Band horse herds might number in the thousands.

The wealth differential between rich and poor Comanche was measured primarily in horses.

This horse wealth was not incidental to the Comanche’s military dominance of the Southern Plains.

It was the foundation of it.

A people with abundant horses could field more warriors, move faster, strike harder, and disengage more effectively than a people with fewer horses.

The Comanche military capacity was, at its heart, a horse-management and horse-riding capacity.

When Mackenzie’s force shot approximately 1,000 horses in the days following the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon, he was attacking this foundation directly.