Not an army, but more like a montage of related street gangs, no one in the history of the Western Hemisphere were more barbaric than the Comanche Indians. Since there was no centralized chief, young warriors pretty much had free rein – kill whoever you want, whenever you want, in whatever means you want. The more creative and sadistic the mutilations, the greater your power over those who may wish to harm you.
Comanche means “enemy”. They were, simply, everyone’s enemy. With more than a thousand tribes in North America, plus Spanish, English and French settlers coming in from Europe, no one felt safe entering the Comanche’s vast expanse of territory.
Usually about two dozen adolescents and 20-somethings took off during the full moon. They would steal horses and valuables, never forgetting to kill, torture and rape in the most brutal means possible.
Mercy? It’s was never going to happen. The more fear they could instill in others, the more safe they would be. No one challenges the gorilla in the room.
[Stop reading if you are sensitive to stories of torture.]
Just to get a glimpse as to what lies ahead if you are attacked in a Comanche raid:
- People buried alive up to the chin with the eyelids cut away. The eyes, unable to close, would be seared by the sun. Eventually, the victim would die of exposure, thirst or starvation.
- Males would be staked to the ground, genitals cut off and forced into the victim’s mouth. The lips would then be sewn shut.
- Feet were hacked off. Then the victim is forced to walk over flaming coals on his or stubs.
- Tongues were pulled off to prevent screaming.
- Genitalia and hands were hacked off and the open flesh set on fire. Once the nerves were dead, another portion was hacked off and the process repeated.
- People were forced to dig a hole and jump in. Their hands were bound. The hole was filled with dirt and the head left exposed. They then scalped the victim and cut off his ears, nose, lips, and eyelids. Still alive, the sun and insects would bring the victim to a less-than-merciful end.
- Tied to a wheel, the victim’s back was sliced with a knife. The entire skin was peeled off whole. With nothing to protect the skin and muscle, the victim dies after an hour or two.
Eventually the Texas Rangers incorporated several native tribes to join with them in defeating the Comanches.
The last Commanches surrendered in 1875 and peacefully moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma. They were led by Quanah Parker, the most brutal of them all, whose mother, Cynthia Parker, had been kidnapped and raped by the Comanches three decades earlier.
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