Raiding and Trading -- Persimmon Gap Visitor Center, Big Bend NP TX
N 29° 39.603 W 103° 10.401
13R E 676789 N 3282512
A sign of history inside the Persimmon Gap Visitor Center at Big Bend National Park relates interesting information about how the Comanches used the Great Comanche War Trail
Waymark Code: WMV063
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/31/2017
Views: 0
An exhibit inside the Persimmon Gap Visitor Center a preserves the history of the Great Comanche War Trail, which passed through Persimmon Gap from the 1600s-1880s.
The interpretive sign reads as follows:
"RAIDING AND TRADING
The light of the September full moon, the Comanche Moon, reveals fear on the faces of defenseless farmers and their families in northern Mexico who dread the approach of Comanche raiders.
Today as you pass through Persimmon Gap you follow in the footsteps of these raiding parties on the “Great Comanche War Trail.”
For the warriors, the moon reveals the excitement of men and boys hoping to seek glory and prove their bravery. Accompanied by women and children, some war parties numbered up to 500 people. Livestock, ammunition, and slaves captured during raids were traded with Comanche neighbors. Successful raiding and trading establish that power and wealth of the Comanche Nation, securing control of their territory.
The arrival of the Comanche on the southern plains was first noted by Spanish authorities in New Mexico in 1706. By the mid-1700s, they displaced the Apache and other tribes in their lands, establishing “Comancheria” on the best Buffalo hunting grounds.
The Horse
One of the first tribes to adopt the horse, the Comanche learn to exploit this new technology. Horses allowed the Comanches to establish much larger hunting ranges, defend their territory with cavalry tactics, and to dominate long distance trade networks. By the late 17 seventies, the Comanche expanded hundreds of miles south of the Rio Grande."
Group that erected the marker: National Park Service
URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: [Web Link]
Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary:
Persimmon Gap Visitor Center
Big Bend National ParkTexas United States
75040
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