century when the Comanche Indians obtained horses, this revolutionized their culture. They were better equipped to hunt and gather food from distances that were out of their normal range. They were able to leave the mountainous region of the Shoshone Indian nation and move to the plains just due east of Colorado and western Kansas where there was a great amount of food.
The Comanche Indians did not leave the mountainous region of the Shoshone nation as a tribe but there were many groups of family members and bands. The groups split and came together depending on the needs and goals of the individual members. There were at least thirteen different Comanche Indian bands that are identified in history but there were only five that played major roles in documented Comanche history. One of the five bands was called the Penateka or also known as the “Honey Eaters; and there range extended down to the Central Texas rivers and the Penatekas played the most imperative role in Texas history. The Comanche Indians hunting was deemed an activity to be conducted by the men of the tribe. They survived by hunting buffalo, elk, black bear, pronghorn and deer. They were highly dependent on buffalo hide for the fabrication of clothing, their feet were dressed with moccasins made from thick buffalo hide, and leggings made from the loose-fitted hides of deer skin. Their primary hunting weapon was the bow and arrow, which was typically made from a young sapling, and a quiver made from the