Comanche, << kuh MAN chee, >> were a southern Plains tribe that hunted buffalo from Nebraska to northern Mexico. They won fame as the most skilled Indian horseback riders of the Southwest. In battle, many Comanche eluded arrows and bullets by hanging against the side of—or even under—their horses.
The Comanche lived chiefly as hunters and followed wandering buffalo herds. They hunted on foot until the 1700’s, when they began using the descendants of horses brought by the Spaniards to the Great Plains in the 1600’s. The Comanche became master riders. For many years, they strongly defended their land from other tribes and white ranchers.
In 1867, the Comanche agreed to move to a reservation in what is now Oklahoma. By 1900, whites had settled on parts of the reservation. In the early 1900’s, the United States government transferred to each Comanche ownership of 160 acres (65 hectares) of land. Many disliked farming and sold or leased their land to whites.
According to the 2020 U.S. census, there are about 12,000 Comanche. Most of the Comanche living in tribal communities are in or near Comanche County, Oklahoma. Many of them work as accountants, bookkeepers, farmers, nurses, ranchers, or teachers. The Comanche, Apache, and Kiowa tribes jointly own about 4,500 acres (1,820 hectares) of land in and around Lawton, Oklahoma. The tribes have developed two industrial parks there.
See also Parker, Cynthia Ann; Quanah.
