May 26th, 1839. Present site of Temple TX.
Ranger Captain John Bird and around thirty companions were ina fight with around 300 Indians, mostly Comanches.
The rangers had found cover in a steep-sided creek bed and a sort of standoff ensued, the Indians being kept at bay because of the rangers’ rifles (revolvers were not yet common). No women and children were involved here, no reason for undue heroics on either side.
At one point accounts have it that Captain Bird, age 44 and a veteran Indian fighter boldly climbed out of the ravine “to encourage his men”. I suspect rude gestures and comments about parentage between the opposing parties may have also been involved.
I dunno how many Comanches spoke English back then, and it seems improbable that Bird would speak Comanche. I also dunno if the Comanche language has enough bad words in it. So it is possible that Spanish was employed as it has been estimated that by that year about one-third of the Comanches had a Spanish-speaking parent at home in the lodge. Spanish does have a variety of suitable terms.
Standing out in the open, Bird was an obvious target but just as obviously he must have felt the distance between parties was such to afford a level of safety, he presumably weren’t intending to commit suicide.
Captain Bird was felled by a single arrow fired from extreme range, struck him in the heart and dropped him instantly.The other rangers said that arrow was launched from 200 yards out. If accurate, that was the longest recorded bow fatality in North American history.
Figure a flat iron or stone arrowhead, wooden shaft maybe fledged with turkey feathers, probable fairly short composite bow.
What kind of draw weight would be needed to launch an arrow 200 yards?
