The Life of Ten Bears is a remarkable collection of nineteenth-century Comanche oral histories given by Francis Joseph “Joe A” Attocknie. Although various elements of Ten Bears’s life (ca. 1790–1872) are widely known, including several versions of how the toddler Ten Bears survived the massacre of his family, other parts have not been as widely publicized, remaining instead in the collective memory of his descendants. Other narratives in this collection reference lesser-known family members. These narratives are about the historical episodes that Attocknie’s family thought were worth remembering and add a unique perspective on Comanche society and tradition as experienced through several generations of his family.
Kavanagh’s introduction adds context to the personal narratives by discussing the process of transmission. These narratives serve multiple purposes for Comanche families and communities. Some autobiographical accounts, “recounting” brave deeds and war honors, function as validation of status claims, while others illustrate the giving of names; still others recall humorous situations, song-ridicules, slapstick, and tragedies. Such family oral histories quickly transcend specific people and events by restoring key voices to the larger historical narrative of the American West.
Introduction by Thomas W. Kavanagh Preface The Dated Narratives 1. The Life of Ten Bears · ca. 1790–1872 2. Peace with the Kiowas · ca. 1825 3. Uhta Hookne: The Robe Entrenchments · 1837 4. Nahwakatahnohpetuhupu: When the Enemies Camped Together · 1838 5. Piakoruko’s War against the Apaches · 1840 6. Where the Comanches’ Saddle Packs Were Captured: Isakwahip’s Tragic Victory · ca. 1845–50 7. The Badger’s Mirror · 1855 8. Disaster in Coahuila · 1856 9. The Red-Striped Saddle Blanket · 1856 10. The Battle at Little Robe Creek · 1858 11. Wutsuki · 1858 12. Tuhtahyuheekuh Evens the Score against the Osages · 1868 13. Onawia Takes a New Wife and Goes to Mexico ·1868 14. Buckskin Charlie versus Kiowas and Comanches · July 1868 15. The Battle of the Washita · November 26, 1868 16. The Battle of McClellan Creek · September 24, 1872 17. The Battle of Adobe Walls · 1874 18. The Last Sun Dance, the Last Raid · July 26, 1878 The Undated Narratives 19. Esitoya’s Loyalty 20. Pukumahkuh’s Two Escapes 21. The Pukutsinuu: The Comanche Contrary Warriors 22. Mubsiihuhtuko: The Peaceful Nephew 23. A Fight between Cavalry and a Comanche War Party 24. Attocknie Gets Half a Scalp 25. A Cripple and a Blind Man Form a Friendship 26. Violation of a Dance Ground 27. Pohocsucut and the Two Kiowas 28. The Mule 29. Querherbitty 30. Comanche Pictographs 31. Miscellaneous Religious Matters 32. Fragmentary and Incomplete Narratives Appendix: Lexicon Notes Bibliography Index
Francis Joseph Attocknie (1912–84) was the great-great-grandson of Ten Bears. Thomas W. Kavanagh is the author of Comanche Ethnography: Field Notes of E. Adamson Hoebel, Waldo R. Wedel, Gustav G. Carlson, and Robert H. Lowie (Nebraska, 2008) and The Comanches: A History, 1706–1875 (Nebraska, 1996).
Thomas W. Kavanagh is curator of collections at the William Hammond Mathers Museum at Indiana University.
"The Life of Ten Bears provides such a wealth of information regarding Comanche raids and rituals from this era that it should prove of immense value to researchers for decades to come."—Steven Sielaff, Great Plains Quarterly
“Native historical accounts are the ‘holy grail’ for scholars working in borderlands or colonial contact situations. Kavanagh’s editing of Francis Joseph ‘Joe A’ Attocknie’s collection of the historical narratives of the Comanche Ten Bears will prove invaluable for scholars and edifying for readers.”—Lance Blyth, author of Chiricahua and Janos: Communities of Violence in the Southwestern Borderlands, 1680–1880
“The Life of Ten Bears will quickly become required reading in a range of disciplines and will be enjoyed by a broad, popular readership. It is a treasured addition to historical narratives authored by members of Native American communities in the twentieth century.”—Daniel Swan, curator of ethnology, Sam Noble Museum, University of Oklahoma
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