Comanche Nation

Guide to  ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, and other agency records.



Ancestral Homeland: Mexico to Wyoming

Various Spellings: Comanche, Camanche

Comanche Bands:
Kewatsana, Kotsai, Kotsoteka (Buffalo Eaters), Kwahadi, Motsai, Nokoni (Wanderers), Patgusa, Penateka (Honey Eaters), Pohoi, Quahadis (Antelopes), Tanima, Wasaih, and Yamparika (Yap Eaters)

Tribal Headquarters
Comanche Nation of Oklahoma 584 N. W. Bingo Rd. P. O. Box 908 Lawton, Oklahoma 73505 Toll Free Phone Number: 1.877.492.4988 Fax: 1.580.492.3796


 * Comanche Nation Official Website

Population: 1984 Total enrollment 8,131.

Brief Timeline

 * 1600's: Left Wyoming, neighboring tribe, Shoshone and removed to south to Rocky Mountains.
 * 1790: The Comanche allied with Kiowa
 * 1791: Living in present day Kansas
 * 1795 allies with Kiowa, and Apache
 * 1700-1800: raided and roamed Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and northern Mexico
 * 1816-1839: Smallpox epidemics
 * 1835: Texas Revolution
 * 1838: Council House Affair
 * 1840: United with southern Cheyenne and Arapaho
 * 1845: Annexation of Texas, Texas Rangers protect settlers from hostile Indians, particular the Comanche
 * 1849-50: Cholera epidemic
 * 1853: Fort Atkinson Treaty - protect the Santa Fe Trail
 * 1854: Comanche and Kiowa placed on reservation on the Brazos River.
 * 1859: Barzos River Reservations abandoned - moved to new reservation on the Washita River near present-day Fort Cobb, Oklahoma
 * 1864: Fought against Kit Carson's men; Battle of Adobe Walls on the Staked Plain for the Texas Panhandle
 * 1866/7: Treaty of Medicine Lodge 4,000 Indians in attendance; Comanche, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa and Kiowa Apache tribes. William Tecumseh Sherman, Commissioner of Indian Affairs
 * 1868: December 25: General Philip Henry Sheridan fought Comanche and Kiowa- Battle of Soldier Springs
 * 1871-1874: Comanche and Kiowa wars
 * 1874-75: Red River War or Buffalo War
 * Peyote Road- Native American Church- sacramental use of peyote - by 1930 half of the Indian population in the United States belonged to the church.
 * 1899: Oklahoma Territory ban the use of peyote.

Additional References
Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Comanche tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods. Additional details are given in John Swanton's The Indian Tribes of North America.

Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:


 * Allotment records
 * Annuity rolls
 * Census records
 * Correspondence
 * Health records
 * Reports
 * School census and records
 * Vital records

Agencies
Upper Platte Agency 1846-55

Upper Arkansas Agency 1855-64

Kiowa Agency 1864-80

Texas Agency 1847-59

Wichita Agency 1859-78

Superintendencies
St. Louis Superintendency

Central Superintendency

Colorado Superintendency

Southern Superintendency

Western Superintendency

Land Records
Tribally owned land 7,045.80 acres. Allotted land: 201,350.17 acres.

Treaties
The year link (year of the treaty) will connect to an online copy of the treaty.


 * 1835 August 24, at Camp Holmes
 * 1846 May 15, at Council Springs
 * 1853 July 27, at Fort Atkinson
 * 1865 October 17, referred to in an Apache treaty
 * 1865 October 18, at Little Arkansas River

Vital Records

 * Kiowa Agency, M595, births and deaths 1924-1932, FHL Film: 576909 and births and deaths 1930-1936, FHL Film: 576911

Important Web Sites

 * Constitution and By-laws of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma, approved: February 23, 2002
 * Comanche Nation Official Website
 * Comanche Nation Wikipedia

For Further Reading

 * Carlson, Paul H. The Plains Indians. College Station, Texas: Texas A&amp;M University Press, c1998. FHL Book 970.1 C197p
 * Richardson, Rupert Norval, The Comanche Barrier to South Plains Settlement: A Century and a Half of Savage Resistance to the Advancing White Frontier. Glendale: The Arthur H. Clark Co., c. 1933

General
For background information to help find American Indian ancestors see For Further Reading.