Comanches: The Destruction of a People - Hardcover

Fehrenbach, T.R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0394488563 ISBN 13: 9780394488561

Publisher: Knopf, 1974

Synopsis

Absolutely authoritative and immediate, this is the story of the most powerful of American Indian tribes, the Comanches (they called themselves the â true human beingsâ ), who rode into modern history in a headlong collision with western civilization. T. R. Fehrenbach here recreates their rise to power, from their first harsh struggles for survival in the Eastern Rockies through uncounted generations who desperately resisted privation and suffering until they encountered and mastered the horse (first introduced by Spanish settlers). This is how, on horseback, the Comanches conquered and controlled the plains for more than a hundred years: destroying the ancient dreams of Spanish empire in North America, blocking the French advance into the Southwest, and becoming for more than sixty years the single greatest obstacle to Anglo-American expansion. Fehrenbachâ s history also tells how, at last, the Comanches themselves were conquered, falling before the Texas Rangers and the U.S. Army in the great raids and battles of the mid-nineteenth centuryâ until, after the Civil War, only random clumps of tipis stood where once encampments had stretched for miles.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

Authoritative and immediate, this is the classic account of the most powerful of the American Indian tribes. T.R. Fehrenbach traces the Comanches' rise to power, from their prehistoric origins to their domination of the high plains for more than a century until their demise in the face of Anglo-American expansion.
Master horseback riders who lived in teepees and hunted bison, the Comanches were stunning orators, disciplined warriors, and the finest makers of arrows. They lived by a strict legal code and worshipped within a cosmology of magic. As he portrays the Comanche lifestyle, Fehrenbach re-creates their doomed battle against European encroachment. While they destroyed the Spanish dream of colonizing North America and blocked the French advance into the Southwest, the Comanches ultimately fell before the Texas Rangers and the U.S. Army in the great raids and battles of the mid-nineteenth century. This is a classic American story, vividly and poignantly told.

From the Back Cover

“For a complete history of the Comanches, this book probably has no equal.” –Dee Brown, author of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

“This is a very good book. Like virtually all good books about the American Indian, it tells a tragic story, but unlike many of them, it tells it well. The author has mastered an extensive and complex subject: he is flexible, well-organized, and sensitive.” –Larry McMurtry

“Fehrenbach is a highly interpretive and original writer, whose work rests on solid scholarship. His book ranges grandly across the disciplines from folklore to anthropology to history.” –Southwestern Historical Quarterly

Edition details

• Publisher: Knopf
• Publication date: 1974
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0394488563
• ISBN 13: 9780394488561
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 557