Buffalo hump
Encyclopedia
Buffalo Hump was a Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 War Chief of the Penateka band of the Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...

 Indians. His Nʉmʉ tekwapu (Comanche
Comanche language
Comanche is a Uto-Aztecan language spoken by the Comanche people, who split off from the Shoshone soon after they acquired horses in around 1705...

) name, properly transliterated, was Po-cha-na-quar-hip which meant "erection that won't go down".
He came to prominence after the Council House Fight
Council House Fight
The Council House Fight was a conflict between Republic of Texas officials and a Comanche peace delegation which took place in San Antonio, Texas, on March 19, 1840. The meeting took place under a truce with the purpose of negotiating peace after two years of war. The Comanches sought to obtain...

 when he led the Comanches on the Great Raid of 1840
Great Raid of 1840
The Great Raid of 1840 was the largest raid ever mounted by Native Americans on white cities in what is now the United States. It followed the Council House Fight, in which Republic of Texas officials attempted to capture and take prisoner 33 Comanche chiefs who had come to negotiate a peace...

.

Early life

Little is known of Buffalo Hump's early life. He became a historically important figure when, angered by the Council House fight of 1840, he led a group of Comanches, mostly his own band plus allies from various other Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...

 bands, in the Great Raid of 1840. Their goal was to get revenge on the Texans who had killed thirty members of a delegation of Comanche Chiefs when these had been under a flag of truce for negotiations.

The Council House Fight

Main article Council House Fight
Council House Fight
The Council House Fight was a conflict between Republic of Texas officials and a Comanche peace delegation which took place in San Antonio, Texas, on March 19, 1840. The meeting took place under a truce with the purpose of negotiating peace after two years of war. The Comanches sought to obtain...

.


The Comanches who came to the Council House at San Antonio in the Republic of Texas
Republic of Texas
The Republic of Texas was an independent nation in North America, bordering the United States and Mexico, that existed from 1836 to 1846.Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the state claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S...

 in 1840 had the intention to negotiate a peace treaty. They came under a white flag of truce as they understood ambassadors should do. At the meeting the Texans made what the Indians felt were impossible demands and when the Indians refused them, reportedly the Texans then pulled out guns and threatened to kill the Comanches. The Comanches, who had come without bows, lances or guns, fought back with their knives. The Texans had concealed heavily armed soldiers just outside the Council House. At the onset of the fighting, the windows and doors were opened and the soldiers outside shot into the room through them. This fight left lasting bitterness in the Comanche people who believed unarmed ambassadors who had come in under a white flag of truce had been slaughtered.

The Great Raid of 1840

Main article Great Raid of 1840
Great Raid of 1840
The Great Raid of 1840 was the largest raid ever mounted by Native Americans on white cities in what is now the United States. It followed the Council House Fight, in which Republic of Texas officials attempted to capture and take prisoner 33 Comanche chiefs who had come to negotiate a peace...

.


Buffalo Hump was determined to do more than merely complain about what the Comanches viewed as a bitter betrayal; spreading word to the other bands of Comanches that he was raiding the white settlements in revenge, Buffalo Hump led the Great Raid of 1840. On this raid the Comanches went all the way from the plains of west Texas to the cities of Victoria
Victoria, Texas
Victoria is a city in and the seat of Victoria County, Texas, United States. The population was 60,603 at the 2000 census. The three counties of the Victoria Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 111,163 at the 2000 census,...

 and Linnville on the Texas coast. In what may have been the largest organized raid by the Comanches to that point, they raided, burned, and plundered these towns. Linnville was the second largest port in Texas at that time.

The Battle of Plum Creek

Main article Battle of Plum Creek
Battle of Plum Creek
The Battle of Plum Creek was a clash between militia and Rangers of the Republic of Texas and a huge Comanche war party under Chief Buffalo Hump, which took place near Lockhart, Texas, on August 12, 1840, following the Great Raid of 1840 as the Comanche war party returned to West...

.


On the way back from the sea the Comanches were attacked by Texas Rangers and militia at the Battle of Plum Creek
Battle of Plum Creek
The Battle of Plum Creek was a clash between militia and Rangers of the Republic of Texas and a huge Comanche war party under Chief Buffalo Hump, which took place near Lockhart, Texas, on August 12, 1840, following the Great Raid of 1840 as the Comanche war party returned to West...

 near Lockhart
Lockhart
-Places:In the United States:*Lockhart, Alabama*Lockhart, Florida*Lockhart, South Carolina*Lockhart, Texas*Lockhart Township, Minnesota*Lockhart StadiumIn Australia:*Lockhart, New South Wales*Lockhart River, Queensland...

. Texas history says the Rangers won this battle, but this is highly questionable as the Indians got away with a great many of the stolen horses and most of their plunder. Volunteers from Gonzales under Mathew Caldwell
Mathew Caldwell
Mathew Caldwell, , also spelled Matthew Caldwell was a 19th century Texas settler, military figure, Captain of the Gonzales - Seguin Rangers and a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence...

 and from Bastrop under Ed Burleson had gathered to attempt to stop the war party and together with all the ranger companies of east and central Texas, moved to intercept the Indians, which they did at Plum Creek, near the city of Lockhart on August 12, 1840. 80 Comanches were reported killed in the running gun battle (although only 12 bodies were recovered)—unusually heavy casualties for the Indians, although they got away with the bulk of their plunder and stolen horses.

Description of Buffalo Hump

An out of print book, "Buffalo Hump and the Penateka Comanches" by Jodye Lynn Dickson Schilz and Thomas F. Schilz for Texas Western Press, in the Southwestern Studies Series for the University of Texas at El Paso
University of Texas at El Paso
The University of Texas at El Paso is a four-year state university, and is a component institution of the University of Texas System. Its campus is located on the bank of the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas. The school was founded in 1914 as The Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy,...

 describes the meeting of German Texas settlers, the Indian agent Major Robert Neighbors and the Comanches, including the fierce and commanding Buffalo Hump, who was estimated to be in his late 30s at the time — he was probably somewhat older, probably in his 40s or early 50s. Ferdinand Roemer, a noted German scientist who was traveling in America at the time of the meetings in the mid and late 1840s, attended the council between the chiefs and white representatives. He described the three Comanche chiefs as 'serene and dignified,' characterizing Old Owl as 'the political chief' and Santa Anna
Santa Anna (Comanche war chief)
Santa Anna was a Native American War Chief of the Penateka band of the Comanche Indians.-In The Early Life:Santa Anna was a member of the same band of the Comanche as the more famous Buffalo Hump. He was an important chief, though probably less influential than Buffalo Hump during the 1830s and...

 as an affable and lively-looking 'war chief'.

Roemer characterizes Buffalo Hump vividily as:

Role in negotiating peaceful surrender of the Penateka band

It is notable that had the Texans ever negotiated a treaty with all the Comanche where the Comancheria had been recognized, it would have stood, and led to the return of the captives that were at the heart of the Council House disaster. Despite the Council House, and the subsequent Great Raid of 1840
Great Raid of 1840
The Great Raid of 1840 was the largest raid ever mounted by Native Americans on white cities in what is now the United States. It followed the Council House Fight, in which Republic of Texas officials attempted to capture and take prisoner 33 Comanche chiefs who had come to negotiate a peace...

, Sam Houston and Buffalo Hump, with other chiefs representing, for the first time, every major division of the Comanche in Texas, almost succeeded in such a treaty. In August 1843, a temporary treaty accord led to a ceasefire between the Comanches and their allies, and the Texans. In October, the Comanches agreed to meet with Houston and try to negotiate a treaty similar to the one just concluded at Fort Bird
Treaty of Bird’s Fort
The Treaty of Bird’s Fort, or Bird’s Fort Treaty was a peace treaty between the Republic of Texas and some of the Indian tribes of Texas and Oklahoma, signed on September 29, 1843. The treaty was intended to end years of hostilities and warfare between the Native Americans and the white settlers in...

. (That this included Buffalo Hump, after the events at the Council House, showed extraordinary Comanche belief in Houston) In early 1844, Buffalo Hump and other Comanche leaders signed a treaty at Tehuacana Creek in which they agreed to surrender white captives in toto, and to cease raiding Texan settlements. In exchange for this, the Texans would cease military action against the tribe, establish more trading posts, and recognize the boundary between Texas and Comanchería.http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/exhibits/indian/war/page3.html Comanche allies, including the Wacos, Tawakonis, Kiowa
Kiowa
The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...

, Kiowa Apache and Wichita
Wichita (tribe)
The Wichita people are indigenous inhabitants of North America, who traditionally spoke the Wichita language, a Caddoan language. They have lived in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas...

, also agreed to join in the treaty. Unfortunately, the boundary provision was deleted by the Texas Senate
Texas Senate
The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing 31 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 672,000 per constituency. There are no term limits, and each term is four years long. The Senate meets at the...

 in the final version, which caused Buffalo Hump to repudiate the treaty, and soon a resumption of hostilities occurred.

Finally, in May 1846 Buffalo Hump became convinced that even he could not continue to defy the massed might of the United States, and the State of Texas, so he led the Comanche delegation to the treaty talks at Council Springs that signed a treaty with the United States.

As war chief of the Penateka Comanche, Buffalo Hump dealt peacefully with American officials throughout the late 1840s and 1850s.

In 1849, he guided John S. Ford's expedition part of the way from San Antonio to El Paso, and in 1856, he sadly and finally led his people to the newly established Comanche reservation on the Brazos River. Continuous raids from white horse thieves and squatters, coupled with his band's unhappiness over their lack of freedom and the poor food provided on the reservation, forced Buffalo Hump to move his band off the reservation in 1858. While camped in the Wichita Mountains, the Penateka Band under Buffalo Hump were attacked by United States troops under the command of Maj. Earl Van Dorn. Allegedly not aware that Buffalo Hump's band had recently signed a formal peace treaty with the United States at Fort Arbuckle, Van Dorn and his men killed eighty of the Comanches, mostly women and children.

Nonetheless, despite this, and an aged and weary Buffalo Hump led and settled his remaining followers on the Kiowa-Comanche reservation near Fort Cobb in Indian Territory in Oklahoma. There, in spite of his enormous sadness at the end of the Comanches' traditional way of life, he asked for a house and farmland so that he could set an example for his people. Attempting to live out his life as a rancher and farmer, he died in 1870.

Forgotten in history, resurrected by fiction

Before the Lonesome Dove series, Buffalo Hump was forgotten in history, the Great Raid of 1840 only remembered in Texas history classes. Buffalo Hump was resurrected as a powerful historical figure by Larry McMurtry
Larry McMurtry
Larry Jeff McMurtry is an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work is predominantly set in either the old West or in contemporary Texas...

's books "Dead Man's Walk
Dead Man's Walk
Dead Man's Walk is a 1995 novel by Larry McMurtry. It is the third book published in the Lonesome Dove series, but the first installment in terms of chronology. McMurtry wrote a fourth segment to the Lonesome Dove chronicle, Comanche Moon, which describes the events of the central characters' lives...

" and "Comanche Moon
Comanche Moon
Comanche Moon is a 1997 western novel by Larry McMurtry. It is the fourth and final book published in the Lonesome Dove series, but the second installment in terms the chronology of the narrative.-Plot introduction:...

," the first two books in the Lonesome Dove series
Lonesome Dove series
The Lonesome Dove series refers to a series of four western novels written by Larry McMurtry and the four television mini-series based upon them.-Novels:# Lonesome Dove # Streets of Laredo # Dead Man's Walk...

. Whether intentionally or not, McMurtry's dramatization of the character of Buffalo Hump is very similar to the historical figure described so vividly by Ferdinand Roemer.
Buffalo Hump is also mentioned in a scene in The Outlaw Josie Wales when Lone Watie is telling Wales that he and Buffalo Hump were among a delegation that was sent to Washington, D.C. to meet with government officials during Lincoln's administration.
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