Читать книгу The Calendar History of Kiowa Indians (Illustrated Edition) - James Mooney - Страница 43

Table of Contents

In 1841 the Texan Santa Fé expedition passed through the country of the Kiowa. Kendall, the historian of that ill-fated undertaking, describes the tribe as occupying the prairies near the headwaters of Colorado, Brazos, Wichita, and Red rivers, and incorrectly supposes that their hunting grounds had never before been visited by white men. He says that they seemed to be a powerful people, hitherto but little known, owing to the fact that their range was south of the line of the Missouri traders and north of that portion of the Comanche country with which the Texans were acquainted. He speaks of their extraordinary horsemanship, and credits them with the feat, ascribed also to other plains tribes, of throwing themselves to one side of their horses while riding parallel with their enemies in such a way as to conceal and protect their bodies while discharging their arrows directly under their horses' necks. They had then but few guns, and these were ineffective in their hands, but were surprisingly expert in the use of shields, bows, and lances (Kendall, 1). The disastrous encounter of the Texans with the tribe is narrated in the proper place.