The National tribune., 1901-08-01
THE KIOWA And COMANCHE RESERVATION.
History and Description OF the Coveted Country.
By CAPT. w. E. DOYLE.

By CAPT. v
Among the many publications regarding
fhcsI[iowa and Comanche lands is the as
sertion that the Spaniards at one time
mined for silver i'll that section, ana at
thc5present day the ruins of old SmeltlnS
works and traces of deserted and ruined
villages are 10 be found there:
This is untrue, for at no time dld the
Standards or their successors, the MeNl-
cams. have even Il military occupancy or
the country, the Staked Plains being Il
barrier to any travel eastward from their
New Mexican settlements except by way
of the Arkansas or Canadian River N2t
leys. 1t was along the former river that
Coronado with his remarkable expedition
from Mexico in 1910 pushed eastward
searching for the mythical seven cities OF
Cihola. extending his explorations as far
as the biz bend of the Arkansas, whence
he returned.
1t will be remembered that four men
of the Inflated NarvoeS expedition OF IoZS,
after eight years of wandering from Flor
ida westward and sOuthwcstward, reached
the Mexican settlements, and there told
most wonderful stories of what they had
seen. Their leader. Alvar Nunez, gave
such 4 description of the buffalo herds
that the title, "CabeZa de In Naca, wls
added to his name (Chief of the Cattle).
But he did not stop at this. he de-
scribed great, well-built cities, in which
were stores of treasure, where he said
they had been royalty entertained, which
lay far to the north of the Spanish set
Elements.
Coronado hastily organized his expedi-
Son, cavaliers, friars and gOdSmths, and,
Nel armed and proyisiOned, they set
forth They found the vast herds of buf-
falo and the Comanche Indians, and Cor
onado says of them: 'All that way and
the country is covered with those huge
cattle as thickly as the mountains of Se-
rena in Spain is with sheep, and there
are none but such as attend those cattle
He had a party of Comanches with him
as guides in his northern Journeys, and he
speaks very highly of their sociable and
honorable qualities. As many of his
horses gave out on the journey, they We're
given to the ComancheS, who had learned
the use of them and thus the COmanches
became the first Indians to be mounted,
and for over q hundred years this dis
tinction was entirely their own.
Lieut.. Pixies expedition of 1SO6 did not
come near the COmanche country, and
we find no account in the narratives of the
early Texan explorers and settlers of the
Wichita Mountain region. However, when
Jackson and Houston, at the head of the
slaveholding party, determined TO wrest
Texas from Mexico, the 1st Reg't of Dra-
SbOuS was VI SdLlLtu III 1tOcf anu ~ NiS
from st. Louis, under Col: Leavenworth.
The artist Catlin accompanied this eXpe-
dition, and made sketches of the Indians
and the country, and one of his paintings
in the National Museum at Washington
depicts a COmanche camp near the Wich-
ita Mountains.
on SITE OF FORT SILL.
The upper Red River country being lit
J.
Marcy, 9th L. ). Inf, with his Son-ln-law,
Lieut. @. B. Mcclellan, of the Engineers,
was sent to explore it in 1852, and gave
careful and accurate description of the
Wichita Mountain region. They found
an abandoned Wichita village on the
ground where Fort Sill was subsequently
located, and Marcy says of it: Here
they lived and planted corn for several
years, and they have exhibited much
taste and judgment in the selection of the
site for their town. 1t is situated at the
eastern extremity of the mountains, upon
a plateau, directly along the south bank
of the creek, and elevated about 100 feet
above it, commanding an extended view
of the country toward the north, south
and east From its commanding position
it is secured against surprise, and is by
nature altogether one of the most defensi-
bic places l have seen"
We next find Capt. Earl Van Dorm,
with six companies of the I'd Z. 5. Cav,
coming from Camp Cooper, Tex, TO the
Wichita Mountains in pursuit of the No
conee band of Comanches, who had been
raiding ON the Texas settlements. He cs
tabiiShed himself at the west end of the
mountains, in a cove, on the headwaterS
of Otter Greek, calling the camp Radzi-
minsky, after a Lieutenant of the regi-
ment VINO died at Memphis.
The Comanches encamped near Nlch-
Villa miles tho hpgu-
waters of Beaver Greek, and EssadOwa,
the Wichita Chief, being friendly to the
whites, sent runner TO Van Dorm with
the information necessary for him to de-
feat them.
Leaving his train and surplus baggage
at Radziminsky, Van Dorm made rapid
march of a day and a night, and as day
light dawned the COmanche camp was in
sight, and the battalion ready to charge
it. 1t was then observed that Lieut.. Van
Camp was in full uniform, hat and feather,
sash, epaulets and everything, when Van
DOrn's orders were that as a close fight
was expected officers should wear no
marked insignia of rank But Van Camp
had been very sharply lectured by Van
Dorm for not making fight against a vastly
superior force of Indians he came across
with a scouting party short time pre-
yiOUs, and so when the commanding off
Ger rode up to him and eXpOstulated with
him Oh the foolhardiness of going into n
hand-to-hand fight with Indians in full re-
gala he claimed the right Of an American
officer to wear his uniform going into ac-
ton.
The bugles sounded, and the line of gal
liant troopers swept down the camp of
the savages, who, rushing from their
tepees, fought gallantly, with gun and
bow, but they were unable to resist the
1mpetuOus charge and were scattered in
all directions. Many Of them ran for their
horses, mounted and returned to the fray,
while other got into the Wichita corn holes
and kept up an annoying fire until dis
patched.
The troops had become much scattered
in pursuit of parties of Indians, and Van
Camp, who had been acting gallantly, had
become detached from the others follow
ing 4 couple Of warriors, whom he was
shooting. AT this time he was observed
10y party of mounted ComanChes, and his
uniform attracting their attention they
raised the cry to rally and kill the big
chief, and swoOped down on him. Be
fore any Of his men could get TO his rescue
he was lanced and killed. after a desperate
fight, when the Comanchcs were driven
off and what remained OF the band put
TO flight.
Van Dorm had several Indian fights in
1851, and eight between the Red River
and the Arkansas. in one of which, on
Pole Cat Creek. Lieut.. Fitzhugh Lee was
wounded. After 1858 the Texas Rangers
secured the Staked Plains country until
1861 when the rphpliion hgyiuu bpa, In.