Comanche Land

J. Emmor Harston

• Publisher: Bonhopai Books
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781779793317
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

Commanche Land by J. Emmor Harston is a vivid historical account of the Comanche people and the vast territory they once dominated across the Southern Plains. Blending frontier history, ethnography, and personal observation, Harston's book offers readers a compelling portrait of the Comanche as warriors, horsemen, and a people whose culture and power profoundly shaped the history of the American West.

Harston traces the rise of the Comanche from their emergence as master horsemen in the 18th century to their dominance of a region that stretched across Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. He describes their fearsome reputation as raiders, their skill in warfare, and their ability to control trade and territory in ways that baffled both settlers and rival tribes. Yet the narrative also acknowledges their artistry, traditions, and resilience as a people who adapted brilliantly to the horse culture and maintained independence for longer than most Native nations.

The book pays particular attention to the conflicts between the Comanche and U.S. expansion, chronicling the bloody clashes, treaties, and eventual decline of Comanche power in the late 19th century. Harston's writing combines the drama of frontier adventure with respect for the endurance and legacy of the Comanche people.

 Though written in the mid-20th century and reflecting the perspectives of its time, Commanche Land remains an important contribution to regional and Native American history. It captures both the grandeur of the land and the complexity of a people whose history cannot be separated from the story of the American frontier itself. 

Table of contents

• Title page
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• DEDICATION
• Foreword
• Preface
• Acknowledgment
• Illustrations
• Introduction
• CHAPTER I — EARLY COMANCHE HISTORY
• CHAPTER II — COMANCHE LAND
• CHAPTER III — ADJACENT TRIBES
• CHAPTER IV — THE FIRST WHITE VISITOR
• CHAPTER V — HOW COMANCHES GOT THEIR NAMES
• CHAPTER VI — CORONADO IN COMANCHE LAND
• CHAPTER VII — COMANCHE RELIGION
• CHAPTER VIII — MISSIONS AND COMANCHES
• CHAPTER IX — THE SUGAR EATERS
• CHAPTER X — THE COMANCHE LANGUAGE
• CHAPTER XI — HISTORY IN ROCK PICTURES
• CHAPTER XII — MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIFE
• CHAPTER XIII — THE MEDICINE MAN
• CHAPTER XIV — MUSIC AND DANCING
• CHAPTER XV — PEYOTE AND TOBACCO
• CHAPTER XVI — COMANCHE “WEST POINTS”
• CHAPTER XVII — WEAPONS
• CHAPTER XVIII — SUPER HORSEMEN
• CHAPTER XIX — FROM BUFFALO TO LONGHORN
• CHAPTER XX — “TREATIES: SCRAPS OF PAPER”
• CHAPTER XXI — THE LAST WAR CHIEF
• CHAPTER XXII — STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE
• CHAPTER XXIII — CULTURAL EXCHANGE
• CHAPTER XXIV — STORY TELLING: LINK TO PAST
• APPENDIX “A” — COMANCHE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY OF WORDS AND IDIOMS
• APPENDIX “B” — DESCRIPTIVE INDIAN NAMES OF CERTAIN STREAMS AND MOUNTAINS
• APPENDIX “C” — CAPTIVES IN COMANCHE LAND
• APPENDIX “D” — TRAILS AND TRANSPORTATION
• APPENDIX “E” — YEARS OF IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF THE COMANCHE INDIANS