THE GEOKGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. " 49 



Tlie Camanchees are generally a very clumsy and ordinary-looking set of men 

 when on their feet; hut being fine horsemen, are equally improved in appearance as 

 soon as they mount upon their horses' hacks. 



Amongst the women there were many that were exceedingly pretty in feature and 

 in form, and also in expression, though their skins are very dark. The dress of the 

 men * * * amongst the Camanchees consists generally in leggings of dressed 

 skins and moccasins, with a flap or breech-clout, made also of dressed skins or furs, 

 and often very beautifully ornamented with shells, &c. Above the waist they seldom 

 wear any drapery, owing to the warmth of the climate, which will rarely justify it; 

 and their heads are generally uncovered with a head dress, like the northern tribes 

 who live in a colder climate and actually require them for comfort. . 



The women of the Camanchees * * * are always decently and comfortably 

 clad, being covered generally with a gown or slip that reaches from the chin quite 

 down to the ankles, made of deer or elk skins, often garnished very prettily and or- 

 namented Avith long fringes of elk's teeth, which are fastened on them in rows, aud 

 more highly valued than any other ornament they can put upon them. — G. C, 1834. 



J. M. Stanley, the artist, who was with them in 1844, writes (page 53) : 



Comauches : A powerful and warlike tribe, divided into twenty different bands. 

 They are migratorjy in their habits, subsisting upon buffalo and other game, with 

 which their country abounds. 



He notes the "Hoesh band" or " Honey Eaters," Ta-wah-wee band, 



Penetathaka, etc. 



SHOSHONE-COMANCHES. 



A roviug, warlike, and predatory tribe of Shoshone descent, roaming over much of 

 the great prairie country from the Platte to Mexico. Their traditions and early his- 

 tory are vague, but they claim to have come from the west. They call themselves 

 NaUni (live people), but the Spanish called them Comanches or Camanches {Les Ser- 

 pents), the name adopted by the Americans. Procuring horses from the Spaniards at 

 an early day, they became expert riders, which, united with their daring and aggres- 

 siveness, made them noted and feared throughout the southwest. Engaged in long 

 and bloody wars with the Spaniards, but were subdued by them in 1783. Were esti- 

 mated about that time at 5,000 warriors. In 1816 lost heavily by small-pox. Up to 

 1847 were variously estimated at from 9,000 to 12,000 in all. Were at one time on a 

 reservation in Texas, but were driven out of the State, and since then have been un- 

 relenting enemies of the people of that State. The general government has iet apart 

 a new reservation for them in the western part of the Indian Territory [under treaty 

 of October 21, 1867], and are gradually drawing them all onto it, though not without 

 much trouble. They now [in 1877] number 1,570 in all, and are divided into eight 

 bands. Have made a commencement in farming, and have been induced to send a 

 few of their children to an industrial school. 



W. Blackmore, esq., in an article on the North American Indians, thus describes 

 the Comanclie : 



''These fierce, untamed savages roam over an immense region, eating the raw flesh 

 of the buffalo, drinking its warm blood, and plundering Mexicans, Indians, and whites 

 with judicial impartiality. Arabs and Tartars of the desert, they remove their vil- 

 lages (pitching their lodges in regular streets and squares) hundreds of miles at the 

 shortest notice. The men are short and stout, with bright copper faces and long hair, 

 which they ornament with glass beads and silver gewgaws." — W. H. Jackson, 1877. 



PRESENT LOCATION AND CONDITION. 



On August 31 , 1885, there were 1,544 Comanches at Kiowa, Comanche, 

 and Wichita Agency, Indian Territory, including 1G5 Penetheka Co- 

 manches, gradually decreasing. 

 6744 -4 



