Maybe the hole in the helmet was for one of those solar powered fans.
Posted on 09/13/2015 12:59:29 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Could it have belonged to Yosemite Sam?
What are the odds that kids today study the Spanish explorers? They are probably a paragraph or two in an AP level course, and are described as genocidal Spaniards who destroyed the peaceful and ecologically advanced native populations.
I’ve been climbing rocks all over the Southwest and reading books about Apaches for many year’s.
Cochise and his Stronghold in Arizona is My FAVORITE.
I am pretty sure that almost zero native Americans lived in the same area their ancestors did from 15,000 years previous.
They were transient.
He had him outnumbered, one to one.
Just as rare, and just as likely.
: )
They were nomads following the seasons and food, most certainly, and probably did not always return to the same seasonal occupation early on as they did in later centuries-I’m just basing my speculation on the petroglyphs and remains of hearths I’ve seen on trips into remote areas that have been dated to 15,000+ years, which is awe inspiring, to say the least. They were much more familiar with that land than the Spaniards were in any case.
Iron Jacket was a Comanche chief. From the report of Texas Ranger Captain John Salmon R.I.P. Ford of a battle with the Comanches published in the State Gazette newspaper of Austin, Texas on May 29, 1858:
Mr. Editor: Knowing that you would like to hear something about our doings out on the frontier, I will now try to post you up, to the best of my ability.
On the 22nd of April, Capt. John S. Ford made a forward movement from this place [Camp Runnels]. We left here with 102 men all told, officers, non-commissioned officers and privates. On the 25th of April arrived at Cottonwood Springs, about 10 or 15 miles north-west of Fort Belknap, where we struck camp, and the next day were joined by about 113 Indians from the Brazos Agency, under the command of Capt. Ross, the Agent. All were well armed; very near all of them had rifles and bows and arrows. Our men all had six shooters and rifles.
On the afternoon of the arrival of our dusky friends, we took up our line of march. It was a very imposing scene -- Indians and white men together hunting one common enemy, the wiley Comanche, the terror of mothers and children on this frontier.
That was from a letter to the paper signed by "R. C." 76 Comanches were killed in the battles described in the letter but only one white and one friendly Indian. "R. C." said in his letter that "our Indian friends fought well and bravely."
Captain Ford, in his report of the battle mentioned the following (reported in the same issue of the State Gazette):
... the head chief [of the Comanches], Iron Jacket, had ridden out in gorgeous array, clad in a coat of mail, and bore down upon our red allies. He was followed by warriors and trusted for safety to his armor. The sharp crack of five or six rifles brought his horse to the ground, and in a few moments the chief fell riddled with balls. Our Shawnee guide, Does, and Jim Pockmark, the Anadarco Captain, claim the first and last wounds.
... The second Chief had rushed into the conflict with the friendly Indians. A shot from Shawnee Captain, Chul-le-qua, closed his career.
... In justice to our Indian allies I beg leave to say they acted their part with zeal and fidelity; and they behaved most excellently on the field of battle. They deserve well of Texas, and are entitled to the gratitude of the frontier people.
I gather from the web that this battle was a change in tactics for the Rangers. Instead of simply responding to individual raids by chasing the party responsible, this time Ford went after the Comanche in their home village. Ford's report above covered the most successful battle of this trip.
During this expedition, the Comanches kept calling out Ford's Indian allies for-one-on one battles, which the Comanches always won. Even a Comanche woman killed one of Ford's Indian male allies in a one-on-one. The Comanche were hell on wheels. Ford kept losing allies that way on the expedition above, so he pulled out of that situation.
FYI, Iron Jaxket was the father-in-law of the white captive, Cynthia Ann Parker, and grandfather of Cynthia Ann Parker's son Quanah Parker, who became a famous chief of the Comanches.
It’s also possible that the Spaniards looking for treasure cities were the Age of Sail equivalent of grant-seekers, and they either made up the stories or just misunderstood what the natives were saying. Bernal Diaz records the then-current fiasco of how Yucatan got its name (the conquistador figured that, if the native didn’t understand Spanish, maybe he understood loud slow Spanish, was pointing toward the ground demanding to know the name of the land he had “discovered”, and the native looked down and told him the name of the plant he was pointing at). :’)
The Coronado expedition used to be said to have left no known artifacts; considering how much ground they covered, and how unlikely they were to throw anything aside needlessly, it’s probably not surprising. Apparently there are no indisputable artifacts to this day, but there are some *possible* items:
http://www.archaeologysouthwest.org/what-we-do/investigations/coronado/
Scholars study lost city of Mabila at UA
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1711316/posts
Imagine wearing that in Texas during the summer.
Get out of my mind, SunkenCiv!!! ;-] I thought the exact same thing when I first saw the helmet hole.
“The Cities of Gold were lies by the Spanish to encourage More exploration and settlement.”
Never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity.
“FYI, Iron Jaxket was the father-in-law of the white captive, Cynthia Ann Parker, and grandfather of Cynthia Ann Parker’s son Quanah Parker, who became a famous chief of the Comanches.”
When I was a boy, I lived two doors down from one of Quanah’s grandsons. His son was about my age.
I wish I had had the sense to extract some oral history, but, frankly, he was a scary man from the perspective of an elementary school boy.
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