Close by the Pawnee Picts are the Kioways, who are described as being a fine looking race of men, very tall, some of them being seven feet high, and having a Roman outline of head. They are decidedly distinct from the Pawnee Picts and the Camanches, and also differ from them in language and customs.
The Camanches are supposed to be at least twenty thousand strong. Catlin even estimates them as high as thirty or forty thousand, and says they are able to show some six or seven thousand warriors, well mounted and well armed. They are a very warlike tribe, traversing the immense space of country extending far north and south, and east and west, from the Red River to the Pacific Ocean. They were long the dreaded enemy of the Spaniards, as they now are of the Mexicans, on whom they make frequent incursions, and bear off prisoners, especially female children, whom they adopt and marry. About sixty years ago, the daughter of the governor-general of Chihuahua was stolen by them. The father, by an agent, some weeks after, was allowed to ransom her. But she refused to return to her parents, and sent them word that the Indians had tattooed her face, and given her to be the wife of a young man of their tribe; that her husband treated her well, and had reconciled her to his mode of life. In her present circumstances, therefore, she preferred remaining where she was. She continued in the nation, and raised a family of children.
The Camanches have fought many a bloody battle with their enemies, and have always succeeded in preserving their independence. They particularly excel in catching and taming for use the wild horses of the plains, and form a terrible cavalry in war, particularly as they are able, in a moment, to throw themselves over to the opposite side of the horse, so as to be screened from their enemy, while they can shoot their arrows, either over or under the horse’s neck, with such force as to pierce through a buffalo. They also carry, in war, a shield, and a lance of fourteen feet in length, which they use with great effect. Numerous instances of their intrepidity are on record. The following incident is related by Farnham in his travels. About the middle of June, 1839, a band of fifty or sixty crossed the river in the night, and concealed themselves near where the animals of the establishment were feeding during the day. As they concealed themselves in the bushes, they were not perceived by the Mexican horse-guard, who, after having driven out his charge within reach of the guns of the fort, took his station, as usual, beyond them, holding his horse by a long rope, and suffering him to graze around him. While here on duty, the Indians suddenly rose, and ran towards the animals with horrible yells, seeking to drive them across the river. “The guard, however, nothing daunted, mounted quickly, and drove his horse at full speed among them. The mules and horses, hearing his voice amidst the frightening yells of the savages, immediately started at a lively pace for the fort; but the Indians were on all sides, and bewildered them. The guard still pressed them onward and called for help, and on they rushed, despite of the Indians to the contrary. The battlements were covered with men. They shouted encouragement to the brave guard, ‘Onward, onward!’ and the injunction was obeyed. He spurred his horse to his greatest speed from side to side, and whipped the hindermost of the band with his leading rope. He had saved every animal; he was within twenty yards of the open gate, when he fell; three arrows from the bows of the Camanches had cloven his heart. And, relieved of him, the lords of the quiver gathered their prey, and drove them to the borders of Texas, without injury to life or limb. Thus forty or fifty mules, and their best servant’s life, were lost to the Messieurs Bents in a single day.”