The Comanche Empire

by Pekka Hämäläinen

The raids were more than simple plundering excursions; they were also an instrument of power politics that helped restructure Texas and its borderlands for further exploitation. In 1780 Comanche pillaging forced Texas ranchers to suspend their vitally important livestock drives to Louisiana. This deprived Texas of a major source of imports just as Spain’s involvement in the American Revolutionary War began to generate material shortages throughout the empire, but it was a boon for the Comanches themselves: the cessation of drives fueled the demand for their horses and mules in Louisiana, where animals were needed for the Spanish and Patriot troops fighting the British along the Gulf Coast. Like western Comanche raids in New Mexico, eastern Comanche raids in Texas served a double function: they yielded valuable goods while also creating markets for those plundered goods.