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Nope, that was Isha-tai (spelling?). I forgot, another area where Gwynne excels is he follows what happened to the Comanche in the reservation era. Isha-tai, fine salesman that he must have been, became heavily involved in reservation politics, IIRC actually ran against Quanah Parker in tribal elections more than once.



Nope, not talking about the famous trauma cases (Matilda Lockhart also being an example). In this case the former captive had to flee with her kin to Houston and died of exposure-related causes en-route.

To add perspective, by 1860 the population of Texas was about 600,000. Moving close to Indian Country was about like visiting Border Mexico today, most people simply didn't do it and by then only a tiny fraction of Texans were subject to Indian Raids. Most were far more at risk from the bad element among other Texans.

Which is probably why there was never a response to Indian raids proportionate to the actual Texas population. That was left largely to the Army and to a tiny handful of Rangers. Nothing like the massive state-wide voluntary mobilization of manpower that came with secession for example.

It was about 1860 that the Comanches took up rounding up Texas cattle in a big way. Imagine for a moment how un-opposed you have to be to actually walk off (literally) driving a herd of cattle; ten miles a day leaving a trail so obvious even a Yankee could follow it.

By the 1870's, with the decline of the buffalo, MOST "Commanch" were living a sort of pastoral economy, camps surrounded by cattle herds. By 1874 MOST of the surviving "Commanch" were living on reservations in Oklahoma.

That summer perhaps a hundred of their young men still out actually held a sort of sun dance, a Northern Plains custom previously unknown to the participating Kiowa and Comanches.

After this ad-hoc spiritual affair, born of desperation, the disorganized group largely disbanded. Some went home, others, overruling Quanah Parker's desire to go against the fearsome Tonkawas, opted to go against the buffalo camp at Adobe Walls instead.

They weren't the first nor the last group of mounted cavalry to make the mistake of going up against entrenched riflemen. Indeed, the rifle ruled Plains combat, had ever since the Eastern Tribes first brung 'em out there in numbers maybe a hundred years before.

Birdwatcher

Not to hijack Teal's thread, but there is an incredible amount of western history in Kansas City. If you like the cowboy era, Wichita or Fort Worth is probably more intensive in that specific area, but for an array of western history...cowboy plus fur trade, Indian, southwestern, commerce of the prairies, steamboats, railroads, War Between the States, Indian Wars, etc., I don't know if Kansas City can be beaten. Perhaps the biggest thing is the Immigration aspect. So many trails originating in and around Kansas City.

When I was a kid, there was what I'd characterize as a strip mall...shopping center. Kind of a forerunner of the mall as we know it today, in Mission, one of the towns making up KC metro. It was Mission style as is a lot of the stuff in KC. It had these ultra-cool inset tiles with scenes depicting the west in the area. Wagons, frontiersmen, bull whackers and the like. At some point, they got covered over, broken or something. I was up there a few days back and spied either one remaining or one they had reproduced.

Yup! Very true! Henri Joutel stated that the first thing that wore out at Ft. St. Louis were there shoes! They went to making ersatz mocs made out of green buff hides. They had to stand on water for hours to get them soft enough to remove from their feet!

I have a copy of Undaunted Courage by Ambrose and really enjoyed the parts of it in the middle that detailed the actual expedition into the west. The encounters with grizzly bears from their journal entries were very entertaining. They were warned by the Indians as to the fierceness of the bears, but did not believe them. Didn't take long for that to change. Also their description of the land, masses and herds of wildlife and the dealings with the indian tribes.
AB

...and the fact they were guided halfway across the Continent by an illiterate teenage girl carrying an infant. When they happened to encounter a couple of her brothers later on they were golden, and got directions for the rest of the way.

without a doubt. they gained tremendous respect for her bravery, and invaluable presence.

Another vote for the journals of Lewis amd Clark. There were several members that kept journals but I like the one by Patrick Gass the best. He was more consistent in day by day writing.

Here's a book about an expedition in the mid 1800's through the old west. I've posted a link to it here at the Campfire a few times in the past. Maybe some will find it interesting. http://mtmen.org/mtman/html/sage/index.html

"... Introduction to Rufus Sage's Rocky Mountain Life

Rufus Sage wandered in the Rocky Mountains from 1841 to 1843. He travelled extensively in the major fur trapping regions, and associated with trappers, traders, indians, hunters, and soldiers.
He published his journal of his travels in 1846. Unlike many contemporary journalists, Sage provided detailed descriptions of the everyday activities of the "mountaineers".

Bibliographical Information
Author: Sage, Rufus, 1817-1893.
Title: Rocky Mountain Life, or, Startling Scenes and Perilous
Adventures in the Far West, During an Expedition of
Three Years.
Published: Wentworth & Company, Boston, 1857
Notes: Originally published as "Scenes in the Rocky Mountains",
by Carey & Hart, 1846."...


If you don't feel like reading the entire book, at the above link scroll down to the bottom of the page where it says "Bookmarks - Links to interesting sections of the text".

"Life In The Far West" and "Adventures In Mexico and the Rocky Mountains" George F. Ruxton. Ruxton has road named for him at Manitou Springs CO.

Another one that just occurred to me that hasn't been touched on I think is titled "Beyond the Hundreth Meridian" about John Wesley Powell's expedition down the Colorado River.

Links below to a pair of books dealing with the famous meteorite and the Freeman-Custus expedition. Going to get Flores , Anthony Glass Journal of an Indian Trader first! Looks like a very interesting read!

http://books.google.com/books?id=hP...tput=html_text&source=gbs_navlinks_s

http://www.tamupress.com/product/Journal-of-an-Indian-Trader,979.aspx

I recently received FIREARMS, TRAPS AND TOOLS OF MOUNTAIN MEN A GUIDE TO THE EQUIPMENT OF THE TRAPPERS AND FUR TRADERS WHO OPENED THE OLD WEST. Despite the length of the title this appears to be a stellar work written by Carl P. Russell. There are separate chapters on axes, rifles, knives, traps and firestarters. Great descriptions on how things were made and used abound. This book is truly a text and I am enjoying it greatly.
Thanks to all of you who have made suggestions, my list is growing and I will soon be making another big order to Amazon.

mike r.

Also extremely important was the fact that Lewis & Clark were able to get horses from Sacajawea's brother and his Shoshone tribal members. Without those horses, the very strong odds of Lewis & Clark ever getting on beyond the Rocky Mountains were very slim.

L.W.

Mike! That book is an old stand-by! Good book! I think my old dog-ears copy is over 30 years old!

Yes, a very interesting book. I've had a copy for about 30 years or so. It's from the University of New Mexico Press, �1977, Alfred A. Knopf Publs. �1967, if anyone is searching for it.

Several references have been made here about "Bent's Fort," on the upper Arkansas River in what today is southern Colorado. Bent's Fort was an extremely important fur trading post dealing both with the central Rocky Mountain fur trappers and the trappers from the southern Rocky Mountains of New Mexico, etc. It was instrumental too in the freight trade from Westport, on the Missouri River near what today is Kansas City, to Santa Fe.

Check around and see if you can find a copy of Bent's Fort, by David Lavender, Doubleday and Co, Inc. Publs., �1954. You won't be disappointed.

L.W.

Currently re-reading "The Old Santa Fe Trail" Stanley Vestal. "The Taos Trappers" David Weber. "Narrative of the Adventures of Zenas Leonard" by ZL.

David Weber history Dept SMU, is one of THE authorities on colonial North American Spanish History! Very thorough author.

Howdy EE.

Not to start a fight....but those injuns were wusses compared to the Gros Ventres that Jim Bridger enjoyed killing with his flintlock in today's western Wyoming and SW Montana. The scene from "Centennial" where Pasquinel had the arrowhead cut out of his back is based on Bridger's own situation. TOUGH.

http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk266/dfly57/geocache/bth_20070317-300px-Jim_Bridger.jpg

http://www.america101.us/trail/FtBridger_files/shapeimage_3.png

http://media.smithsonianmag.com/images/James-Bridger-5.jpg

As the story goes, John Colter fought with a group a Shoshones (or was it Flatheads) against a Gros Ventre tribe in the very early 1800's after his separation from L & C. And the Gros Ventres noticed him in the skirmish as a white man. From that day on..........they were aggressive and viscious and murderous toward all white men.

If you've ever seen the ridiculously stupid movie "The Mtn Men" with Heston and Keith...........the scene where the Blackfeet chase Heston naked into a beaver dam with him killing the one with the spear in his "run for life" is based on John Colter's own story. Colter showed up naked and starving at a crude fort on the Missouri 300 miles downstream. Resupplied........and then went back for more. Now that's TOUGH.

Wow.

Plus.....'ol Jim had a song written about him, LOL.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53-utjVZPtA&feature=player_detailpage#t=8