Cuerno Verde

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Cuerno Verde (? - September 3, 1779) was a leader of the Comanche in the late 18th century.

Contents

[edit] Life

Cuerno Verde, which translates to "Green Horn" in English, is the Spanish name given to Tabivo Naritgant because of the green tinted horns that he wore on his head-dress in battle. The English translation of the original Comanche name is "Dangerous Man".[1] He inherited both his name and his distinctive head dress from his father, who was killed in combat against the Spanish at Ojo Caliente, in what is now New Mexico, in October 1768. [2]


The success of a series of raids lead by the younger Tabivo Naritgant into Nuevo Mexico during the mid to late 1770s called him to the attention of Juan Bautista de Anza , the Spanish governor of the province. Anza led a mixed force of from 500 to 800 Spanish troops and Ute, Apache, and Pueblo auxiliaries on a punitive expedition against the Comanche in August of 1779. [3][4]


The Comanche and Spanish forces met in a series of running battles between August 31st and September 3rd, 1779; Tabivo Naritgant was killed in combat, along with his first born son and fifteen others, on September 3rd somewhere between the present day cities of Pueblo, Colorado and Colorado City, Colorado, probably in a gully of the St. Charles River. [5] Hostilites in the area decreased following his death. [6]


Although Anza called him a "cruel scourge" and made note in his diaries of atrocities attributed to him, many modern Comanches question the veracity of Anza's statements and maintain that Tabivo Naritgant was only meeting the obligations of a responsible Comanche leader of the period.[7]

[edit] Legacy

Tabivo Naritgant gave the English translation of his Spanish name to Greenhorn Mountain and the Greenhorn valley. [8]


[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Juan Bautista de Anza & Cuerno Verde.
  2. ^ Martinez (2004). Anza and Cuerno Verde, pg. 16. 
  3. ^ Martinez (2004). Anza and Cuerno Verde, ppg. 23, 52. 
  4. ^ Juan Bautista de Anza and the Battle of Greenhorn.
  5. ^ Martinez (2004). Anza and Cuerno Verde, pg. 98. 
  6. ^ Dodds (1994). They All Came To Pueblo, pg. 13. 
  7. ^ Perez (September 2, 2001). "Anza panelists present Comanches' viewpoint". The Pueblo Chieftain. 
  8. ^ Juan Bautista de Anza & Cuerno Verde.


[edit] References