page_title: Comanche–Mexico Wars
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Comanche–Mexico Wars / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Painting of Comanches meeting US dragoons near Wichita Mountains, Oklahoma
context_page_description: The Comanche–Mexico Wars was the Mexican theater of the Comanche Wars, a series of conflicts from 1821 until 1870 which consisted of large-scale raids into northern Mexico by Comanches and their Kiowa and Kiowa Apache allies which left thousands of people dead. The Comanche raids were sparked by the declining military capability of Mexico in the turbulent years after it gained independence in 1821, plus a large and growing market in the United States for stolen Mexican horses and cattle.
  By the time the United States army invaded northern Mexico in 1846 during the Mexican–American War the region was devastated. The largest Comanche raids into Mexico took place from 1840 until the mid-1850s, thereafter declining in size and intensity. The Comanche were finally defeated by the U.S. in 1875 and forced onto a reservation.
context_section_description: In the words of U.S. Army General James Wilkinson the Comanche were "the most powerful nation of savages on this continent." That power would be amply demonstrated as the United States and the newly independent country of Mexico contested ownership of Texas and much of the area now known as the Southwest of the U.S. The Comanche considered themselves owners of a 500-by-400-mile (800 by 640 km) block of land that stretched from the Arkansas River in Colorado to near the Rio Grande in Texas.  In the early nineteenth century, more than 10,000 Comanches shared this land, called Comancheria, with 2,000 Kiowa and Plains Apache (Kiowa Apache).  They sometimes granted hunting rights to other tribes, such as the Wichita.
  The Comanche came to the attention of the Spanish in New Mexico in 1706 and were a severe threat until peace treaties were concluded with their eastern bands by Pedro Vial in 1785 and their western bands in 1786.  The Spanish welcomed the Comanche as an ally against the Apache, forgave their transgressions, traded manufactured items and corn to them for horses, captives, and buffalo meat, and showered them with gifts.  The mutually beneficial relationship between Spaniards and Comanches began to come apart in 1821 when Mexico won its independence from Spain.  The new country had no resources to continue paying tribute to the Comanche and was embroiled in domestic political disputes rather than paying attention to troubles on its northern frontier.
  The Comanche, for their part, in the 1820s and 1830s were under intense pressure from competitors. The Osage were formidable enemies. The expulsion by the U.S. and the migration west to Oklahoma by the Five civilized tribes, the Shawnee, and the Delaware brought them into competition with the Comanche on the Great Plains. The Comanche lost several battles with the Osage and the Eastern Indian tribes who were generally better armed.
  Anglo-Americans arrived on the heels of the eastern Indians. Traders journeyed in large numbers along the Santa Fe Trail across the northern border of Comancheria and Anglo hunters depleted the buffalo herds in that vicinity. Northern Plains Indians such as the Cheyenne and Arapaho pressed south, drawn by Bent's Fort and the enormous herds of horses on the southern Great Plains.  They were also equal to the Comanche in battle. Moreover, Comanche numbers were declining, diminished by epidemics of European diseases. Comanche interests dictated peace with the Mexicans so threats from other Indians and Anglo-Americans could be addressed. On several occasions in the 1820s the Comanche attempted to obtain Mexican military assistance to repel the Indian invaders of their land, but their requests were denied. As they had often aided the Mexicans in the past to fight their mutual enemies, the Apache, the Mexican government's denial undermined the Comanches' commitment to peace with Mexico. However, as an inducement to peaceful relations, Mexican provincial governments made haste to strengthen trade ties with the Comanche in the early 1830s.
  An important factor encouraging Comanche raids of Mexican ranches was the huge demand for horses and mules by the Anglo-Americans now flooding into lands west of the Mississippi River. The Comanches could meet that demand by breeding and selling horses from their herds, capturing and training wild horses from the herds in Comancheria, or raiding Mexican ranches and taking horses. The last was often the preferred option of ambitious young men striving to become rich in a well-to-do pastoral society. Comanche raids for horses in Texas and along the Rio Grande in Mexico increased in 1831 and afterwards. A young, poor, or low ranking Comanche man could better his circumstances—albeit at great risk to his life—by raiding for horses and human captives. The wealth he obtained would enable him to buy a Comanche wife—or he might find a first, second, or third wife among the captives.
  The Mexican government accused the U.S. and independent Texas of encouraging Comanche raids, especially by trading guns to the Comanche in exc
caption: Comanches meeting the U.S. dragoons near the Wichita Mountains in 1835 by George Catlin.
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