USA > Texas > The history of the republic of Texas, from the discovery of the country to the present time; and the cause of her separation from the republic of Mexico > Part 18
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Their dress consists of deer-skin, which they tan themselves, and afterwards make into coats that. reach half way down the thigh, somewhat after the fashion of a Spanish tunic ; add to this the maccason, made of the same material, and that serves for shoe, stocking, and trowsers, and the Comanche Indian dress is complete. This style of dress was first introduced among the original inhabitants of Peru by the Incas, whose first appearance on that continent about the middle of the thirteenth century, is thus described by Garcillasso and other authors: " There appeared on the banks of the lake Titicaca, a man and woman of majestic form, and clothed in decent garments. They were per- sons of excellent shape and beauty, and the DRESSES THEY WORE Were such as continued after- wards the usual habits of the Incas, by which title they described themselves." The Comanche women, or squaws, are short, (and with few exceptions parti- cularly ugly,) but in war they are as courageous as the men, and, like them, most civil and hospitable in peace. Formerly they dressed like the men,
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COMANCHE TOWNS AND VILLAGES.
but of late years they have taken to wear coarse cotton garments, which they obtain from the Ameri- can traders.
The chief town of the Comanche nation is situate at the foot of the San Saba hills, in Western Tex- as. It contains about two hundred houses. They are all built on an uniform scale, one hundred feet long, thirty wide, and six high. The walls are built of earth; the roofs flat, and covered with a whitish clay, which, when exposed to the atmosphere, be- comes as hard as marble. Each house has its venerable patriarch, who, with his descendants for two and three generations, live within its walls in perfect harmony. Their detached villages, of which there are several, are always located in some fertile and remote spot, difficult of access in the mountain districts, where the buffalos range in im- mense woods during the winter months, and from whence they obtain, with little difficulty, an abun- dant supply of food; but in spring, when the water begins to recede from the prairies or swamps in the lower country, the buffalos leave their win- ter's range. At. this season the villages are all bustle ; the hunter and warrior prepare for, and simultaneously take the field, the former frequently carrying the chase from the mountains in the north, to the most distant plains in the south, whose confines are washed by the water of the gulf; while the latter hastens away to avenge a wrong, or to watch the movements of the white man, or some neighbouring Indian tribe. When
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242
WILD HORSE OF MEXICO.
the autumnal rains set in, the buffalos instinctively return to their mountain haunts ; and the hunter and warrior also return for the winter to their hamlets, where their wives (with the exception of those engaged in the war parties) and children are left, and employed during their absence in drying the buffalo-robes and deer-skins, collected through the preceding season.
The Comanches, both in their hunting and war excursions, move on horseback; and the musteno, or wild horse that they use, abounds in Texas ; but it is difficult to trace in these horses any re- mains of the old Spanish blood, from which they are said to have descended. Their heads are extremely long, coarse, and large; the neck ewed and long, withers unusually high, shoulder up- . right, arm long from the shoulder to the knee, and short from the knce to the fetlock joint, which is astonishingly long; foot large, broad, and flat; hoof generally white and soft; barrel small, back long, stern contracted, thigh long and spare ; the lower extremities of the hind quarters resemble those of the fore; height from twelve to fifteen hands.
However, ill-formed as these horses are, still they are a great acquisition to the Indians ; and a Co- manche warrior, mounted on one of them, with his Tlascallan spear,# (which they use both in the chase and battle,) bow, poisoned-arrow, scalping-
* The heads of their spears were originally made of galinazo, or black stone, but of late years they have used sword blades, which they get from the Americans.
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INDIAN MANÅ’UVRING.
knife, and tomahawk, is by no means less formid- able than a Cossack, and by far more so than the dwarfish Arab. The largest of these horses, which touch, but never exceed sixteen hands, are kept for their chiefs and warriors, who manage them with exquisite skill, and use the bow with the most deadly effect ; while with their shield, which is made from the thickest part of the buffalo's hide, and said to be as tenacious as steel, they guard their horse and their person by hanging from the saddle on the opposite side.
In battle each war party is headed by one or more squaws, who, with their shrill voices, serve as trumpets, denoting by various tones the movements and evolutions to be performed according to the orders of the chief in command. Their military as well as civil discipline is extremely strict, and is now simply what it was in Montezuma's time. When they meet an enemy on the open field, they retreat in a body to the woods, where they sepa- rate and manœuvre with such rapidity, that in an instant they surround him, when they raise the war- whoop, and dash forward from all points, shooting their arrows like lightning, or slaying with the spear as they fly at full speed through the ranks of the enemy and the thickest wood. When they get a few paces from the object of attack, they sud- denly wheel round, according as the whoop is given, and simultaneously dash forward on the enemy as before.
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INDIAN RULERS AND COUNCILS.
Prisoners taken in battle are conveyed before the chief in command, who is bound to bring them before the council of the nation, and if a warrior takes the life of a prisoner, he is punished with instant death. Their method of keeping pri- soners would be most repugnant to the feelings of some of our effeminate and aristocratical soldiery. Each prisoner is given in charge to two warriors, on whom the prisoner must attend by day, and at night he is placed under a buffalo-robe, on which the Indians lie down by his side, so that the sim- plest motion arouses the vigilant sentinels.
They have a head chief or ruler of the whole nation,* who resides in the chief town, and several subordinate ones in the villages. 'The latter as- semble in council quarterly, under the head chief. A grand council of the whole nation is also held once a year (on the 26th September, or as the Indians call it Pachth) under an oak tree in some remote spot in the woods or mountains. At these councils prisoners of war are tried, as well as all cases of adultery, theft, sedition and murder, which are punished by death. The grand council also takes cognizance of all disputes between the chiefs, and other matters of importance.
During the sitting of the grand council, which lasts nine days, the chief town presents a scene of much merriment. On the return of the head chief
Shaw-co-naw-taw is the present ruler of the Comanche nation.
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MAMANCHIC DANCE.
from the council a procession is formed each day to meet him, and on his arrival a damsel steps for- ward, and taking him by the hand, leads him, fol- lowed by dancers decked with flowers, to the tiana, (throne,) where they seat themselves to personate Montezuma and his Mamanchic, (empress,) amid the acclamations of the warriors and hunters, who form a circle round the tiana, when the Maman- chic dance begins. This dance, which was ori- ginally a sacred performance, emblematical of the old Mexican system of astronomy, and the manner in which they regulated their calendar, was prac- tised in Montezuma's empire long before the con- quest ; but that ingenious prince found means to turn it to his own account by becoming the chief performer in these revels, and so making himself and his princess the object of the profound adora- tions which were formerly paid only to the sun and moon. However, neither the idea of turning these adorations to his own personal aggrandizement, nor the form of worship paid by these people to the sun and moon, originated with Montezuma, for we find that Mango, the first of the Incas of Peru, towards the close of the thirteenth century, told the first people who came about them, that he and his wife Cova Mama, were children of the sun and moon ; and that their father (the sun) taking pity on the miserable condition of mankind had sent them to reclaim them from their savage lives, to give them laws, teach them morality, and to wor-
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MAMANCHIC DANCE.
ship the sun, who gave life to all creatures, and makes the plants and herbs grow for the use of mankind : that they were expressly sent to rule them, for their benefit and happiness, with the same care and goodness with which their great father, the sun, ruled the world .- Garcilasso,
But it is impossible to trace in these revels any connexion whatever with the religion of the Incas, as the former are only kept up to commemorate the love of their forefathers for Montezuma, whom they look upon as their Saviour.
The Mamanchic dance is opened by a boy and a damsel, who personato the chief and his bride on the throne. These are called in the Indian lan- guage Matachines. When they begin the dance, the chief and his bride stand up; the boy with a crown of flowers on his head, dances round the ring, followed by the Mamanchic with a grave and dignified step, while with a rattle which she holds in her hand she makes a gentle noise. A number of other dancers, who are supposed to represent the several constellations in their calendar, follow the Matachines, imitating their motions.
Proceeding in two parallel lines they reach the throne, when one line wheels to the left, and the other to the right, so that four rows of dancers are moving in opposite directions. After this figure has continued some minutes, a man with his face covered comes in, personating the Evil Spirit, who with his whip throws all into confusion, and then
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INDIAN CHRONOLOGY.
disappears, when the dancers again approach the throne in two rows, kneel down and make low prostrations, bending slowly until their heads touch the ground, then raising themselves, they all wave their rattles and advance towards the throne; this ceremony is repeated nine times, and the same in retiring. The waving of the rattles as they advance and retire from the throne is typical of the eighteen months of their year, while certain irregular steps they perform represent their five intercalary days, which I shall endeavour to explain.
The civil year among these people, as it was among the ancient Mexicans, is divided into eighteen months of twenty days each, and five intercalary days, which brings their system to correspond with the Gregorian, as follows :-
Ist day of the month,
Tetit Itzcalli,
9th January
Itzcalli Xochilhulil,
22nd January
"
Xilomanatitzli, 18th February
"
Tlacuxipehnalitzli,
10th March
"
Tozoztontli,
30th March
IIueytozotli,
19th April
Toxcutl,
9th May
Etzalhualitzli,
29th May
Tecuihuitontli,
19th June
"
Hueytecuiltontli,
8th July
Hicailhuitontli,
28th July
Heymixcuithuilt,
17th August
"
Ochpaniztli,
Gth September
Pachth,
26th September
Heuypactli,
16th October
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INDIAN CHRONOLOGY.
Ist day of the month. Quecholli, 5th November
" Panquitzalitzli, 25th November 15th December
"
Atomoztli,
The period of fifty-two years to them is what a century is to us, but they never reckon them by odd numbers. After the termination of each cycle of fifty-two years, they add thirteen days before beginning anew the first month of the ensuing cycle ; which shows that they are aware that the solar revolution exceeds their civil year by six hours. Their ancestors, the original inhabitants of Mexico, had another way of reckoning time, which was purely lunar, and constituted their religious year.
How these people came by this method of regu- lating their time is a great mystery, but I am of opinion that it was the invention of some of their Asiatic visitors. However, its mere existence goes far to prove that they were, at one time, greatly ad- vanced in civilization; and indeed, Ranking, in his " Historical Researches on the Conquest of Peru and Mexico by the Moguls," proves, to the satis- faction of the most philosophical mind, that the first Inca, Mango Capac,* was the son of the Grand Khan Kublui, and that the people found by the Incas in America were the descendants of the Tartars, Japanese, or Chinese, who had been blown across the Pacific in remoter times ; and this
* Capac was a title given by the Indians to Mango; it means sole emperor, splendid, rich in virtue .- Ranking.
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INDIAN LANGUAGES.
conjecture is strengthened by the fact that the In- dian system of reckoning time is common among many of the unsettled nations of Eastern Asia.
The language spoken by the Comanches is of great antiquity, and differs but little from that of the Incas of Peru, which wants the consonants b, t, f, g, r, and s; whereas the Comanches (whose language is spoken by all the western tribes of Texas) use the consonants i and z, instead of the s; but this slight difference renders it by no means less difficult to be acquired by an European, for some of our words of one or two syllables are of sixteen or seventeen with them; while others, of three, four, or more syllables with us, are of only two with them. For example, the word excellent, in the Indian lan- guage, is tata; the word justice, Tla-me-la-hun-ca- chi-hua-litz-li.
Hunting, exquisite horsemanship, the use of arms, and invincible courage, (which is described by their enemies as " brutal fierceness"), are the only accom- plishments of the Comanche; and the "brutal fierce- ness of the Comanche, which has at all times been shown to his Christian brethren," has been in the protection of his hunting grounds, by the manly exercise of all the rest ; and I would have those, who tell us that these people have no capacities for civilization, remember, that three-fourths of the peasantry of Mexico are nothing more than an INFERIOR order of civilized Indians ; and that, not- withstanding the known inferiority of the Mexican
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INDIAN ARTS AND SCIENCE.
peasant, his extreme good sense, quickness of mind, high sense of justice, and love of truth, render him far less troublesome, and quite as useful to the state in agriculture and many of the mechanical arts, as the peasant of any European country ; and that this assertion may be confirmed by all future inquirers and travellers, I will here direct their attention first to the valley of Huastecapan and the Indian settle- ments on the sun-scorched plains of Bolson Ma- pimi, as specimens of their agriculture and industry; and to Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, where the cloths (called blankets), manufactured by the Mexican Indians, possess all the minute- ness of design and brilliancy of colour, the fantastic taste, and ingenious invention of the Chinese.
The Comanches still retain the art of recording events by pictures and quipos. The latter are, however, used only to record the history of their wars and executions; they consist of strings of scalps ; one contains the scalps taken on the field of battle ; another, the scalps of spies and traitors ; and the third, the scalps of those who have been executed for theft, adultery, murder, &c. These people deem hieroglyphical painting an essential part of their education, and they teach their chil- dren, while casting up the quipos, to repeat their historical songs, which celebrate the military ox- ploits of their ancestors.
Finally, to illustrate the high sense of justice that
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251
CARANCAHUA INDIANS.
exists among these Indians I will give a short ex- tract from Mrs. Holley's Texas : " General Austin (whose camp had been attacked and robbed by a party of Comanches) assuming great composure, went up to the chief, and addressing him in Spanish, and the few words of Indian he knew, declared himself to be an American, and demanded if their nation was at war with the Americans. 'No,' was the reply. 'Do you like the Americans ?' ' Yes, they are our friends.' ' Where do you get your spear-heads, your blankets ?' &c., naming all their foreign articles one by one. 'Get them from the Americans.' ' Well, do you think, if you were passing through their nation, they would rob you as you have robbed me?' The chief reflected a little, and replied, ' No, it would not be right.' Upon which he commanded his people to restore all the things they had taken, and every article of value was brought back, with the same dispatch with which it had disappeared, except a pair of saddle- bags, which were subsequently restored."
Next to the Comanches the Carancahuas were once the most powerful of the western tribes of Texas ; but, about the year 1796, they commenced a sanguinary war with the former, which lasted for several years; and, on the arrival of the first Anglo- American settlers in Texas, this once powerful nation consisted of about four hundred and fifty families. These " harmless people," however, soon experienced the tender mercy of their Christian
252
INDIAN TRIBES.
visitors, who, with the Bowie knife and rifle, pre- sently reduced their numbers to about fifty, and this miserable " balance" was driven across the La Baca river, and finally sought and found protection from their murderers under the hospitable roof of an Irish priest, at the mission of San Patricio. They formerly inhabited the whole sea-coast of Texas, from Brazos river to the Rio del Norte.
The Tawackanies, Tankaways, Lipans, Waccos, Caddos, and a few small fugitive tribes, who follow the Comanches, may be considered as one nation, although each tribe forms a separate community. Each one has its own council and its own rulers, precisely like the Comanches ; still they live on the most intimate terms, keeping up a constant inter- course with each other, hunting over the same range, and inhabiting the same territory in common. Their villages are located in the north-western part of Texas, on the Red River, and about the head- waters of the Colorado. Their united numbers may be estimated at from ten to twelve thousand. In their hunting or war parties they never use the spear or shield, and are seldom seen mounted, in which respect alone they differ from their kinsmen, the Comanches.
The Cushatees differ from every other, and are the only tribe that can be said to cultivate the soil. They hold every other tribe in great con- tempt. Their head chief or ruler pays his obei- sance to the sun every morning ; and from the fact
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INDIAN TRIBES.
of their still worshipping the sun and moon, they are supposed to be a remnant of the Natchez : and when we consider that the sun has been the fa- vourite and peculiar god of the Moguls from the earliest times, we may readily believe that the Natchez were of eastern origin, and that the Cu- shatees, whose religion so closely resembles that of the Natchez, are the descendants of the latter.
The Cushatees live in wooden houses, which are built with considerable taste. Their villages consist of thirty or forty detached houses, and are located on the banks of the Trinity River in east- ern Texas, about forty-five miles from its mouth. They cultivate corn and a variety of vegetables, and are rich in cattle and horses. In the hunting season, however, they leave their villages for a short time to procure beef, bear-meat, and venison, on which they live during the winter. Their squaws always accompany them in their hunting excursions, and carry all the culinary utensils, blankets, beds, tents, and children. The latter are strapped upon a board when only a few days old, and are kept so until they can walk, which in some measure accounts for their being so erect when grown up. This practice is also common among the Comanches and other tribes. These people are most hospitable to strangers, and conduct themselves with becoming decency in every situa- tion. They are, however, but few in number, not exceeding five or six hundred souls. They use the
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CHEROKEE INDIANS.
rifle, and are excellent marksmen, brave and faith- ful to their allies. They wear a cap adorned with a variety of feathers, but the feathers of the cora- quenque are most esteemed; and it is a remark- able fact that the feathers of this bird were much esteemed by the ancient Peruvians, who supposed that they were not to be found any where but in the desert of Villcanuta, but they abound in Eastern Texas. The rest of their dress resembles that of the other tribes, as already described.
The Cherokees are not only the most powerful of the castern tribes, but their numerical strength is greater than all the western tribes put together. Their territory extends from about 32 parallels of north latitude, in Texas, to the Arkansas River in the United States. That portion of their ter- ritory which lies in Texas, they claim under the general colonization law of Mexico, passed by the Mexican congress in 1823, and under that law they were invited by various Mexican functionaries, and by General Teran, in the spring of 1832, and subsequently by the Texans themselves, to accept lands in Texas, while they receive an annual tri- bute from the United States, for the sovereignty of the territory they evacuated on entering their pre- sent location in the State of Arkansas, which was duly assigned to them by the state's government .*
In June, 1832, the Texans secured the neu-
* See State Papers of IS25.
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255
TEXAN AND INDIAN TREATIES.
trality of the Cherokees and Shawnees, pending their struggle with the Mexicans; and in the spring of 1837, the Texans made fresh overtures to the Cherokees, and after some time had been spent in negociations, they entered into treaties with the Texans for the sale of their lands. In these treaties with the Texans, the territory described as follows was reserved for, and the fee simple duly secured to, the Cherokee Indians, and associ- ate bands :
" West of the San Antonio road, and beginning on the west at the point where the said road crosses the river Angelina, and running up said river until it reaches the mouth of the first large creek below the great Shawnee village, emptying into said river from the north-east. Thence running with said creek to its main source, and from thence a due north line to the Sabine, and with said river west; then starting where the said San Antonio road crosses the Angelina, and with said road to where it crosses the Neches, and thence running up the east side of the river, in a north-westerly direction."
This treaty was signed by several Indian chiefs, Bowls, Big, Musk, Fayette, &c., and by General Houston, and two other commissioners appointed by the Texans " in convention at Washington," to treat with the Indians; but the treaty was no sooner laid before the convention than it was re- jected by its members, and subsequently by the
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256
TEXAN INJUSTICE TO THE CHEROKEES.
Texan senate, in December, 1837. In the fall of this year, overtures, however, were again made by the Texans to the Indians for the purchase of the fee simple of the reservation named in the rejected treaty of 1836; and the Indians eventually ac- cepted the proposals of the Texans, who engaged to pay a certain sum for the Cherokees' lands in a given time, and the Indians agreed to give up pos- session of their territory on receipt of the money. Thus the matter stood until October, 1839, when an act under the following title was intro- duced into the Texan congress :- " An Act to sectionize and sell the lands formerly reserved for, and occupied by, the Cherokee Indians!" This vile and unjust measure at once disinherited the Indians, and authorized the Texan government to take possession of the Indian lands ; but the pay- ment of the purchase-money was virtually deferred (no mention of it being made in the act) to an in- definite period.
During the debate in the Texan congress on this bill, much warmth manifested itself on both sides of the house, and it was with the utmost difficulty that the Speaker, who is supplied with a wooden mallet, to preserve order, could obtain a hearing for those who were anxious to address the house on the subject : however, by continual pounding on the table with his mallet, he at last reduced the eloquence of the factious to an " impal- pable powder ;" but before he could turn his quid
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DEBATE IN CONGRESS.
(a conspicuous part of a Texan Speaker's equipage) a member started on his legs, and said, " Mr. Speaker, this is an important subject, Mr. Speaker ; and I want some light on this subject, Mr. Speaker ; and I would thank you to throw some light on this subject, Mr. Speaker."
Mr. Speaker responded by again applying the mallet to the table, and the honourable representa- tive sat down ; when another gentleman got upon his legs, and commenced by saying, " Mr. Speaker, I rise to order, sir, but if I am out of order, Mr. Speaker, give a tap with that there hammer, Mr. Speaker, and I will squat like a partridge." The Speaker immediately gave " a tap," and the honour- able member squatted, when General Houston stood up, and in an eloquent speech closed the debate ; the house divided, and the bill was carried by a large majority.
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