Quote:
Originally Posted by jimjamuser
Well I can answer that with some very interesting Historical facts. The Native American warrior was NOT at a real DISADVANTAGE from being without gunpowder. A skillful plains warrior with a bow and arrow could shoot over 5 arrows quicker than an Army infantry man could reload his SINGLE-SHOT rifle military Springfield rifle. The Native American tactics were to spring out of an ambush position and ride around encircling the standing stationary infantry troops. In that scenario the Native Americans had all the advantages. The US Army officers were the only ones with rapid firing repeater pistols which were no more accurate than their oppositions bows and arrows. People think a bow and arrow is slow to operate, but NOT so in the hands of the plains Natives. The BOW reloaded way faster than the single-shot army rifle. A Native American on their well-trained horses (ponys) were hard moving targets to hit by the stationary US solders single-shot rifles. They had the tactics and they knew the area. The US Army had many disadvantages.
........The population of the Native Americans suffered because of diseases from Europe that they had NO built up immunity against.
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Just read a book about the Comanche Indians, the most feared of all the plains Indians, they were able to get off
15 arrows before an infantry man could reload and shoot again. They were the best horsemen and warriors of all the American Indian tribes. Their culture was war and conquest. They stole horses and what ever else they wanted. These indians fought to the death which surprised the American soldiers. The reason was that the Comanche killed all the males and infants and most of the women and children of the tribes they attacked. Any other Indian tribe who fought the Comanche knew this and they fought to the death also if they became trapped or were running interference for their women and children as they were trying to escape. The Comanches held the upper hand until the Texas Rangers came along and they got better firearms and fought like the Indians and things evened up. After the slaughter of the buffalo herds the Indians lost hope and their best source of goods and materials. The army knew this and encouraged the complete decimation of the once magnificent buffalo herds.