The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 23, July 1919 - April, 1920 Page: 54

The Southwestern Historical Quarterly

ing the lives of the young and of the women in order that they
may teach their wicked customs to the former and satisfy their
lust with the latter. Like cowards, they mutilate the bodies of
the dead and, sometimes, they eat their prisoners after torturing
them to death. They are inconstant in their friendships and
break their contracts for any cause. They are perfidious and
disloyal. They love their liberty so much that they will not bear
servitude; and to have peace with them it is necessary to sub-
due them by arms. It is certain that they are not reducible to
the Catholic religion. Their ordinary food is the buffalo and
other animals of the chase. They also eat horses and mules
[even] when not forced to. They never plant any crops. Their
sole occupation is hunting and war. The rest of the time they
spend in idlenesss and crime. They live a wandering life and
when they remain in one place it is only for ten or twelve days
while their animals are grazing the land bare and they them-
selves are driving away all the game. Although there are chiefs
among them, that is, one in each pueblo, who understands war,
they respect and obey him when they wish, without noting him
particularly. And if they follow him to war, it is because of the
love they have for murder and theft. They preserve no order
or formality in leaving him or in following him. And, although
they also have certain battles in their pueblos, it is for the pur-
pose of inciting them to war since that is the desire which dom-
inates them. They have many wives, as many as each Indian can
support. Some of them have as many as eight. They are not
clean. They wear only a breechclout. For the rest, they go al-
most naked. Only in the winter do they cover themselves with
buffalo skins, which they have tanned themselves. They have
great skill in arranging their hair with paints and oils, adding
to the mixture some artificial braids of horse hair tied with
strands of cloth which almost reach to the ground. The greatest
insult you can offer a Comanche is to pull his braids. They
know no religion except idolatry with all the superstitions which
the devil has suggested to them through their witches or magi-
cians, who are not lacking among them. Their riches consist in
the possession of good horses and arms, which they will not sell,
even though they be paid an exorbitant price. They do not lack
silver ornaments such as jeweled swords, and ornaments from
bridles, which they steal in their expeditions and campaigns.