In New Spain of the latter 1600's, the Utes had the ability to capture and maintain horses. Their horses allowed for movement and hunting over much greater distances.
Around the same time, other Numic speaking people historically known as Comanches soon moved onto the landscape of the Great Plains.
The Comanches (Nummuhnuh) and their Ute kinfolk quickly began a strong relationship as fellow tribesmen. The Spanish authorities noted the ever-growing power of the Utes and their Comanche allies. It was also noticed that the raiders from the North had extreme confidence in their abilities to raid communities. The Comanches and the Utes battled for control of the land and soon expanded their territory.
In the early 1700's, the brethren tribes fought for excellent raiding and trading sites along the Rio Grande River. As both the Apache and Navajo were driven out, they sought help and protection from the Spanish. Over time, the Comanches had come to control the rich grasslands of the Southern Plains and the powerful Utes towered over northwestern New Mexico.
In the 1740's, traders in Navajo country observed that Navajos had to "live on the top of the mesas in little houses of stone. And that the reason for their living in those mountains is because the Yutas and Comanches make war upon them."
Impressive historical picture of the known Yamparika Comanche Chief Howea (Gap in the Woods) by William S. Soule, Fort Sill, circa 1872. Howea is shown wearing a shirt and a patterned vest. Courtesy of the Wilbur S. Nye Collection.
Nana (sp. Grandma) (~1810-1896) was a distinguished warchief of the Warm Springs Apache band of the Chiricahua Apache, and the brother-in-law of Geronimo. He got his first taste of battle in raids in Mexico, accompanying the famous chief Mangas Coloradas (see page highlights on Apaches for his biography). After the death of Mangas in 1863, a warrior named Victorio took over as chief of the Mimbres Apaches, another band of the Chiricahua. Together, the two chiefs would try to live peacefully in their homeland until they were forced to fight and defend their homes against the U.S. army's encroachment. Facing a war on two fronts, they had to fend off Texan trespassers, as well as the Mexican government, which put a very large bounty on Apache scalps. Victorio was killed in 1880 at the Battle of Tres Castillos by the Mexican army, so Nana took on the position of Chief and kept the guerilla resistance alive and well from the Sierra Madre mountains. The resistance would end with the surrender of Apaches in 1886, and Nana would die 10 years later of natural causes as a prisoner in Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The legendary chief is remembered for fighting alongside young men well into his 80s, even though he was half blind and had arthritis.
