TerryRohrer
Elite Member
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2005
- Professional Status
- Certified General Appraiser
- State
- Montana
I grew up never far from this Battlefield and have know the story forever, but never saw the Texas angle before:
"Comanche was born on what was once called the Great Horse Desert of Texas around 1862. It was a vast region that was home to hundreds of thousands of mustangs and Comanche bore the tell-tale black dorsal stripe down his back as well as resembling early Spanish horses with the dun colouration. Comanche also had a small white star on his forehead and was known as an odd-looking horse, with a big head and thick neck that were out of proportion for his body, and he had legs that seemed slightly too short."
"On April 3, 1868, Comanche was captured in a wild horse muster and sold to the army for the average price of $90. A week after his purchase, Comanche and an unknown number of horses were loaded onto railroad cars and shipped west to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas where they were branded. Custer’s 7th cavalry unit had been stationed in Kansas and encamped near Hays City and had lost a number of horses that spring. Custer sent his brother, First Lieutenant Tom W. Custer, to buy remounts. He purchased 41, including the horse that would soon be named Comanche and once again the horses were loaded onto a train and taken to the troops."
“As the men looked up and searched the broken terrain with weary, tearful eyes, down by the river a horse was struggling to get to its feet. Several of the men recognized the horse because of its peculiar buckskin-like colour. It was Comanche, the favourite mount of Capt. Myles Keogh, who had valiantly rallied the men of “I” Company right up to the end… He had apparently sustained at least seven wounds, and his coat was matted with dried blood and soil.”
www.globetrotting.com.au
"Comanche was born on what was once called the Great Horse Desert of Texas around 1862. It was a vast region that was home to hundreds of thousands of mustangs and Comanche bore the tell-tale black dorsal stripe down his back as well as resembling early Spanish horses with the dun colouration. Comanche also had a small white star on his forehead and was known as an odd-looking horse, with a big head and thick neck that were out of proportion for his body, and he had legs that seemed slightly too short."
"On April 3, 1868, Comanche was captured in a wild horse muster and sold to the army for the average price of $90. A week after his purchase, Comanche and an unknown number of horses were loaded onto railroad cars and shipped west to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas where they were branded. Custer’s 7th cavalry unit had been stationed in Kansas and encamped near Hays City and had lost a number of horses that spring. Custer sent his brother, First Lieutenant Tom W. Custer, to buy remounts. He purchased 41, including the horse that would soon be named Comanche and once again the horses were loaded onto a train and taken to the troops."
“As the men looked up and searched the broken terrain with weary, tearful eyes, down by the river a horse was struggling to get to its feet. Several of the men recognized the horse because of its peculiar buckskin-like colour. It was Comanche, the favourite mount of Capt. Myles Keogh, who had valiantly rallied the men of “I” Company right up to the end… He had apparently sustained at least seven wounds, and his coat was matted with dried blood and soil.”
Comanche
As one of the only horses to survive Custer's Last Stand in 1876, Comanche became a historical and celebrated figure from his time.
www.globetrotting.com.au
