Chapter IV - Comancheria (Charlie & Ezekiel)

[Rex]

Charlie

"They are very heavy and will slow us down. My guess is that is why the Comanche left them, otherwise they use them for building many things."

[Bluetongue]

'Sarge' Ezekiel

His mount should be able to cope with a little extra weight, even just a couple of quality hides. It is strange they were not taken, just the brutality meted out.

I will leave the bodies in situ. No time to bury them but we can mark the area roughly on any map and leave it for the army to investigate later.

[jemmus]

Ezekiel inspects the stacked buffalo hides. He and Charlie know that an average hide will sell for $2, and a better one will bring up to $2.25 to $2.50. The sides have been brain tanned, but they're not completely dry. Ezekiel estimates that they weigh around 20 lbs. each. Draping two of the best of them over his horse's shoulders may not slow it down,should the need to gallop come up-- whether for pursuit or for flight. Even with the weight of the dried venison, hardtack and beef jerky, notebook and pencil, comb, razor, bar of soap, wash rag, and scant other things bulging his saddle bags.

Ezekiel's Good quality horse will need a Strength ST not to move a category down to Average, should the need for speed come up. I assume he shared some of his venison jerky with the settlers for last evening's share meal, as Charlie did. If so, jettisoning the remaining venison jerky and keeping only the bought rations would eliminate the need for an ST check. Or half of it for a +2 to the check. Ezekiel's and Charlie's current jerky = 8 days rations (in addition to their standard bought and carried rations).

Charlie has the same option for taking hides for trade or sale.

Both Charlie and Ezekiel get a +2 to a roll for a roll for discerning that they'd come across a site of a buffalo hunter massacre. The bonus must be called before rolling. If it fails, a successful Luck roll can restore it.

The scouts wisely decide to get out of the area of the bodies of the presumed buffalo hunters, the circling buzzards, the smoldering and smoking axles of a wagon, and the stacked piles of buffalo hides. They know that to the Comanche, every buffalo is a giver of life and shared part of Earth and creation. As a sitting of dollars in a town would be to an Anglo man, so stacks of hides would be to Comanches, and their wives, mothers, aunts, old grandmothers, sisters and even daughters.
Charlie leads the way northeast, toward the road from San Antonio to the south to the German town of Fredericksburg to the northeast, and the U.S. Army's Camp Mason a little ways beyond it. He and Ezekiel discuss that along the way. They've both heard that the Army has abandoned Mason and moved the garrison to Camp McKavitt, a day's ride of 20 or so miles to the west. Pushing miles into the land the Spanish-Mexican army maps label "La Comancheria." Where to settlers in there wagon move to claim the land and settle their deeds.

The scouts top another gentle hill and another taller and limestone-cliffed one. They scan the horizons for possible enemies. The scouts see to the southwest, more buzzards circling high in the sky. And closer, to the near west, many more. And toward where they just came from, the same general crew. They wonder why the circling birds don't just descend and feed. Maybe they soar and glide as a sign to their Buzzard Nation tribe. For tracking. Or for feeding babies. Or whatever other reason known only to a bird that survives by eating dead and rotting stuff knows.

Far away, around a half mile away to northeast (say 800 - 900 yds) away, the scouts see three other horsemen shielding their eyes and observing in their direction. They appear to be uncertain and gazing intently. They might be wearing blue Army blue or Comanche buckhide and paint on faces and horses.

Actions?

[Rex]

Charlie

"Lets see who this is."

He rides towards the unknown people, prepared to turn and run if need be.

[Bluetongue]

'Sarge' Ezekiel

"Sure, what do we have to lose except a balding scalp."

I gave my venison to the settlers.

[jemmus]

The scouts ride toward the three horsemen, who've spotted them and observe them. After fifty yards of riding, a fourth man emerges from behind some foliage, looks toward the scouts, and mounts his horse. The four men start walking their horses toward Charlie and Ezekiel fanning out into spaces between riders of around 20 yards. Two of their horses seem to be of the thin and rangy Texas horse type, but two seem to be bigger, taller, and more muscular quarterhorses of the type being brought in from Back East. Particularly by the U.S. Army quartermaster's office, Ezekiel knows. But he also knows that the man mounted on a horse isn't necessarily it's original or rightful owner.

The two groups close to around 500 yards. The edge of extreme range for a breech-loading single shot Sharps rifle, the most common long arm in the West. A hundred yards beyond extreme range for a lever action rifle, and 300 yards for a similar but quicker carbine. The riders ahead slow their horses to a stop. From the way they sit their horses, they appear to be men of an Indian tribe. Wearing Anglo hats and dark shirts. Whether Army scouts, renegades from the semi-settled tribes in the Indian Territory north across the Red River, or Indio bandidos from Mexico or the wild Apache lands to the southwest is hard to tell. The scouts know that a chance encounter and with another rider out in the open lands can of great benefit for both sides-- namely, information about where each is coming from and what they've seen along the way. Without having to ride the miles and spend the hours riding themselves. And still just have a little knowledge of particular wedge, among many others, of this prairie. That goes all the way to the Rocky Mountains to the west.

The four riders ahead have stopped, but start slowly walking their horses forward, observing.

Actions? If you want to roll an Observation roll, good eyesight might reveal more about the details of the appearance of the riders. A good Indian Contact roll might help identify their tribe, if any.

[Rex]

Charlie

Observation (16) [1d20]=18 Indian Contact 99) [1d20]=6

[Bluetongue]

'Sarge' Ezekiel

Ezekiel: Observation (14) [1d20]=2 Indian Contact (13) [1d20]=19

Friend or Foe? I am expecting the latter and primed rifle in hand ready for trouble.

[jemmus]

Ezekiel makes out that the riders are wearing U.S. Army issue blue shirts. And mounted on big American horses, rather than smaller and leaner Indian horses. Charlie spots that the men ride with red and yellow blankets (probably Indian trade ones) like he saw in the Tonkawa village southeast of San Marcos. Tonkawa Army scouts, most likely.


The four men continue to ride forward slowly, observing and eyeing Charlie in particular. At around 200 yards they converse with each other by sign, then stop. One of the men in the middle raises his hand in an Army salute to Ezekiel. And then all four raise their right hands in the universal sign of greetings and peace. They walk their horses forward to 20 yards and stop again. All four men eye Charlie with some suspicion. The man who saluted says in English to Ezekiel, Me Tonk. U.S. Army sergeant, Indian scouts. He pulls his coat sleeve down from the shoulder to show three yellow chevrons on his shirt sleeve. You sergeant too? Buffalo Soldier strong, no afraid. Friend Indian in Army.
What you do here? Why ride with white Comanche?

The mounted man to his left says, Say Comanche man I give good Sharps rifle for Winchester. Shoot long, straight. New rifle, U.S. Army. All ammo. Get all ammo.He pats the oaken stock of the rifle in its saddle sheathe. It does indeed look the weapon- or its stock at least- is in good condition. But it doesn't look like an offer of trade that Charlie can easily refuse.

A younger man off to the right says something in the strange Tonkawa language, which is neither like Comanche, Kiowa, or even like Pawnee. A language of cannibals who long ago came from the far south, from what is now Mexico.

The sergeant says, No think him. Why you come here, Sarge? Comanche land. Easy get kill. He signs the universal sign for murder. A finger drawn across a neck.

The Tonkawa scouts wait for the half-Comanche Charlie's reply. He and Ezekiel note that they have no pistols. They're standard issue in the U.S. Army, except for officers.
Actions?

[Rex]

Charlie

"I am a former army scout too. Friend to Tonkawa." He explains where he traded with the Tonkawa recently.

Not sure he has anything to prove it.

If needed rolls [_3d20]=(8+11+3)=22

[Bluetongue]

'Sarge' Ezekiel

His army stripes removed, but he has the same faded shirts, bits of cotton on his arm to indicate where once his officer rank was worn. He salutes the enrolled scout.

You sergeant too? Buffalo Soldier strong, no afraid. Friend Indian in Army. What you do here? Why ride with white Comanche?

"I took my order over twenty years. Now I am my own man. We are riding for the wagon train that pass on the trail west of here. Comanche war-party sought to attack them last night.

They did for some hunters back that way, under where the buzzards fly. A grim sight.

Where are the Comanche now?"

He gestures to the locations and asks directly, figuring these might have more knowledge.

"You have no horses? Commanche have horses. You take Commanche horses. Now Tonkawa ride and Commanche on foot.

Cavalry ride down running man ..."

So I am putting out there a suggestion for the Tonkawa to prosper via stealing Commanche horses.

I had that conversation with the Tonkawa chief, another sgt-scout a few days ago as we considered the Anthrax concern. Our initial aim here was to locate Comanche and drive off horses so that the settlers could progress safely. Having Tonkawa with us, they could take the horses for themselves and the tribe, replacing the shot diseased ones.

Is that something they would consider?

[jemmus]

The Tonkawa look at Charlie in a more friendly way now. But a little oddly, as if appraising him. Being a Native American himself, he can guess what they are thinking: "Why does this man fight his own mother's people?" But Charlie also knows that even full-blood Indians will go against their own tribe, if they feel themselves wronged.

The scout sergeant replies to Ezekiel, We hear Texans kill Tonkawa horses. Very bad for Tonkawa. Texans say will give new horses. We don't know. We want take Comanche horses. But we six, many Comanches. Tonkawa village far, take horses to village hard. U.S. Army shoot us for run away from Army.

We find Comanches horses, we find Comanches village. We bring U.S. Army, they kill all Comanches. Maybe give Tonkawa scouts some horses. Maybe kill all horses. He looks at the circling buzzards. We track Comanches, bring Army. You come with Tonkawa U.S. Army scouts?

The man offering to trade his Sharps for a lever-action rifle seems to have stoically given up on the idea.

[Rex]

Charlie

"Fair enough, anything to get the Comanche off the wagon train."

[Bluetongue]

So just to be clear, this Tonkawa plan is to locate the Comanche, then to inform the army of their whereabouts in the hope the Army come to raid them. And as a reward be given Comanche horses as 'spoils of war'.

I do see flaws in this: Firstly, while avoiding direct confrontation (always a good thing), these Tonkawa scouts don't necessarily need us to help them achieve that objective.

Secondly, there is no guarantee the army will immediately ride out to assault any Comanche camp and it is possible they would rather send a patrol to assist the wagon train as armed escort should the young rider have gotten through.

My own thoughts are not to inform the army so they commit wholesale slaughter upon a tribe but certainly reducing any war-parties ability to hinder wagons, raid settlers and torture hunters would be fine.

action
Can these Tonkawa help drive away the corralled Comanche horses? (Our original plan). We could herd them towards the army, which in itself hinders the Comanche ability to fully ride away. I was thinking of the two twenty-five men strong groups which goaded the wagon circle. Feasibly riding off with one of those group's mounts would be a significant action to both ward the wagon train and to hinder any war-party. If we can action that strategy, then joining together seems a reasonable action.

[jemmus]

Here are some things Army veterans Ezekiel and Charlie know.
-The saying "Generals are usually fighting the last war again" is pretty true of the U.S. Army in 1873. The last war was the Civil War, which involved large bodies of infantry meeting and fighting each other head on, supported by field artillery. Cavalry served for scouting for the enemy army and screening the army from being scouted by enemy cavalry. Usually they weren't much of a combat arm in a battle. The current U.S. Army officers tend to think this way against the Native Americans. They want to bring them to battle and use firepower against them.

But the Native Americans fight a completely different way. They're mobile horsemen, who fight as individuals rather than in units. They may have warriors who rise as war leaders, but they don't have commanders issuing orders. So the Army with its heavy firepower marching infantry is usually just too slow to bring the Native Americans into the kind of big battle that it excels at. Later the Army might learn to fight Indian-style, mobile and fast. But they haven't yet.

-Sarge is right. The goal is to find a Comanche village and lead the Army to it. Where the soldiers will massacre it, combatants or non-combatants alike. The Tonkawa probably aren't much averse to that, considering how the Comanches have driven them off of buffalo range and into dire poverty.

-The Comanches normally don't keep their horses in corrals this time of year, when villages are mobile and following the buffalo herds. Instead, they're in a herd that's watched all night, usually by male adolescents and teenagers. A few of the more independent-minded horses have their ankles hobbled with rawhide ropes. But most are free to run.

-Horse thieves from an enemy tribe will stealthily slip up on a horse herd. Then try to get past the guards undetected, not spook the horses, throw their braided rawhide ropes over a few select horses' necks. Trying to throw a rope over even two horse's heads is considered extremely bold and audacious. Then, they swing up onto the best one and suddenly gallop it, leading the others by rope, whooping and yelling to startle and stampede the herd and escape in the chaos. The thieves have to silently coordinate the timing of that with each other, so that they all gallop and whoop at once and no one gets left behind standing flatfooted and holding the bag. A younger brave waits holding the trusted mounts they rode in on, who becomes the leader and alpha boss of the new stolen horses.

There's a famous story of a Lakota (Sioux) young man who wanted to marry his sweetheart, a beautiful and talented young girl. Her stingy old father knew the value of his daughter, and demanded three good horses for the dowry-- a fortune. Knowing that the poor young man could never pay it. But he put his rope over a fine Pawnee stallion's neck. And then, spotting an even finer horse, he crept over, made friends with the nervous animal, and threw his rope over its head as well. The Lakota boys within the herd grew nervous, lying silent among the horse herd deep in the dead of the night. They held their breath as if underwater, and watched the stars and moon move in the sky overhead. Waiting for an alert Pawnee boy to notice, or for sharp-eared Pawnee dog to stand stand and bark. And for 100 or more Pawnee, with shaved scalps and their tradition of sacrificing humans to the Eastern (Morning) Star to come scrambling out of their lodges.

But the young Lakota man saw another fine horse, better than the first two, and threw his rope over its head. And then a fourth. A champion and a prince of the prairie, a slayer of buffalo bulls, and a proud prince of the prairie. The young man tried again. As the hours to dawn crept up, he made peace with the great leader of horses. And slipped his rope over his head.

The Pawnee horse herd scattered, the young Lakota boys escaped and met the not-yet-invite-to-steal young man holding their horses, and rode hard and escaped into the night.
And in the morning, the young man led not three, but four fine horses to the father's lodge, to the father's astonishment. He'd brought not three, but four fine horses for the dowry for his sweetheart's dad. The astonished father could not but accept the gift.

The Tonkawa sergeant sees Ezekiel's expression and says, Tonkawa scouts can find Comanches. We want your fast rifles come with us. Get in fight with Comanches, Tonkawa shoot long, straight. You shoot fast, straight. Then to his suggestion about driving the Comanches' horses away, he answers, U.S. Army no let Indian scouts fight Comanches, no let chase horses. Tonkawa find Comanches, bring Army. Finished.