The Comanches were one of the few tribes of the South Plains who did not eat dog or human flesh. Their religion contained the belief of an after life in a “Happy Hunting Ground” beyond the sun. Naturally, these people utilized many wild plants. One among these that grows in the Park is mescal, which was used as a drug. (Quite a contrast to the Apaches, this.)
A valiant but bloody chapter in the history of the Southwest was closed in June, 1875, when the Comanches surrendered to the U. S. Army at Ft. Sill, and went on to a reservation in the then Indian Territory of Oklahoma. It is said the introduction of the Colt revolver, in the hands of the Texas Rangers, was the deciding factor toward their surrender.
THE INDIANS OF
CARLSBAD CAVERNS NATIONAL PARK
TIME RANGE
| Early Man | 25,000-15,000 B.P.? — 2,000 B.C.? |
| Carlsbad Basketmakers | 2000 B.C.? — 1750 A.D.? |
| Pueblo Culture Influence | 1000 B.C.? — |
| Mescalero Apache | 1300 A.D.? — |
| Comanche | 1700 A.D.? — |
| Kiowa | 1800 A.D.? — |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bailey, Vernon—Animal Life of the Carlsbad Cavern, 1928. Bourke, John G.—Medicine Men of the Apache, B.A.E. #9, 1887-88. Colton, Harold S. and Hargrave, L. L.—Handbook of Northern Arizona Pottery Types, MNA, 1937. Cosgrove, C. B.—Caves of the Upper Gila and Hueco Areas in New Mexico and Texas, Papers of the Peabody Museum, 1947. Dodge, Natt N.—Flowers of the Southwest Deserts, SMA, 1952. Ferdon, Edwin N., Jr.—An Excavation of Hermit’s Cave, New Mexico, 1946. Fewkes, J. W.—Casa Grande Arizona, Antiquities of the Upper Verde River and Walnut Creek, Arizona, B.A.E. #28, 1906-07. Gale, Bennett T.—Historical Sketch Carlsbad Caverns National Park, manuscript, 1952. Carlsbad Caverns—An Interpretation of Their Origin and Development, manuscript. Gifford, E. W.—Culture Element Distributions: XII Apache-Pueblo, Anthropological Records, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1940. Hawley, Florence M.—Field Manual of Prehistoric Southwestern Pottery Types, U. of N. M., 1936. Henshaw, Henry W.—Animal Carvings from the Mounds of the Mississippi Valley, B.A.E. #2, 1880-81. Howard, E. B.—Caves Along the Slopes of the Guadalupe Mountains, Bul. Texas Arch. and Pal. Soc., Vol. 4, 1932. Jennings, J. D.—A Variation of Southwestern Pueblo Culture, Lab. of Anth., Tech. Series, Bul. #10, 1940. Lehmer, Donald J.—The Jornada Branch of the Mogollon, U. of Ariz. SS Bul. #17, 1948. Mallery, Garrick—Picture Writing of the American Indians, B.A.E. #10, 1888-89. McGee, W. J.—The Seri Indians, B.A.E. #17, Part 2, 1895-96. Mera, H. P.—An Outline of Ceramic Developments in Southern and Southeastern New Mexico, Lab. of Anth., Tech. Series, Bul. #11. Reconnaissance and Excavation in Southeastern New Mexico, AAA Memoir #51, 1938. Mooney, James—Myths of the Cherokee, B.A.E. #19, 1897-98. The Ghost Dance Religion, B.A.E. #14, 1892-93. Calendar History of the Kiowa Indians, B.A.E. #17, 1895-96. Neumann, George—Analysis of the Skeletal Material, Lab. of Anth., Tech. Series, Bul. #10, 1940. Opler, Morris Edward—An Apache Life-Way, 1941. Pearce, Dr. J. E.—Kitchen Middens, Bul. Texas Arch. and Pal. Soc., Vol. 4, 1932—See also Victor J. Smith. Reed, Erik—Historical Narrative and Archaeological Values, Interpretive Section, Master Plan, Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Roth, W. E.—Animism and Folklore of Guiana Indians, B.A.E. #30, 1908-09. Schmitt, Martin F. and Brown, Dee—Fighting Indians of the West, 1948. Swanton, John R.—The Indian Tribes of North America, B.A.E. Bul. 145, 1952. Thomas, Alfred Barnaby—The Plains Indians and New Mexico 1751-1778, 1940. Wallace, Ernest and Hoebel, E. Adamson—The Comanches, U. of Okla., 1952. Williams, Jack R.—Papago, manuscript, 1952.
FOOTNOTES
[1]Unfortunately, the National Park Service has been unable to obtain any of these burials. However, Vernon Bailey in his Animal Life of Carlsbad Cavern points out that they were found. (Also, this has been corroborated by writings of the late Carl B. Livingston, well known attorney, writer, historian, and an outstanding authority on history and prehistory of New Mexico. Too, present and former employees of the National Park Service who played an important part in the early stages of the development and operation of the Carlsbad Caverns National Park are familiar with the evidences of prehistoric man found in and around the Caverns. T. Cal Miller.)
