Editing Comanche Wars (section)

{{Short description|Conflicts over Comanche lands, 1706 to 1870s}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Comanche Wars
| partof            = the [[Texas–Indian wars]]
| image             = Comancheria.jpg
| image_size        = 280px
| caption           = A map showing the Comanche lands ([[Comancheria]]) during the 1800s
| date              = 1706 &ndash; 1875
| place             = South-central [[United States]] ([[Texas]], [[Oklahoma]], [[New Mexico]], [[Kansas]], [[Colorado]]) and northern [[Mexico]]
| result            = * Comanche victory over Spain and Mexico
* Final Texan and United States victory
| combatant1        = {{flag|Spain|1785}} (until 1821)<br />{{Flag|Mexico|1823}}<br />{{Flag|Republic of Texas}} (from 1836 to 1846)<br />{{flag|United States|1822}}<br />{{flag|Confederate States}} (from 1861–1865)
| combatant2        = [[Comanche]]
| commander1        = 
| commander2        = 
| strength1         = 
| strength2         = 
| casualties1       = 
| casualties2       = 
| notes             = <br>'''[[Texas–Indian wars|Texas Comanche wars 1836 &ndash; 1875]]'''
}}
The '''Comanche Wars''' were a series of armed conflicts fought between [[Comanche]] peoples and [[Kingdom of Spain|Spanish]], [[Mexico|Mexican]], and [[United States|American]] militaries and civilians in the United States and Mexico from as early as 1706 until at least the mid-1870s. The Comanche were the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] inhabitants of a large area known as [[Comancheria]], which stretched across much of the southern [[Great Plains]] from [[Colorado]] and [[Kansas]] in the north through [[Oklahoma]], [[Texas]], and eastern [[New Mexico]] and into the Mexican state of [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]] in the south. For more than 150 years, the Comanche were the dominant native tribe in the region, known as “the Lords of the [[Southern Plains]]”, though they also shared parts of Comancheria with the [[Wichita people|Wichita]], [[Kiowa people|Kiowa]], and [[Plains Apache|Kiowa Apache]] and, after 1840, the southern [[Cheyenne]] and [[Arapaho]].<ref>Meedm D.V & Smith, J. Comanche 1800-74 Oxford (2003), Osprey, Oxford, pp 5</ref>

The value of the Comanche traditional homeland was recognized by European-American colonists seeking to settle the [[American frontier]] and quickly brought the two sides into conflict. The Comanche Wars began in 1706 with raids by Comanche warriors on the [[Spanish colonies]] of [[New Spain]] and continued until the last bands of Comanche surrendered to the [[United States Army]] in 1875, although a few Comanche continued to fight in later conflicts such as the [[Buffalo Hunters' War]] in 1876 and 1877. The Comanche were noted as fierce combatants who practiced an emphatic resistance to European-American influence and [[wikt:encroachment|encroachment]] upon their lands.

Comanche power peaked in the 1840s when they conducted [[Comanche–Mexico Wars|large-scale raids]] hundreds of miles into Mexico proper, while also [[Texas–Indian wars|warring]] against the Anglo-Americans and [[Tejanos]] who had settled in [[Republic of Texas|independent Texas]]. Their power declined as epidemics of [[cholera]] and [[smallpox]] caused thousands of Comanche deaths and as continuous pressure from the expanding population of the United States forced them to cede most of their tribal lands.