Different Bands of Comanches and Their Probable Location and Population: Manuscript

The Comanche broke away from the Shoshone shortly after they acquired horses from the Pueblo Indians in 1680, which allowed them to become more mobile in the search of better hunting grounds. In their drive southward to find more horses the Comanche may have been the first of the Plains Indians to incorporate the horse so completely into their culture.

Once they broke away from the Shoshone, the Comanche migrated south through present-day Arkansas, Texas, and New Mexico. Their population increased significantly because of the plentiful supply of buffalo and their practice of adopting women and children taken captive from rival groups. However, the Comanche was never a single tribal unit; there were almost a dozen autonomous groups, sharing the same language and culture.

By the mid-nineteenth century, the herds of the Comanche were large enough to allow them to supply horses to the French and American traders and settlers. They also sold them to miners passing through Comanche territory on their way to the California gold fields and mines. However, they did earn a reputation as horse thieves by stealing horses from other tribes and settlers, and once they expanded into cattle rustling, their pilfering of Spanish and American settlers, frequently led to war.