Apaches (1450 AD to 1700 AD)

Bison skull

NPS Photo

The Apaches moved into the Texas Panhandle around 1500 and originally came south from Canada. They had followed the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains and started moving south and east from mountains around 1200. Around the end of the beginning of the 16th Century they moved into the Texas Panhandle. Although there is no conclusive evidence, it is probable that Apache raids on the Antelope Creek were part of what forced the Antelope Creek to leave.

Once on the southern Great Plains, the Apache lived a nomadic lifestyle and followed the herds of bison that roamed the plains. Spanish Conquistador Francisco Vázquez De Coronado traveled through the area in 1541 and noted a group he called Querechos (Apache) that lived in the area and hunted the bison for food, shelter, and clothing. They also used dogs to carry their tents and belongings. When they roamed near the Alibates flint quarries it is probable that they gathered some of the lose flint to make tools. They lived in the Texas Panhandle until around 1700 when the Comanches pushed them south and west.

The bison was arguably the most important animal they relied on. They ate the meat, brain, and some of the organs. Used sinew for thread and bowstrings, and the bones for various tools. They dried the bladder and stomach to store water. The Apache also burned dried dung for fuel since firewood was very limited over the Plains. Lastly, they turned the hide into clothing and shelter that was invaluable during the harsh windy winters.

For the first 100 years on the Great Plains, the Apache hunted the bison on foot. Around 1630, or earlier, the Apache acquired horses from New Spain. This dramatically changed their lifestyle. The horse allowed them to raid over vast distances with little fear of revenge. It gave them ability to hunt bison faster and safer than on foot. The horse could also carry more weight and move camp faster than their dogs.

From roughly 1500-1700 the Apaches ruled the Great Plains with few equal opponents. However, their power started to decline around 1700. In 1680 the Pueblo revolted against New Spain and temporarily pushed Spain out of New Mexico. With Spain gone, the Pueblo traded horses with northern tribes throughout the Great Basin and other tribes on the western Great Plains. This allowed horses to spread to tribes further north and east onto the Great Plains. Around 1700, the Comanches acquired horses and began moving onto the western Great Plains. As they came into contact with the Apache they began raiding nomadic and semisedentary Apache bands. Over the next fifty years the Comanche and Apache fought until the Comanche slowly drove the Apache off the southern and central Great Plains. Most of the different Apache groups moved south or south-west where they temporarily allied with Spain. Over the next two-hundred years the Apache bands made new lives for themselves in Arizona, New Mexico, southwest Texas, and northern Mexico. As relations with Spain soured Apache warriors carried out raids on New Spain and continued to carry out raids on the Comanche when possible. Although many groups moved away from the central Great Plains the Plains Apache moved north and allied themselves with the Kiowa and continued lived on the central and northern Great Plains. By the mid-1800s the Plains Apache were occasional allies with the Comanche and took part in raids against the United States, Texas, and Mexico until the Red River War of 1875.

With the Apaches largely removed from the southern Great Plains the Comanches began creating a new empire.

Sources:

Carlson, Paul H. The Plains Indians. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 1998.

Hämäläinen, Pekka. The Comanche Empire. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008.

Jordan, Julia A. Plains Apache Ethnobotany. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2008.

“Coronado’s Report to the King of Spain Sent from Tiguex on October 20, 1541.” PBS. The West. Accessed October 12, 2023. https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-west/report-to-the-king-from-tiguex/.