MARUAWE!- WELCOME!

July 2008 Vol. 11 Issue 3

The Comanche Language & Cultural Preservation Committee

1375 N.E. Cline Road, Elgin OK 73538-3086

www.comanchelanguage.org fax: 1-580-492-5119 e-mail: clcpc@comanchelanguage.org

Editor: Barbara Goodin

Haa Tui, Haa Haitsi,

I hope you are all well and in good spirits. Our Language group recently attended the 9^{th Annual Shoshone Reunion in Fort Washakie, Wyoming. It was exciting to see our old friends (we have attended all nine of them!), and there were some of our old friends we missed.}

We listened to them talk and tell stories in their language. If you listen, you can hear them talk in Comanche.

We had a wonderful time. One day we took a side trip to Yellowstone National Park. What a sight! And our little group of elders caused quite a stir when they all sat around "Old Faithful" and started to sing Comanche Songs! A large crowd gathered and people started asking where they were from and what tribe they were. The cameras were flashing all over as people from around the world were amazed to see Comanche Indians from Oklahoma singing our beautiful songs in such a beautiful setting created by Taa Ahpu.

At the Reunion I was happy to see many more Comanches attend this year’s event, and hope they all came home wanting to learn the Comanche language. I know everyone says, "My folks use to talk to us in Comanche when we were little children…" Well, guess what? You would be a good candidate to become a fluent speaker with a little help. I don’t want to sound like a preacher, but….

Ura, Billie Kreger

I’m sure some of you are aware of Wikipedia, the online dictionary. You can find it by typing in "Wikipedia" on your Google search engine. When that page opens you will find Wikipedia with a space you can type in "Comanche language." That opens several sites that pertain to our language on Wikipedia.

It was interesting to look through some of them after a Comanche reader alerted me to the site. Apparently you can even "edit" some of the information on there. When I have time I will look through more of it and see how much misinformation has gotten onto yet another web site.

If we as Comanches see incorrect information we need to get it corrected. No one else will do it for us.

__________________________

The May-June 2008 issue of Oklahoma Today had a story about Indian Tacos, and I want to share part of it with you:

"The Indian Taco is a favorite fair treat for many Oklahomans, but its origin is anything but festive. When Native Americans were sent to reservations in the late 1800s, their rations consisted of flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and powdered milk, the key ingredients of fry bread and the base of the Indian taco.

"The resulting bread is always deep fried, then layered with meat – usually

For the last six years the Osage Nation has sponsored a National Indian Taco Championship in Pawhuska OK, with generous prizes of $1,500, $1,000 and $500 offered in two categories – Indian Tacos and Dessert Indian Tacos. This year the event was held in May, but go to www.osagetribe.com/tourism for more information.

We have a lot of excellent Comanche fry bread cooks out there, I’d like to see one of you bring that prize to Comanche Country!

___________________________

by Joseph Shunkamolah 4-18-2008

(*the following article has been circulating through cyberspace, and although my attempts to reach Mr. Shunkamolah were unsuccessful, I felt like his words are worth repeating. The Subject line read: "Finally, somebody said it…."

"I was wondering the other day why all of a sudden "Oldies" stations have become such big business on the radio and they have a lot of listeners, (and) there are different types of oldies stations also: country and western, jazz, big band, rock, metal and on and on. All I have to do is tune in to an up to date radio station and it is hard to understand what that music is all about. I switch back to the "Oldies" real quick to comfort myself with the thought that there will never be any music like that again, and it was way better than what is out there now. Sometimes when I’m driving, a war dance song will come to me and I will start it out and second myself, and if I am with one of my sons, they will second me and usually pick up the lead even if I don’t want them to. This is a comfort to me as well, as I look back on it, because I know they understand the words of the songs and they will be able to sing them when they have sons of their own, and they can look back and feel the comfort in the songs.

Lately, there have been some big changes in many of our traditional dances, songs, and just Indians in general. Pow-wows have become more of a business than the gatherings that used to bring people together to celebrate an annual event, or the celebration of the songs and the dances that used to make our ancestors feel like they were still a People. Pow-wows were a way for Indians to remember what life used to be like before the herding together of tribes onto reservations by the government, and the forced schooling and anglicizing, before we began to be acculturated into what we have now become. Don’t fool yourself, we are acculturated! I look at the internet and I am amazed at the kinds of outfits that both men and women wear at pow-wows now, the way they have made their outfits look like dancers in a Las Vegas show, with all the sequins and rhinestones, not only women, but men, too. Indians have always been adaptable people, but I’m not sure what we are adapting to, especially in our pow-wows and even in ceremonies. The big pow-wow in Albuquerque each spring brings "Indians" from all over and is "the beginning of the pow-wow season" according to the organizers, who by the way, are not Indians themselves, and the "great Native Oklahoma gathering" in Oklahoma City, (neither) of which benefit Indians, but only show them off to anyone with the price of admission. Money has become the Pavlov’s dinner bell for many of our Indian people, and

"In many places there is no longer anything called a benefit dance, or an honor dance; if you don’t have contests you don’t have a pow-wow. Even some of our ceremonial dances have changed in the past few years. I have witnessed some of those changes in our ceremonial dances in the past few years as well. I used to go to them just to get that old feeling again, looking for that good path and renewing the spirit, but we are starting to lose that as well. I remember hearing some of the old men say that when you hear a certain song memories from the old folks come back and it brings tears to your eyes and you get a lump in your throat and you remember those people and that spirit. That’s what these dances are about. It’s getting down right difficult to hear those old songs at pow-wows, and it’s getting hard to hear them at some of our ceremonial dances as well. In some places, what people don’t know they tend to make up, and pretty soon those made up things become tradition. Things stop being traditions when you stop doing them and they can not be made up to suit the situation. I miss those times and wish we could have them back. Nostalgia.

"I guess we have to switch back to the "Oldies" when we can, the new stuff doesn’t make sense. I wish I could say how to do that, but it is not up to the older people like it used to be. We have so many young people that have, for one reason or another, put themselves into a position of knowing about the old ways and want to dictate what should be done. This is another argument for assimilation, a word that used to scare us older people to death, but has now become the norm. I recently saw an article written by an Indian anthropologist that listed modern Indian people as being "Traditional," a person that knows and practices tribal ceremonies and speaks the language through five degrees to "Assimilated," a person that shows up at ceremonies with a camera and several white friends. When this was presented, younger people took it badly and disagreed vehemently, even to the point of telling this elder person that he did not know what he was talking about. So much for respecting your elders."

___________________________

On July 27, 1993, a group of Comanches met at 5:30 p.m. in the conference room of the Comanche Tribal Complex. Edward Tahhahwah Jr. served as moderator.

There was discussion on ways to restore the Comanche language and retain tribal culture.

There was a consensus that a name for the group should be adopted and officers should be elected.

Lucille McClung nominated Ronald Red Elk for president by acclamation, seconded by Martin Weryackwe Jr. Mr. Red Elk was elected by a show of hands.

Maria Peavey nominated Martin Weryackwe Jr. as vice-president, seconded by Cid Rivas. There were no other nominations and Mr. Weryackwe was elected.

Ray Niedo nominated Carla Russell as secretary/treasurer, seconded by Barbara Goodin. There were no other nominations and Ms. Russell was elected secretary/treasurer.

Eva Riddles nominated Edward Tahhahwah Jr. as Preservation Officer, seconded by Albert Nahquaddy. There were no other nominations and Mr. Tahhahwah was elected Preservation Officer.

Mr. Red Elk formally called the meeting to order, and asked Ray Niedo to give an invocation.

As this was the first meeting held, there were no previous minutes to be read. Mr. Red Elk directed Ms. Russell to check on opening a bank account for the group in anticipation of future funding. A report will be given concerning this at the next meeting.

There was discussion on developing a constitution for the group. It was decided the officers would draft a constitution and bring it before the whole group for fine tuning before adoption.

There was discussion on a name for the group. It was voted to adopt the name "The Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee."

Dr. Alice Anderton, linguist from the University of Oklahoma, spoke on developing a Comanche alphabet and spelling system. Plans were made for President Red Elk to approach the Comanche Business Committee (CBC) to officially adopt an alphabet and spelling system for the Comanche Tribe. A definite date will be set later.

A short session was held on Comanche words, with Ms. Anderton acting as facilitator.

Mr. Red Elk announced the next meeting will be held August 10, 1993, at 5:30 p.m. in the conference room. The meeting was adjourned.

Submitted by Carla Russell, secretary.

Those signing in at this meeting were:

Ronald Red Elk Ed Tahhahwah Jr.

Bud Yackeschi Carla Russell

Jo Vickers Ozzie Red Elk

Barbara Goodin Maria Peavey

Kenneth Goodin Alice Anderton

Martin Weryackwe Jr.

And:

Roderick "Dick" Red Elk* Belle Pekah*

Leonard Riddles* Eva Riddles*

Lizzie Poemeceah* Cid Rivas*

Albert Nahquaddy* Ray Niedo*

Forrest Kassanavoid* Lucille McClung*

(*all the above are now deceased. We remember each of them fondly.)

___________________________

Written by Richard Gonzales for the

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Feb 13, 2005

PFC Franklin Swimmer-McLemore, citizen of the Cherokee Nation, stood at attention before the Army lieutenant colonel asking him questions at the promotion review.

"Do you speak a second language, PFC?" the officer said.

"Yes, sir. I speak English." McLemore said.

The lieutenant colonel’s face turned red and he repeated the question. The answer was the same.

At the officer’s order to dismiss, McLemore gave a snappy salute and executed an about face, knowing that he had spoken the truth. He could never deny the language of his parents and elders.

You first language is the soul of your identity, he would tell his students who had come from miles around to recapture the Cherokee words that they had lost along the trail from Oklahoma to the big city.

Approximately 50,000 American Indians live and work in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, according to W. Keith Overstreet, family service director for the Urban Inter-Tribal Center of Texas.

Serving in Vietnam, McLemore was a loyal warrior for his country but most importantly until his death on Feb. 5, he was an activist, educator, visionary, organizer and voice for the American Indian.

Some called him the Dream Catcher.

He never forgot the forced assimilation that he and thousands of other Indian boys and girls endured while attending boarding school. The United States government decided in the late 19^{th century that Indian children should abandon Indian life and learn "American" ways.}

The children were taken from their parents and instructed not to speak Indian languages, nor wear Indian clothes and jewelry, nor dance to Indian songs, nor beat Indian drums nor practice Indian spirituality.

Their instructors, living out their Manifest Destiny dreams, cut the children’s long hair and culture.

After boarding school and his stint in the military, McLemore grew his hair long again and boldly walked and talked Indian ways. He studied the history of the American Indian and taught at area universities.

The government’s attempts to commit cultural genocide on the first Americans continued until the 1960s.

McLemore worked relentlessly to found self-help Indian organizations, such as the Tribal American Network, American Indian Chamber of Commerce, DFW American Indian Employment Council and American Indian Heritage and Business Center.

McLemore lived the Indian value of allegiance to the tribe – unlike the romantic notion of rugged individualism.

One lasting project was the production of a radio program on KNON 89.3 called "Beyond Bows and Arrows," which is in its 25th year.

McLemore explained that the American Indian program, which airs from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday, was intended to show that the Indian culture was more than the image of a howling buck on horseback wearing war paint and carrying a tomahawk.

Dennis Wahkinney, a Comanche and current (2005) producer of the program, said that McLemore encouraged him to take over the programming.

Although initially shy, Wahkinney overcame his hesitancy and learned his teacher’s courage to speak boldly about the beauty of Indian culture.

Rafael "Tall Bear" Montez, acting president of the Tribal American Network, considered McLemore his brother – and the father that he never had.

Raised as a Latino, Montez confirmed suspicions that he was really Indian when he questioned his grandmother. She told him that they were Comanche but it would be easier to find happiness and jobs if he passed for Latino.

He ignored her advice and insisted that she tell him about the Comanches.

Tall Bear teamed with McLemore and traveled to schools and military bases to teach about American Indian history and culture.

"A soldier once asked me if we still live in teepees," he said with a laugh. "A lot of Hispanics are Comanches and Apaches but they don’t realize it. When they look into it, they realize that they’re brown people and this is their land and should be proud of it."

Danny Dixon, a blue-eyed, blond haired member of Eastern Georgia Cherokee Tribe, spoke proudly about the many drops of Indian blood that course through his body.

McLemore accepted him as an Indian brother and called him affectionately in Cherokee "the man with no color."

He said that McLemore taught him the importance of questioning your elders about your identity and roots. If not, then your children will forget their language and customs.

Despite his parents’ attempt to hide his indigenous blood, Dixon, like "Tall Bear," discovered the Indian truth.

___________________________

My name is Sarah Pohocsucut and I live in Lawton. I am 73 years old. When I was a little girl, about 7 years old, Lawton came to be a little tent town.

Just about a mile from where I live, I have many playmates that we use to play in the meadow, where Lawton is.

One day we woke up and was to rush away to a playground. We saw a big tent. We thought some people had come to camp there, and (would) be going on. So my playmates told me that we wait ‘till they gone – go ‘way. So we waited then after while they started to build frame buildings. My playmates say, "They start building something. What you think they’re doing." "Well," I says, "I don’t know."

Well, after ‘while someone went to see what was going on. They come back and say, "They have a lot of thing to sell, everything is pretty over there." No tents, in frame buildings. So we go look around and see what was going on. First time I ever see a lot of white people. And then as we go on they start building a lot more houses. I could remember a street named Goo Goo Avenue. They made lots of streets, and we said, "All right we have seen what they’ve done."

We’ve been going to school at a boarding school, named Fort Sill Indian School. After a while we grow up to be young ladies. And still the people were there. We haven’t seen them go away, but they have built a big city today (1967).

I have seen a great many things happen there, that I could not describe, but it’s a wonderful thing that this great big city is here. As we have said, we went to get away from there – we go play there. But still today, I’m still waiting. So I think that today, that I ain’t waiting anymore.

I have found a big city, and I live in the city myself. My children growed up there, and mingled with white children. And I think that’s a fine thing, to give them a chance to be like them. As for me, I am getting old, and I will (be) passing on, and I have given my children their chance. They have gone to school, finished their high schools, going to college, going to armed services, and all that.

Today Lawton is one of the big cities, spreading, still spreading – west, south, east and (it) hit Fort Sill and stop there.

Way back my Indians didn’t want (to) go to reservations, all of them fought. Many of them run away. But I happen to be a member of a clan that came to the Medicine Lodge Treaty. The old chief’s name was Ten Bears. He was old, but he said, "I don’t like what you white men (are) doing to me. I don’t like it a bit." He says, "My children are going to grow up, and (I) want them to have a chance, so I will go down and sit down."

Another chief was there named Kickingbird, a Kiowa Chief, (and he) said the same thing. And they both came down from Medicine Lodge towards Fort Sill and settle down.

They came through a gap going towards Fort Sill, today this gap is a great road. Going from Lawton to Carnegie. Well, when they sat down there, the government wants Ten Bears. They find him at the gap. And the gap was known as Yaparuka Gap.

So today we are here. The Indians don’t like reservation(s). Way back we done away with our reservation and tried to live like a white man. But still we are struggling.

Ten Bears made a speech at Medicine Lodge, which was recorded as a masterpiece. And I am proud of it, because I am part of his clan.

Tonokone run away, Penetukas were brought from Texas. Wahatahs run away, so they had to be gotten by the army. But I’m glad I was one of the peaceful ones.

Our land has come to be filled with (a) lot of white people. Many, many years ago we run the whole country.

Many years ago the rivers were pretty, beautiful running water. That’s the way God created it, pure water. But today we got big lakes, today we go gas. Today we got water (and) lights when you turn it on. What a wonderful way to live.

My people, many times don’t understand. But I think if we just get ourselves together we could go and live happily. Everything is always just split. My people split, the Kiowa people were split. Everybody has two ways.

I am Sarah Pohocsucut, from Lawton, Oklahoma, and a Comanche Indian.

____________________________

In the April 2008 issue of this newsletter, we published a list of DVDs that we have accumulated over the years, and told you that you could request up to three (3) copies of any of the DVDs. We filled quite a few requests, and would like to remind you that you can again order another three copies if you like. The full list appears in the April 2008 issue, but you can also see it on our web site at www.comanchelanguage.org after you scroll to Language Newsletter.

___________________________

1500 Comanches separate from Eastern Shoshone near Wind River.

1540 Coronado Expedition into the Southern Plains.

1540 Comanches known to be using dogs for transport.

1598 Spain builds colony in New Mexico and starts enslaving Indians.

1601 Don Juan de Onate encounters Plains Apache at Canadian River while looking for the Seven Cities of Gold (Cibola).

1680 Pueblo Rebellion, Comanches obtain horses.

1687 Sieur do La Sill encounters Comanches near Trinity River.

1692 Picuris relocates with Plains Apache in West Kansas.

1700 Comanches and Utes trade at Taos, New Mexico.

1706 Picuris returns to the Rio Grande Valley Area.

1716 Jicarilla Apache forced into mountains of New Mexico by repeated Comanche and Ute raids.

1716 During summer, Comanches and Utes trade at villages in New Mexico.

1716 Spanish attack Comanche/Ute Village north of Santa Fe; prisoners were taken and sold as slaves.

1719 First recorded Comanche raids in New Mexico for horses.

1719 Spanish send soldiers as far north as Pueblo, Colorado, only to find abandoned campsites.

1720 Apache bands retreat into Mexico from repeated Comanche attacks.

1720 Spanish send military expedition to investigate rumors of French trade and are destroyed by the Pawnee.

1723 War between Comanches and Utes and Plains Apache explode, two military expeditions sent to help the Apaches fail to locate Comanche and Ute Tribes.

1724 Comanche fight a nine-day war at Great Mountain of Iron, it results in major defeat for the Apache.

1724 French Trader Bourgmont trades with Padoucah in Kansas.

1725 Last Apaches settle on upper Arkansas River and disappeared.

1728 Plains Apache settle on Rio Grande with Pueblo Tribes.

1730 Comanches control Texas Panhandle, Central Texas and Northeastern New Mexico.

1730 Comanche/Ute alliance collapse, 50-year war begins between Comanches and Utes.

1740 Comanches obtain firearms from French traders.

1742 Spanish send another failed expedition as far as Wichita Villages without encountering Comanches.

1743 Comanches visit San Antonio de Bexar.

1745 Comanches force Utes from the Plains and Utes run and hide in the mountains.

1745 Kotsoteka Comanches cross Arkansas River and move into New Mexico.

1746 Comanches raids Pecos, New Mexico. Under siege for the next 40 years, Comanches attack virtually all places in Spanish New Mexico.

1746 Major war between Comanches and the Osage and Pawnee.

1747 French barter peace between Comanche and Wichita.

1749 The French barter peace between the Comanche and Wichita; Comanches break alliance with the Utes.

1749 Utes beg Spanish for protection from Comanches.

1750 Comanches settle in the Llano Estacado, or Staked Plains, of Texas Panhandle.

1750 French trade for horses increase with the Comanches for Firearms.

1750 Utes make alliance with the Jicarilla against the Comanches.

1750 Comanches raid Pecos again.

1750 Wichita barters peace between the Comanche and the Osage and Pawnee.

1750 Comanches drive Apaches out of Southern plains: Jicarilla, Carlanas, Mescaleros, Faraones, and Lipans.

1751 Comanche and Pawnee defeat the Osage.

1751 Pawnee leave the Plains and settle in the Platte Valley.

1754 Blackfeet Tribe acquires horses from Comanches.

1757 Lipan Apaches ask Spanish to build a mission on Comanche Territory that results in war between the Spanish and Comanche.

1758 Comanche and Wichita attack San Saba Presido and missions and kill all.

1759 Spanish army defeated by Comanche and Wichita at Red River.

1760 Crow tribe acquires horse from Comanche.

1760 Taos attacked by Comanches.

1761 Comanches attack Lipan mission on Nueces River.

1763 France transfers Louisiana to Spanish control.

1765 Prior to this date the Kiowa lived in the Black Hills, driven out by Lakota Sioux moving westward from Minnesota.

1768 Ute/Jicarilla alliance defeated by Comanches.

1773 Comanches raid Pecos for the 4^th Time.

1774 Spanish soldiers, with help of Pueblo Indians, attack a Comanche village near Raton and capture over 100 Comanches Prisoners.

1775 Yamparika Comanches fight Lakota and Cheyenne in the Black Hills.

1777 New Spain holds council of war and seeks alliance with Nations of the North, Comanche and Wichita.

1779 Spanish send 500-man army with 200 Utes and Apache to attack a large Comanche village and kill Chief Green Horn.

1780 Due to the Kiowa being forced to move south by the Lakota, war breaks out between the Comanche and Kiowa.

1781 Smallpox decimates both Wichita and Comanche Tribes, many people die.

1785 Spanish propose treaty with Texas Comanche, signed in the Fall.

1786 Kotsoteka kill Chief White Bull in New Mexico because of his stance against peace, his followers scatter.

1786 Spanish barter a peace between the Comanche and Ute tribes, and sign treaty with Comanches.

1789 Spanish and Comanche defeat Lipan Apache.

1790 Comanche and Pawnee war for 3 years, Pawnee defeated.

1791 Comanche and Osage War, Osage again defeated by Comanches.

1797 Comanches destroy entire Osage village near the Kansas / Missouri border.

1803 Comanches and Pawnee war, Pawnee again defeated by Comanches.

1805 Comanches and Kiowa make peace after a Kiowa warrior lives among the Comanche for a summer.

1807 Dr. John Sibley has a meeting with a Comanche Chief.

1810 Approximate time of peace with the Kiowa Apache.

1810 Hidalgo Revolt occurs.

1811 Comanche Chief El Sordo visits Bexar and is imprisoned in Coahuila.

1811 Relations between Texas and Comanches break down due to the imprisonment of El Sordo.

1813 American traders trade with Comanches for horses.

1816 John Jamison meets with Comanche Chiefs for trade.

1821 Spanish rule replaced by Mexico.

1821 Santa Fe trail opened.

1822 Mexico makes treaty with Texas band of Comanches.

1825 Mexico does not honor treaty with Comanches and the Rio Grande War breaks out.

1825 Comanches raid Chihuahua.

1825 United States begins construction of Ft. Gibson in Oklahoma.

1826 Mexico makes treaty with the Texas band of Comanches again.

1829 Comanches and Kiowa battle U. S. Infantry on the Santa Fe Trail.

1830 Comanches war with Cheyenne and Arapaho alliance.

1831 Mexico bans trading with Comanches.

1832 Comanches catch Pawnee raiders stealing horses and kill them all.

1832 Construction of Bent’s Fort on Arkansas River.

1833 Sam Houston barters peace with Comanches, becoming friends to many.

1834 Mexico makes treaty with Texas Comanches.

1834 Mexico again dishonors peace treaty and Comanches resume raids on Mexico.

1835 Sonora, Chihuahua and Durango re-establishe bounties for Comanche scalps.

1835 American Treaty made at Camp Holmes, with Comanche, Wichita, Osage Quapaw, Seneca, Cherokee, Choctaw and Creek.

1836 Cynthia Ann Parker captured at Fort Parker, Texas.

1836 Texas wins independence from Mexico; Sam Houston becomes president of the Republic.

1837 Texas Cherokee Chief Diwali makes peace and trades with 16 different bands of Comanches.

1838 Texas and Comanches make peace treaty.

1839 Texas force out Cherokee, Shawnee and Delaware from Texas.

1839 Smallpox epidemic.

1840 Comanches meet Texans for council in San Antonio, 12 Comanche Chiefs are killed and 27 women and children taken prisoner.

1840 Peace is made between Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Comanches. Comanches give massive gifts of horses to their new allies.

1840 Chief Potsana Kwahip (Buffalo Hump) takes warriors against Texas on a thousand mile raid. Homes are burned. Hundreds of Texans killed.

1840 Texas with Tonkawa warriors attack Comanches at Plumb Creek.

1840 Texas Rangers formed to fight Comanches.

1841 Texas has second war with Mexico.

1843 Colonel J.C. Eldridge meets with Chief Pahayuco of the Tenawa at Pecan River, near the Red River.

1844 Sam Houston meets with Chief Tseep Tasewah along with other Indian Leaders.

1845 Quannah Parker is born to Cynthia Ann Parker near Laguna Sabinas (Cedar Lake).

1845 Treaty between Republic of Texas and Texas band of Comanches is signed.

1846 United States annexes Texas.

1846 Butler-Lewis Treaty made with Comanche, Anadarko, Caddo, Lipan, Wichita and Waco.

1846 Comanche delegation meets with President Polk.

1847 German Treaty singed at Fredericksburg with Comanche, this treaty is still honored.

1848 Smallpox epidemic strikes Comanche people.

1848 Between 1848 and 1853, Mexico filed 366 separate claims for Comanches and Apache raids originating from North of the border.

1849 Gold seekers traveling along Canadian River bring smallpox to the Comanches.

1851 Comanche population drops from 20,000 to 12,000 due to smallpox.

1851 Ft. Laramie Treaty with Plains Indian Tribes.

1851 Epidemic breaks out among the Comanches and Kiowa.

1852 Comanches raid Coahuila, Chihuahua, Sonora, and Durango and Tepic in Jalisco, 700 miles south of the Border.

1853 Kiowa and Yamparika sign Ft. Atkinson Treaty.

1854 Texas Congress provides 23,000 acres and establishes three Indian reservations on the upper Brazos River for the Texas tribes, Caddo, Cherokee, Delaware, Shawnee, Wichita and Tonkawa.

1854 Penateka Tribe moves to Texas reservation.

1856 Robert E. Lee becomes in charge of Texas Indian Reservations.

1858 Due to Indian raids, the Army abandons Camp Cooper.

1858 Texas Rangers attack Comanche village at Little Robe Creek in Indian Territory.

1858 Captain Earl Van Dorn attacked a Comanche village at Rush Springs, killing 83.

1858 Van Dorn strikes the Comanches at Crooked Creek in Kansas.

1859 Settlers attack reservation in Texas and are repelled by Indians.

1859 Indians on Texas reservation forced to leave Texas.

1860 Calvary sends 3 columns on expedition battle fought with Comanches, Kiowa, Cheyenne, and Arapaho.

1860 Cynthia Ann Parker re-captured by Texas Ranger Sul Ross.

1861 Confederate signs two treaties with Comanche bands.

1861 Confederates fail to make good on treaty and Comanches push the Texas frontier back over 100 miles, forts are abandoned and raids increase.

1861 Santa Fe trail closed down by Comanches, Kiowa, Cheyenne and Arapaho.

1862 Smallpox epidemic from New Mexico strikes.

1862 Comanches and Pro-Union Delaware and Shawnee from Kansas attack the Tonkawa agency on revenge raid and kill 300 Tonkawa for helping the white men track and fight other Indian tribes.

1863 Full scale war in the Great Plains by an alliance for Lakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche, and Kiowa-Apache.

1864 Colonel Kit Carson sent to deal with Comanches at first battle of Adobe Walls with Ute and Jicarilla scouts; Carson left after 4 days battle and never again returned to Texas to fight Comanches.

1864 Five days after Carson’s battle, Chivington’s Colorado volunteers attack a sleeping Cheyenne village on Sand Creek in southern Colorado, mutilating 300 Cheyenne, mostly women and children.

1865 Council held with Confederate and Plains Tribes at Wichita River two weeks after Lee had surrendered.

1865 Little Arkansas Treaty signed with the Comanche and other Plains Tribes.

1867 Cholera epidemic strikes Comanche bands.

1867 Medicine Lodge Treaty signed by Comanche Tribes; Kwahada band refuses to sign.

1868 Comanche bands that signed treaty moved to Ft. Cobb only to leave again in the summer to return home to the plains.

1868 Comanche raids target Texas and Kansas, all tribes are then ordered to Oklahoma.

1868 George Armstrong Custer and the 7^th Calvary attack a southern village on the Wichita in November.

1868 Major Andrew Evans attacks a Comanche village at Soldiers Spring on Christmas Day.

1869 Comanche-Kiowa Agency was relocated to Ft. Sill, and the Cheyenne-Arapaho agency to Darlington.

1870 Comanche population estimated at around 8,000.

1871 Kiowa raids General William Sherman’s wagon train and almost kills the Supreme Commander of the American Army.

1871 A raid by the Kwahada band of Comanches stole 70 horses from the Army at Rock Station.

1871 General Randall Mackenzie and his black buffalo soldiers fight the Kwahada band of Comanches for two years on the Plains.

1872 Combined Comanche and Kiowa raids in Texas kills 20 in Texas, at the same time Texans steal 1,900 horses from tribes at Ft. Sill, OK.

1872 Mackenzie attacks a Comanche village at McClellan Creek; he takes 130 women and children hostage and imprisons them at Ft. Concho. 200 more lodges are destroyed.

1873 Comanche hostages are released and forced to go to Ft. Sill, OK.

1874 Cheyenne hunters report that there are dead buffalo all over the Plains. Violence erupted at Wichita and Darlington Agencies and put down by federal troops.

1874 Large groups of Cheyenne leave the reservation to the Plains.

1874 A large Comanche-Cheyenne war party attacked 23 buffalo hunters camped in the Texas Panhandle at the site of Carson’s 1864 battle of Adobe Walls.

1874 Red River War or Buffalo War begins; this is the last Great Indian War in the Plains.

1875 General Miles attacks a group of Cheyenne near McClellan Creek.

1875 General Mackenzie attacks and burns five Comanche villages in Palo Duro Canyon and massacres women and children and destroys over 1400 Comanche horses.

1875 Winter time brings starvation to the Indians and they start to return to the reservation after relentless pursuit by Federal Troops.

1875 In April, 200 Kwahada, who had never surrendered arrived at Ft. Sill. In June the last 400 Kwahada with Quanah Parker surrendered.

1879 The Buffalo of the Great Plains were gone, over 65 million were destroyed by white hunters. Estimation taken in 1879 reported less than 1500 buffalo left on the Plains.

1901 The Comanche reservation is broken up due to Government pressure to open the land for settlement.

1905 Quannah Parker rides in President Roosevelt’s Inaugural parade in Washington, D.C.

1905 President Theodore Roosevelt visits Quannah’s Star House. Quannah and the President go on a wolf hunt in April.

1910 Quannah buries his mother Cynthia Ann Parker on December 4 at Post Oak.

1911 Quannah Parker dies. Over 2000 people attend his funeral.

1916 Comanche warriors volunteer for service in Europe; Code Talkers are utilized by United States forces.

1941 Comanche warriors again volunteer for service in Europe.

1941 Code Talkers use the Comanche language in D-Day Invasion and Patton’s tank battalion to secure victory for allied forces during WW II.

1989 France recognizes Comanche Code Talkers for bravery and awards them the highest honor it can bestow for esteemed service in having saved France from German occupation.

1992 The first Annual Comanche Nation Fair was held on the grounds of the old Craterville Park location in the foothills of the Wichita Mountain, now known as Camp Eagle Training Center on the west range of Fort Sill Military Reservation.  The Annual Fair continues on the last week-end in September on the grounds of the Comanche Nation Complex, north of Lawton.

1993 The first and only Comanche Nation Rodeo was held at Eagle Park in Cache Oklahoma.

1993 Comanches adopt an official alphabet, and Numu Tekwapuha Nomeneekatu, the Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee (CLCPC)  is formed to preserve Comanche language and culture.

1998 Comanche Language and Cultural Preservation Committee launches its first language newsletter and their official web site.

1999 Last Comanche Code Talker, Charles Chibitty, received the Knowlton Award by the United States Government for the Code Talker’s help in WWII.

2000 Comanche Tribe attains a herd of buffalo from Wichita Wildlife Refuge for cultural revitalization

2000 The first Annual Shoshone Nations Reunion is held in Fort Hall, Idaho.  Reunions have been held each year since then, with the Comanche Nation hosting in 2002 and again in 2006.

2001 Comanches attain a herd of wild mustangs from Pyramid Lake Piutes.

2002 Dr. William C. Meadows publishes a book title "The Comanche Code Talkers of World War II" that tells the story of our code talkers.

2002 The CLCPC certifies the first two Comanche language teachers at the Comanche Nation College in Lawton.

2003 The first official Comanche Dictionary is published by the CLCPC, compiled entirely by Comanche people.

2003 A life size Comanche monument is dedicated by the city of Wichita Falls, Texas, to honor the Comanches.