Today’s Texas panhandle was the last major stronghold of the Comanche. The U.S. Cavalry drove them into surrender and relocation to reservations in Oklahoma by killing bison in these kinds of numbers.
Actually, the Army finally broke the resistance of the Comanche by wiping out their horses.
The Army had been chasing the Comanche up and down the panhandle for several years.
They would capture a few of their horses with the Indians getting away. The Indians weren’t worried - they were good at stealing their horses back.
Finally, there was a big engagement where the Army captured around 1700-1800 horses. The Army then killed around 1500 of the horses - just east of Lake City Texas.
When the Comanche realized their horses were gone they surrendered and were marched back to the reservation in Oklahoma.
And remember this - horses are NOT native to North America. They were brought over by the Spanish. Indian life before horses was REALLY tough - it was called the ‘Dog’ days. North American Indians never had the wheel, they traveled by foot dragging everything they owned by travois pulled by dog or humans.