Comanche Captives

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Brother and sister were then separated in different Comanche camps. Seeing Dot’s bravery, Persummy took him under his tutelage and show-ed him the ways of a warrior. Dot caught on quickly and seemed to be enjoying himself. Dot was taught how to shoot by being given a pistol with live ammunition, and told to fire at Persummy as the chief went galloping by on his horse. Dot fired at him, mostly missing; the few bullets that hit were deflected by Persummy’s thick rawhide shield. While Dot was in training to be a warrior, the Comanche males did not physi?cally abuse him as they had during his initial ?breaking in? period. He got to accompany the In?dians on two raids into Mexico, and on the last one they killed seven Mexicans and captured two girls and one boy. Dot quickly learned the fate of most female captives. He said, ?Occasionally a warrior would capture a white woman for the purpose of adding her to his harem.?

Like his sister, Dot seemed to easily fit into Comanche society. He enjoyed the food. ?Whenever a buck killed a buffalo calf,? he said, ?the squaw rushed up and split the calf open. She scooped every bit of the milk out of its stomach just as quickly as she could and gave it to the children. It was the sweetest stuff I ever tasted, and was thick like our gelatin.? Dot also enjoyed the beds, made of dried buffalo hides suspended between four poles and covered with robes. ?I?ve slept in lots worse beds in white folks? houses many times,? he said.

Although Dot was in training to become a warrior, the Comanche women tried to use him as a slave, assembling the tepees, carrying wood and water, and cooking. Dot, because he was used to obeying his mother, did what they told him. Finally, other young men chastised him, telling him that he didn?t have to do house?hold chores like a woman. So, one day Dot refused to move when an old woman ordered him to get firewood. ?She hit me a devil of a lick across the back,? he said, but after that, the women didn?t bother him. He was independent. From then on, he could enjoy the life of a Comanche warrior, practicing with a bow and arrow, riding horses, hunting deer and buffalo. The women could do all the hard labor.

Although the two children adapted remarkably well to the Comanche lifestyle, their experience was not typical; most captives did anything they could to get back to the white world, and did not want to stay with the Indians. No matter how much the children claimed to have liked the Comanche life, they did not hesitate to return to the white world when opportunity for their recovery arose. Bianca was bought in April 1867. Her Indian ?mother? did not want her to go, but Bianca told her she wanted to go home to her father. ?Of course,? she said, ?I was tickled to death to get back to him.?

A little later, Dot was located on the Canadian River in Chief Horseback’s band. Horseback and others in the camp were sure that the white boy would elect to stay with them. However, Dot said, ?in this they were in great error, as my decision was instant and unalterable to return as quickly as possible to my father and kindred.?

The Babbs? captivity lasted only about six months, but they were already far on their way to acculturation. Both, however, assimilated quickly back into white society, and their time as ?In?dians? became a fond memory. Through their recollections, we see a brief picture of Comanche lifestyle in the 1860s that has now long since disappeared. Dot died in Dallas, Texas, in 1936. Bianca died in Den?ton, Texas, on April 13, 1950, the last of Texas? Indian captives.

For more on captives, see Greg and Susan Michno’s A Fate Worse Than Death (Caxton Press, 2007).

This article was written by Gregory F. Michno and originally published in the April 2007 issue of Wild West Magazine. For more great articles, subscribe to Wild West magazine today!

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