William D Berry

Comanche Summer William D Berry

Texas in 1858 was a land in dispute. The white settlers were encroaching further westward yearly causing the Comanche homelands to shrink to the edge of the Staked Plains of West Texas. The future of the Red Nation rested in the ability of the tribes to stop the encroachment of the land- hungry white men. The battle between the Texicans and Comanche had been ongoing for thirty years and had resulted in the steady loss of the red man's homelands in eastern central Texas. The Comanches were led by Horse Walking, an embittered Quahidi war chief, who understood that the westward march of the settlers must be stopped or slowed if only for a few years. His plan called for the death of his arch enemy of many years Josh Mckeeg. Mckeeg was a Captain of a Texas Ranging Company who had established a ranch and home for he and his family on the disputed eastern border of the Comanche homeland. The ranger had built not only a home but a strong fort-like structure that would furnish protection and security for the neighboring settlers on the sparsely populated frontier. Mackeeg had hunted Horse Walking for many years and hated the Indian not because the Comanche fought the Texicans, but because the red man enjoyed the killing and torture. The recent events of this long struggle had brought them both to the point of decision. The time for the culmination of this conflict was at hand. This is the story of their final confrontation. This is not just a story of a brave man but also the story of his wife and children. Without his family he would not have survived.