The early Spanish conquistadors, beginning in Florida, lost little time in exploring the southwest. They brought with them the Spanish mustang, which became the Indian pony, the cow horse of the cattle kingdom, and the Longhorn cattle, which became the symbol of Texas. Despite the fact that the Spanish flag flew over Texas longer than any other to date (1529 to 1821), the early explorers did not ever "settle" the land, so eventually, Texas became an English-speaking area and was lost to the Americans.
It was gold that first brought outsiders to the Llano Estacado, or the staked plains. The fabled seven cities of gold led the early Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado across it in 1541. He was looking for Quivira, the richest of the cities, when he crossed the area that he named Llano Estacado.
Histories vary. Why Coronado named this region the staked plains (and even if this is the correct translation of Llano Estacado) is unclear. Some believe it was because stakes where required to mark a path through the featureless terrain. Others believe that upon first seeing the escarpment of the Llano Estacado, it appeared from a distance as a stockade rampart, hence staked, or stockade plains. Still others have suggested that the name was derived from the fact that the Spanish had to place stakes in the ground to fasten horses due to the lack of trees.
When Coronado was sent to explore the new lands north of Mexico, he established a headquarters in a Zuni Pueblo somewhere in present day New Mexico or Arizona. From there, Coronado split his forces into expeditions which would eventually discover Lower California, the Grand Canyon of the Colorado, the Panhandle of Texas, and possibly eastern Kansas.
The leader of the eastern detachment was Don Hernando de Alvarado, who was traveling with an Indian chief from Cibola called Bigotes (Whiskers). He told Coronado about the buffaloes and invited the Spaniard to visit his homeland province of Cicuye, or Pecos, located about twenty-six miles east of present day Santa Fe, New Mexico. With a slave Indian guide named El Turko (The Turk, because he looked like one to the Spanish), Alvarado marched east, at first searching for the buffaloes. On the march, the Turk embellished many stories of golden cities to the east, and Alvarado became so excited about the possibilities that he returned to Coronado to tell him about the fabulous prospects.
On April 23, 1541, Coronado departed east to search for Quivira, the richest of the seven cities of gold with The Turk as a guide. According to most, he found it, though it turned out to be a humble village, not a golden city. It has been suggested that the village of Quivira was located on the Arkansas border, in Kansas, and even on the Llano Estacado itself. Regardless, the search lead Coronado's expedition onto the Llano Estacado. Some scholars believe that Coronado's journey to Quivira led him through the city limits of Lubbock and the Lubbock Lake site. Most believe that his return trip took him through Yellow House Canyon which shimmies through the current City of Lubbock, and indeed, a number of relics from this period have been found and now are on display in the Texas Tech Museum.
When The Turk failed to deliver the "Golden City", Coronado discovered that The Turk had been mandated by his owner to lead him onto the plains and then lose him, thus protecting the Mexico Pueblos. The Turk failed in this mission, and was rewarded by being choked to death for his treachery.
For the most part, the Spanish ignored the Panhandle Plains era for the next 60 years while they developed their New Mexico Territory. Future Spanish expeditions into the plains during this period were primarily for religious reasons and to discover more about the buffalo.
After the American Revolution, the Spanish became concerned about their holdings west of the Mississippi. In order to consolidate their communications between their two important settlements in the southwest, San Antonio and Santa Fe, they determined to establish a direct route between these communities. Several expeditions where sent out to find the most direct route between San Antonio and Santa Fe. Notably, Jose Mares discovered the most direct route which carried him over the Llano Estacado. Therefore, the Llano Estacado also became an important trade route for the Spanish. In 1808, Francisco Amangual would lead a further expedition to find usable water holes, visit Indian tribes and make allies with them, if possible, against the Anglos along this trade route. It is believed that during this expedition, Amangual traveled throughout the current city limits of Lubbock.
Early on, the Spanish managed to create tolerable, if not good, relations with the plains Indians (specifically the Comanche) around Lubbock. During the 17th century, Cibolers, Mexicans who hunted buffalo for both sport and game, came to the Llano Estacado from Santa Fe, Taos and the El Paso Area. These early Spaniards hunted in much the same way as the Indians, without rifles, and used almost the entire buffalo in the process of the kill. They roamed the Llano Estacado for almost 200 years, to the very beginnings of Lubbock. By then they had become an important source of food for the growing New Mexico population and for northern Mexico itself. In northwest New Mexico and Colorado, battles were fought between the Cibolers and Cheyennes over buffalo. Because of this, the Ciboleros restricted their hunts mainly to the Comanche country in the Texas Plains and thus avoided further Indian opposition until after the Civil War. Their impact on the area has often been overlooked, for their greatest threat came from the American professional Buffalo hunters. Therefore, they are often credited with instigating hostilities between the Americans and the Comanches.
It was the Cibolers which introduced the Comancheros to the high plains. Hearing the stories of the Cibolers in historic Santa Fe, the Comancheros, mostly small Spanish merchants, followed the Cibolers to the Llano Estacado to trade with the Comanches, hence their name. The Comanchero trade began with the treaty of 1786 between Don Juan Bauptista de Anza, the Mexican governor of New Mexico, and the Comanche Indians. By this time, the Comanches had for the most part driven the Apaches off of the Llano Estacado and so became the "Lord of the Plains". Part of this treaty required that the Comanches keep its native Texas safe for the Spanish throne. This treaty would eventually turn the Comanches into professional thieves, murderers, and kidnappers.
In the mid 1800s, as more and more white settlers moved into Central Texas, the Comancheros slowly changed their role from peaceful traders of merchandise with the Comanches to instigators of resentment and resistance against Anglo intruders in Texas. More and more, their trade with the Comanches involved whiskey and guns and this activity hit a crescendo during the Civil War. During the Civil War, with the men and solders off fighting against the north, more cattle and horses where stolen by the Comanches than during the previous years combined.
For almost a century, the Comanches would survive by stealing cattle and other livestock, and by kidnapping women and children, all of which they traded with the Comancheros. One of the Comancheros main trade routes ran through the current city limits of Lubbock. This Canyon, originally called Canon de Rescate, or Canyon of Ransom by the Spanish, was surely an early staging point for the negotiations of stolen cattle, horses, and even white hostages. This canyon was a popular camp site for Indians and is today called the Yellow House Canyon.
Eventually, it would take a full-scale military action to vanquish the Comanches and the Comancheros from Texas.
