Spanish peace treaties with the Comanche
By that time the Comanche were gaining control over a large area of the Great Plains, called Comancheria by the Spanish, reaching from the Arkansas River in Colorado to near San Antonio.
They acquired horses in the early 18th century, relied on bison (buffalo) for subsistence, and were adroit at war, diplomacy, and trade.
[2] Their numbers were growing rapidly due to incorporating captives and members of other tribes into their society, reaching a maximum population of twenty to thirty thousand in 1780.
In 1779, the governor of New Mexico, Juan Bautista de Anza, defeated and killed the Comanche chief Cuerno Verde (Green Horn) in a battle that took place south of 21st century Pueblo, Colorado.
Third, the Osage from Missouri and other eastern Indians were becoming rivals on the Great Plains and were better armed because of their ties to traders, mostly of French origin, in St. Louis.
Another 1784 arrival in San Antonio was Francisco Xavier Chaves, (also spelled Cháves) twenty-two years old, a Spaniard captured as a child in New Mexico by the Comanche, later sold to the Taovaya, and who decided (or escaped) to return to live among the Spanish.
[11] Vial and Chaves and two servants began their mission at Nacogdoches, Texas on July 23, 1785, meeting Taovaya and Wichita chiefs there for the annual distribution of gifts to them from the Spanish.
They furthermore said they would notify the governor when they planned to travel south into Mexico-claimed territory to fight their mutual enemies, the Lipan and Mescalero Apache.
The formal ratification of the agreement was delayed for six months while the governor assembled sufficient gifts to meet Spanish obligations to the Comanche.
The Lipan were infuriated by the peace treaty and 158 warriors gathered outside San Antonio to attack the Comanche chiefs on their way home.
[15] New Mexican governor Juan Bautista de Anza demanded that the Comanche speak with one voice in seeking peace.
Ecueracapa accepted the assignment, but warned that, if any Comanche violated the terms of an agreement he negotiated, he would join with the Spanish to punish them.
They treated Chiquito well and sent him to the New Mexican capital of Santa Fe with a message that Ecueracapa was the designated representation of the Comanche and requested safe passage for him to meet with the governor.
De Anza accepted and sent a return delegation with gifts to Ecueracapa,[17] A complication arose when a small band of Comanche killed a Pecos Indian, a subject of Spain.
Spanish settlement in New Mexico, long confined to the Rio Grande valley because of Comanche and Apache raids, expanded and population increased.
Peace with New Mexico and Texas also freed warriors to defend Comancheria from the encroachments of eastern and northern enemies, especially the Osage and the Pawnee.
As Mexico fought for independence from Spain, it lacked the organization and resources to reward the Comanche with the gifts and the trade they expected.
From the 1830s until 1870 the Comanches both fought with Texans and used Texas as a safe haven as they raided hundreds of miles deep into Mexico to capture horses, mules, and other livestock.
