Yes it's a tad more complex...than the US Army being credited for driving them onto reservations. The Army was able to do so due to the lack of hunting. The Plains Indians subsisted on Buffalo and the Buffalo on the Staked Plains were literally there in 1874 and not there by 1878. Not there as in having vanished from the face of the earth.
...and yet the Comanches themselves, up until the Eastern Tribes showed up in such numbers, were able to drive out and exclude competitors from those same buffalo plains at a time when buffalo were still present in the millions across six hundred miles of country.
By 1873 the gig was up for the Comanches and time was closing in. Heck, ALL the tribes eventually gave up, even Geronimo. Turns out constant pursuit and insecurity, even if you can escape death, is an untenable way to live.
JMHO,
Birdwatcher
"Even" Geronimo? I thought one of the big points of the thread was that the Comanch actually drove those Apaches out of their territory?
The Comanch were driven to the reservation literally, by the US Army, but the Army was only one of the forces that combined to bring about the set of circumstances that made the Comanch quit the raiding lifestyle. My point is that if you want to look at THE biggest factor, it was probably the Buffalo Hunt. The soldiers just rounded them up at that point and put them on the reservation, where they had to stay because it was game over.
You're quite a historian and thinker on this subject Birdy. My hat is officially off to you.
You and your family have a happy New Year.
