In the mid1830s the New Texas Republic experienced threats from all angles. To the South, Texas was constantly skirmishing with Mexico. To the North there was a more terrifying threat, the Comanche. At this time, settlers on the Texas frontier were no match for the Comanche. As horsemen they were among the best in the world and they constantly raided the encroaching settlements.

To stop the bleeding, Texas instituted ranging companies of men for the purpose of defending their frontier. These “rangers” were slaughtered by the Comanche. Their rifles were no match for the speed of a Comanche bow.

But in the late 1830s a man named John “Jack” Coffee Hays moved to the young republic. His leadership will change the way that the Texans fought the Comanche and within a decade a gun maker named Samuel Colt will invent a new weapon that will give the Texans a fighting chance against the most brutal Indian tribe on the continent.

The Battle of Walker’s Creek will be its field test.
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Script edited by Derek Deremer
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RESOURCES

Comanches: A History of a People by T.R. Fehrenbach

Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne

Indian Depredations in Texas by J.W. Wilbarger

Jack Hays the Intrepid Texas Ranger by John Marvin Hunter

Recollections of the days in early Texas by Noah Smithwick

Texas Rangers
https://www.thestoryoftexas.com/disco...

Texas Ranger: Jack Hays and the Frontier Southwest By James Kimmins Greer

The Alleged Battle of Bandera Pass by Clay Coppedge
http://www.texasescapes.com/ClayCoppe...

1850 John ‘Coffee’ Hays
https://texastejano.com/history/john...

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