In the 18th and 19th centuries, the numerous tribes of mounted Comanche warriors were the "Lords of the Southern Plains". For more than 150 years, these ferocious raiders struck terror into the hearts of other plain tribes, Mexican villagers and Anglo settlers in frontier Texas. Their dominion stretched from southern Colorado and Kansas into northern Mexico. This book documents the life and experiences of a Comanche warrior at the peak of their dominance. Following a hypothetical figure through a lifetime, it covers key social and cultural aspects as well as documenting the methods and equipment that they used to wage war.

This focuses on the history, costume, and material culture of the native peoples of North America. It was in the Southwest – modern Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of California and other neighboring states – that the first major clashes took place between 16th-century Spanish conquistadors and the indigenous peoples of North America. This history of contact, conflict, and coexistence with first the Spanish, then their Mexican settlers, and finally the Americans, gives a special flavor to the region. Despite nearly 500 years of white settlement and pressure, the traditional cultures of the peoples of the Southwest survive today more strongly than in any other region. The best-known clashes between the whites and the Indians of this region are the series of Apache wars, particularly between the early 1860s and the late 1880s. However, there were other important regional campaigns over the centuries – for example, Coronado's battle against the Zuni at Hawikuh in 1540, during his search for the legendary “Seven Cities of Cibola”; the Pueblo Revolt of 1680; and the Taos Revolt of 1847 – and warriors of all of these are described and illustrated in this book.

Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer died at the hands of native Americans by the banks of the Little Big Horn in Montana 25th June 1876. This is an established undisputed fact. What is disputed is the real reason that he died. So forget all you have been indoctrinated to believe and begin to learn the truth. George Custer was an anathema to his superiors, but the populace loved him. If he were to stand for president in the coming elections there was a strong possibility that he would win. Neither William T. Sherman nor ‘Little Phil’ Sheridan could allow that to happen. Thus they conspired to put Custer in a position in the field where the opposing Sioux and Cheyenne were stronger and could deliver the ‘Coup de Gras’. The first of two volumes to deal with the circumstances that arose leading the native Americans on a collision course with the US Army that fateful day and the death of a national hero. Subsequently the conspiracy is uncovered and shows how these men used their powers and positions and so deftly covered their tracks. Perhaps, but not quite. 30 years of diligent research has uncovered the truth in this ground breaking history. Unmissable and shocking, dare you not read this surprising revelation.

Learn how Native American tribes across North America waged war during European colonization, and how they adapted with things like horses, firearms, and stealth.

For many Plains Indians, being a warrior and veteran has long been the traditional pathway to male honor and status. Men and boys formed military societies to celebrate victories in war, to perform community service, and to prepare young men for their role as warriors and hunters. By preserving cultural forms contained in song, dance, ritual, language, kinship, economics, naming, and other semireligious ceremonies, these societies have played an important role in maintaining Plains Indian culture from the pre-reservation era until today. In this book, Williams C. Meadows presents an in-depth ethnohistorical survey of Kiowa, Apache, and Comanche military societies, drawn from extensive interviews with tribal elders and military society members, unpublished archival sources, and linguistic data. He examines their structure, functions, rituals, and martial symbols, showing how they fit within larger tribal organizations. And he explores how military societies, like powwows, have become a distinct public format for cultural and ethnic continuity.

Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer died at the hands of Native Americans by the banks of the Little Bighorn in Montana 25th June 1876. This is an established undisputed fact. What is disputed is the real reason that he died. So forget all you have been led to believe and begin to learn the truth. George Custer was anathema to his superiors, but the populace loved him. If he were to stand for president in the coming elections there was a strong possibility that he would win. Neither William T. Sherman nor ‘Little Phil’ Sheridan could allow that to happen. Thus, they conspired to put Custer in a position in the field where the opposing Sioux and Cheyenne were stronger and could deliver the ‘Coup de Gras’. This is the second of two books dealing with the circumstances that arose leading the Native Americans on a collision course with the US Army that fateful day and the death of a national hero. Subsequently the conspiracy is uncovered and shows how these men used their powers and positions and so deftly covered their tracks. Perhaps, but not quite. 30 years of diligent research has uncovered the truth in this groundbreaking history. Unmissable and shocking, dare you not read this surprising revelation.

“This is the most important pre-reservation document that we have for the Comanche language . . . It should be in every university research library.” —James A. Goss, Professor of Anthropology, Texas Tech University The Comanche Vocabulary collected in Mexico during the years 1861–1864 by Manuel García Rejón is by far the most extensive Comanche word list compiled before the establishment of the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache Reservation in 1867. It preserves words and concepts that have since changed or even disappeared from the language, thus offering a unique historical window on earlier Comanche culture. This translation adds the English equivalents to the original Spanish-Comanche list of 857 words, as well as a Comanche-English vocabulary and comparisons with later Comanche word lists. Daniel J. Gelo’s introduction discusses the circumstances in which García Rejón gathered his material and annotates significant aspects of the vocabulary in light of current knowledge of Comanche language and culture. The book also includes information on pictography, preserving a rare sample of Comanche scapula drawing. This information will help scholars understand the processes of language evolution and cultural change that occurred among all Native American peoples following European contact. The Comanche Vocabulary will also hold great interest for the large public fascinated by this once-dominant tribe.

This book details the growth of the European Fur trade in North America and how it drew the Native Americans who lived in the Great Lakes region, notably the Huron, Dakota, Sauk and Fox, Miami and Shawnee tribes into the colonial European Wars. During the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, and the War of 1812, these tribes took sides and became important allies of the warring nations. However, slowly the Indians were pushed westward by the encroachment of more settlers. This tension finally culminated in the 1832 Black Hawk's War, which ended with the deportation of many tribes to distant reservations.

*Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award* *A New York Times Notable Book* *Winner of the Texas Book Award and the Oklahoma Book Award* This New York Times bestseller and stunning historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West “is nothing short of a revelation…will leave dust and blood on your jeans” (The New York Times Book Review). Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches. Although readers may be more familiar with the tribal names Apache and Sioux, it was in fact the legendary fighting ability of the Comanches that determined when the American West opened up. Comanche boys became adept bareback riders by age six; full Comanche braves were considered the best horsemen who ever rode. They were so masterful at war and so skillful with their arrows and lances that they stopped the northern drive of colonial Spain from Mexico and halted the French expansion westward from Louisiana. White settlers arriving in Texas from the eastern United States were surprised to find the frontier being rolled backward by Comanches incensed by the invasion of their tribal lands. The war with the Comanches lasted four decades, in effect holding up the development of the new American nation. Gwynne’s exhilarating account delivers a sweeping narrative that encompasses Spanish colonialism, the Civil War, the destruction of the buffalo herds, and the arrival of the railroads, and the amazing story of Cynthia Ann Parker and her son Quanah—a historical feast for anyone interested in how the United States came into being. Hailed by critics, S. C. Gwynne’s account of these events is meticulously researched, intellectually provocative, and, above all, thrillingly told. Empire of the Summer Moon announces him as a major new writer of American history.

Can rock music help us understand literature? Rock Music in American Fiction Writing, 1966-2011 argues that a close analysis of the rock music incorporated into a literary text–an investigation of the lyrics, a musicological exploration of the sounds and rhythms, a cultural-historical inquiry into the production and reception of a song–may yield exciting new insight into and expand our understanding of American literary production from the mid-20th century onwards. Reading major works by Joyce Carol Oates, Alice Walker, Don DeLillo, Jeffrey Eugenides, Sherman Alexie and Jennifer Egan from such a rock-musicological vantage point, Rock Music in American Fiction Writing adds a new dimension to recent work in American literary criticism by seeking to establish rock music as an analytical tool for literary investigation. The book concentrates on the way these literary artists have struggled to come to terms with the dichotomies inherent in rock music–its liberating and revolutionary impulses as well as its adherence to the bleakest laws of consumer capitalism–in their work. By combining a musicological with a literary analysis, Rock Music in American Fiction Writing highlights the crucial and complex role rock music has played in shaping the artistic outlook and cultural sensibilities of literary artists since the 1960s in America and beyond.