Briefly described below are a few of the American Indian events of 250 years ago, in 1773.
Comanche
Linguistically, the Comanches are closely related to the Shoshone who are from the Great Basin culture area. Comanche oral tradition says that they once lived in the Rocky Mountain area north of the headwaters of the Arkansas River. The Comanches split off from the Shoshones because of a dispute over the distribution of a bear killed by a Comanche hunter. Linguistic data suggests that the Comanches began to move onto the plains about 1500 CE.
After acquiring the horse in the late seventeenth century, Comanche warfare increased. With regard to the purpose of war, anthropologist Thomas Kavanagh, in his book Comanche Political History: An Ethnohistorical Perspective 1708-1875, reports:
“Among the Comanches, warfare was not simply an arena in which to demonstrate bravery; it could be a direct material resource as a source of war booty.”
The leader of the Comanche war party would direct the distribution of the booty among the members.
In 1773, the Comanches attacked the Apache rancherias around Béxar, Texas. The Apaches abandoned their rancherias and retreated into the present-day Mexican state of Coahuila. The Comanches then raided the Spanish at Béxar, capturing more than 350 horses.
Unlike the Comanches, the Pueblos in New Mexico were farmers who lived in permanent villages. In 1773, a war party of about 500 Comanches carried out a series of raids against the Pueblos. They first attacked Pecos Pueblo. Later there were five separate raids on Picurís Pueblo and four on Galisteo Pueblo.
Horses
Plains Indians acquired horses following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Horses quickly became an integral part of the Indian cultures and wealth was measured in horses. Contrary to some popular beliefs today, wild horses were never a major source of Indian horses. Indians bred horses, traded for horses, and often went to war to capture horses. While the history books often talk of stealing horses, for the Indian viewpoint, they were capturing horses. Most of the horse raids are unrecorded in written histories, but here are two 1773 raids which are known:
In Arkansas, an Osage war party captured 80 horses from the Kichai. The Kichai then pursued the Osages, killed two warriors, and recaptured their horses.
In Arkansas, the Caddos chased an Osage war party which had stolen their horses. They killed 7 Osages and captured one warrior. Before being executed, the Osage warrior told the Caddos that the Osages had obtained their munitions from a French trader on the Arkansas River.
Indian Law
Law, from the European viewpoint at that time, involved a formal written code and people who are designated to interpret and administer that code. Since American Indians did not have anything that Europeans could see as a written code, they simply claimed that Indians were lawless. However, all American Indian tribes had laws which were enforced by tradition and by public opinion. As with their European counterparts, American Indians 250 years ago had laws regarding crimes such as murder and witchcraft.
Many of the Southeastern nations had the concept of Blood Law. This is a moral and legal code which requires any violent death, including accidental deaths, to be punished by death. Execution was vested in the family of the deceased rather than in the council. Homicide was seen as a personal wrong, a crime against a clan rather than a crime against society.
One example of the conflict between American Indian law and European law can be seen in an incident among the Creeks. The designation Creek is a European concept which emerged during the eighteenth century to designate the Indian people who were living along the creeks and rivers in Alabama, Georgia, and northern Florida.
The incident began when Ogulki, a Creek from the town of Coweta, killed another Creek man because he thought the man was practicing witchcraft. He then went to the farm of English colonist William White. Ogulki was convinced that White had killed one of Ogulki’s relatives. Acting under the Creek law of blood revenge, Ogulki then attacked the White household, killing 6 people, including 4 children.
Because of the violence, the Georgia militia arrived and demanded the execution of the Creek involved in the killings. Georgia declared an embargo on all trade with the Creeks until the situation was resolved. In her book Deerskins and Duffels: Creek Indian Trade With Anglo-Americans, 1685-1815, historian Kathryn Braund notes:
“For Georgia, the trade had become an instrument rather than an investment.”
As a result of the embargo, the Creeks became desperate for arms and ammunition. The Choctaws seized this opportunity to step up their attacks in the war between the two nations and the Creek death toll rose. To resume the supply of trade goods, the Creeks were forced to execute those responsible for the White family deaths.
More eighteenth century American Indian histories
Indians 101: American Indians and Europeans 250 years ago, 1773
Indians 101: American Indians 250 years ago, 1772
Indians 101: American Indians 250 years ago, 1771
Indians 101: Indians and colonists 250 years ago, 1770
Indians 101: Indian nations 250 years ago, 1770
Indians 201: Queen Anne's War in the north
Indians 101: Washington's Chehalis Indians and the Americans in 1792
Indians 201: Grey Lock's War in New England