Comancheros of the Llano Estacado

The vast expanse of the Llano Estacado, or "Staked Plains," of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas, served as the stage for a unique and often controversial chapter in the history of the American West. Here, in the late 18th and 19th centuries, emerged a distinctive group known as the Comancheros. These were not conquistadors or cowboys, but rather a mixed-ethnicity collective of New Mexican traders who carved out a living by engaging in commerce with the formidable Comanche, Kiowa, and other Plains tribes. The name "Comanchero" itself, derived from their primary trading partners, the Comanche, hints at the close, albeit complex, relationship they forged with these powerful Indigenous peoples.

Before delving into the specifics of their trade, it’s essential to understand the historical context that shaped the Comancheros’ emergence. The Comanche, renowned for their equestrian skills and fierce independence, had a long-standing practice of raiding Spanish and Pueblo settlements. Horses were a prime target, essential for their nomadic lifestyle and military prowess. By the mid-18th century, these raids had escalated in frequency, prompting the Spanish authorities to take decisive action.

In 1779, Juan Bautista de Anza, the governor of Nuevo Mexico, a vast territory encompassing present-day New Mexico, parts of West Texas, southern Colorado, southwestern Kansas, and the Oklahoma panhandle, orchestrated a military campaign aimed at curbing the Comanche raids. De Anza assembled a formidable force of 500 to 800 Spanish troops, bolstered by Ute, Apache, and Pueblo allies. Their target was the largest and most active group of Comanche raiders, then situated in southern Colorado. The ensuing conflict culminated in the Battle of the Greenhorn, fought south of present-day Pueblo, Colorado, between August 31 and September 3, 1779. The Spanish and their allies emerged victorious, dealing a significant blow to the Comanche.

This demonstration of Spanish military strength, coupled with diplomatic overtures, paved the way for a period of relative peace between the Spanish and the Comanche. The culmination of these efforts was the signing of a peace treaty in February 1786 at Pecos Pueblo in New Mexico. This treaty marked a turning point, opening the door to trade and interaction between the two cultures, and providing an avenue for the Comancheros to begin plying their trade.

From the 1780s until the mid-19th century, the Comanchero trade flourished. These New Mexican traders ventured onto the Llano Estacado, offering a variety of manufactured goods in exchange for valuable commodities. Their wares included tools, knives, beads, and cloth, highly sought after by the Plains tribes. They also traded essential provisions such as flour, sugar, tobacco, and bread. In return, the Comanche and other tribes offered hides, horses, livestock, and, controversially, captives.

Initially, the Comanchero trade was largely unorganized. Each fall, after the harvest, the Comancheros would load their burros and oxcarts with trade goods and venture out onto the plains, hoping to encounter the Indigenous tribes. The volume of trade was thus dependent on chance encounters and remained relatively low.

The term "Comanchero" first appeared in Spanish documents in 1813, but it was popularized in the 1840s by Josiah Gregg, a Santa Fe trader, in his book Commerce of the Prairies. Gregg provided a vivid description of these traders, depicting them as "indigent and rude classes of the frontier villages" who ventured onto the plains with "a few trinkets and trumperies of all kinds, and perhaps a bag of bread and maybe another of pinole." According to Gregg, the stock of an individual trader rarely exceeded twenty dollars, and they were content to wander for months, hoping to return home with a mule or two as the fruits of their labor.

While the Comancheros ranged far and wide, their primary area of operation was the Llano Estacado. Some ventured as far north as the Platte River in present-day Nebraska, east to the Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma, and south to the Davis Mountains in Texas. However, the "Staked Plains" of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas remained their most frequented trading ground.

The Mexican-American War brought significant changes to the region. With the United States gaining control over much of the Comanche territory, stricter licensing policies and other restrictions were imposed on the Comancheros. The American authorities were particularly opposed to the practice of ransoming captives, viewing it as morally reprehensible.

In the wake of these changes, the Comanchero trade became more organized, but also more problematic. Some Comancheros began engaging in the illicit trade of stolen livestock, purchasing cattle from the Comanche and selling them to New Mexican merchants who were government beef contractors. These merchants, in turn, would sell the stolen cattle to the government. The Indians also stole horses, which they sold to the Comancheros. This practice fueled further horse and cattle rustling by the Indians, often in collaboration with the Comancheros, leading to increased hostility between the Indigenous tribes and settlers.

Furthermore, the Comancheros began establishing semi-permanent rendezvous sites throughout the Llano Estacado. These sites became hubs for the exchange of large quantities of livestock bearing Texas brands, firearms, ammunition, whiskey, and other manufactured goods. The trade in firearms and whiskey, in particular, contributed to the Comancheros’ increasingly tarnished reputation.

Ironically, the Comancheros, through their travels and trade routes, inadvertently facilitated future settlement. The roads blazed between their trading points were later utilized by ranchers and settlers as they moved into the region.

The Comanchero commerce reached its peak during the Civil War, a period when frontier defenses in Texas were weakened. However, after the Civil War, the U.S. Army and the Texas Rangers launched a concerted effort to suppress the illicit trade and force the Comanche onto reservations. The Comanche, resisting these efforts, were often aided by their Comanchero allies and relatives, who supplied them with firearms and ammunition.

The U.S. Army’s attempts to sever the ties between the Comancheros and the Comanche proved largely ineffective until the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon in Texas in September 1874. This decisive battle resulted in the surrender of the Comanche, who were subsequently relocated to a reservation at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. This event marked the end of the long-standing Comanche and Comanchero trade relationship, which had endured for nearly a century.

The story of the Comancheros is a complex and multifaceted one. They were traders, yes, but they were also intermediaries between cultures, facilitators of both commerce and conflict. Their actions had far-reaching consequences, shaping the history of the Llano Estacado and the relationship between the Indigenous tribes, the Spanish, and later, the Americans. Their legacy remains a subject of debate, a reminder of the often blurred lines between trade, survival, and exploitation in the American West. The Comancheros of the Llano Estacado, figures of both legend and controversy, are permanently etched in the history of the American Southwest.