Iron Jacket (, ; born died 1858) was a Native American War Chief and Chief of the Quahadi band of

Comanche The Comanche (), or Nʉmʉnʉʉ (, 'the people'), are a Tribe (Native American), Native American tribe from the Great Plains, Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the List of federally recognized tri ...

Native Americans. Fehrenbach, T. R. (1974) ''"Comanches, The Destruction of a People'' Iron Jacket was a Comanche chieftain and medicine man whom the Comanche believed had the power to blow bullets aside with his breath. His name probably resulted from his habit of wearing a Spanish coat of scale mail into battle, which protected him from most light weapons fire. On May 12, 1858, the jacket (likely inherited from his ancestors) failed to protect him, and he was killed on the bank of the Little Robe Creek tributary of the

South Canadian River The Canadian River is the longest tributary of the Arkansas River in the United States. It is about long, starting in Colorado and traveling through New Mexico, the Texas Panhandle, and Oklahoma. The drainage area is about .Battle of Little Robe Creek where his band of Quahadi Comanches fought a combined force of Texas Rangers and Brazos Reservation Indians led by John S. Ford, Shapley Prince Ross (the father of

Lawrence Sullivan Ross Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross (September 27, 1838January 3, 1898) was the 19th governor of Texas, a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War, and the 4th president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, now c ...

), and Plácido, a

Tonkawa The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe from Oklahoma and Texas. Their Tonkawa language, now extinct language, extinct, is a linguistic isolate. Today, Tonkawa people are enrolled in the Federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Tonkawa ...

chief.

Early life

Not much is known about Iron Jacket's early life. He was born in the late 1780s or early 1790s, likely being son or nephew to Kwahadi chief Waakakwasi ("Trotter", called by Mexicans "Cota-de-Maya" or "Cota-de-Malla", i.e. "Iron Shirt" or "Iron Jacket"). He became a chief among the Kwahadi, or

Antelope The term antelope refers to numerous extant or recently extinct species of the ruminant artiodactyl family Bovidae that are indigenous to most of Africa, India, the Middle East, Central Asia, and a small area of Eastern Europe. Antelopes do ...

-eaters, Band of the Comanche. He appears to have been both a hereditary chief and a War Chief. Little else is known about Iron Jacket, except that he led dozens of terrifying raids on settlers from the 1820s to the 1850s in Texas and Mexico. In 1835, consequently to the Camp Holmes Council, he likely signed (his name was reported as Pohowetowshah, "Brass Man") the treaty with General M. Arbuckle and the former U.S. Senator Montfort Stokes, along with Comanche chiefs such Tawaquenah ("Sun Eagle") of the Kotsoteka and

Amorous Man The Amorous Man (,, ; – p. 1852) was a civil chief of the "Honey-Eaters" or Penateka band of the Comanche. The height of his prominence was in the 1830s and 1840s. Early life Nothing is known of his youth or early years. Amorous Man was ...

of the Penateka. In 1840 he likely was one of the leaders dealing, on the Comanche and

Kiowa Kiowa ( ) or Cáuigú () people are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe and an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colora ...

side, with the

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

and

Arapaho The Arapaho ( ; , ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho bands formed t ...

in the negotiations for the peace and alliance agreement promoted by the Yamparika chief

Ten Bears Ten Bears (Comanche: ''Pawʉʉrasʉmʉnurʉ'', Anglicized as Parua-wasamen and Parry-wah-say-mer in treaties and older documents) (November 23, 1872) was the principal chief of the Yamparika or "Root Eater" division of the Comanche from ca. 186 ...

. It is believed today that he was a hereditary chief of the Comanche, and for decades the US and Mexican victims of his raids considered him a supernatural being because of his seeming invulnerability to any harm. Members of the Rangers, posses and the military on various occasions insisted that they shot the chief dead center without harming him. Evidently, this was because of the coat of old Spanish mail the chief wore, which appears to have protected him from light weapons fire. In any event, he was a feared and dangerous figure along the Texas and Mexican border, and in the

Comancheria The Comancheria (Comanche: Nʉmʉnʉʉ Sookobitʉ, 'Comanche land'; Spanish: ''Comanchería''), also known as the Comancherian Empire, was a historic region covering modern New Mexico, West Texas, and nearby areas that was occupied by the Comanch ...

in the decades leading up to the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Antelope Hills Expedition

The years leading up to the Civil War were particularly bloody on the Texas Frontier, as Iron Jacket, his son

Peta Nocona Peta Nocona, also known as Puhtocnocony, or Tah-con-ne-ah-pe-ah ( – 1864), the son of ''Puhihwikwasu'u'', or Iron Jacket, was a chief of the Comanche Quahadi (also known as Kwahado, Quahada) band. He married Cynthia Ann Parker, who had been take ...

, and other Comanche and Kiowa Chiefs clashed with encroaching white settlers in the Comancheria. In response to these raids, on January 27, 1858, Governor Runnels appointed John Salmon "Rip" Ford, a veteran Ranger of the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

and frontier Indian fighter, as captain and commander of the Texas Ranger, Militia, and Allied Indian Forces, and ordered him to carry the battle to the Comanches in the heart of their homeland on the Comancheria. Ford, who earned his name due to his habit of signing casualty reports with the initials "RIP" for "Rest In Peace", was known as a ferocious and no-nonsense Indian fighter. Commonly missing from the history books was his proclivity for ordering the wholesale slaughter of any Indian, man or woman, he could find. Ford's reason for this was simple: Comanche raids were brutal in their treatment of settlers. Thus, Ford was determined to meet brutality with brutality. Governor

Hardin Richard Runnels Hardin Richard Runnels (August 30, 1820 – December 25, 1873) was an American politician. He served as the sixth governor of Texas for one term but notably was the only person to ever defeat Sam Houston in a political contest. Early life R ...

issued very explicit orders to Ford, "I impress upon you the necessity of action and energy. Follow any trail and all trails of hostile or suspected hostile Indians you may discover and if possible, overtake and chastise them if unfriendly". On March 19, 1858, Ford went to the Brazos Reservation, near what today is the city of

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Te ...

, and recruited the Tonkawa into his forces. Tonkawa Indians, the latter commanded by their "celebrated" chief Plácido, hailed as the "faithful and implicitly trusted friend of the whites" (with limited mention of their cannibalism), undertook a campaign with approximately an equal number of Texas Rangers against the Comanches. Ford and Plácido were determined to follow the Comanche and Kiowa up to their strongholds amid the hills of the Canadian River, and into the

Wichita Mountains The Wichita Mountains are located in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the principal relief system in the Southern Oklahoma Aulacogen, being the result of a failed continental rift. The mountains are a northwest-south ...

, and if possible, "kill their warriors, decimate their food supply, strike at their homes and families and generally destroy their ability to make war". In April 1858, Ford established Camp Runnells near what used to be the town of Belknap. Ford was still operating under Governor Runnell's explicit orders to "follow any and all trails of hostile and suspected hostile Indians, inflict the most severe and summary punishment", and to "allow no interference from any source". 'Source' was interpreted to mean the United States, whose Army and Indian Agents might try to enforce federal treaties and federal statutory law against trespassing on the Indian territories in Oklahoma. On April 15, Ford's Rangers, accompanied by

warriors, and Anadarko and

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

scouts from the Brazos Indian Reservation in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, crossed the Red River into

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

. The force then advanced into the portion of the Comancheria in the Indian Territories in Oklahoma. Ford led his men across the Red River, into the Indian Territory, violating federal laws and numerous treaties, but stating later that his job was to "find and fight Indians, not to learn geography".

Battle of Little Robe Creek and death of Iron Jacket

At sunrise on May 12, 1858, Ford and his joint force of Rangers and

began an all-day battle with a dawn attack on a sleeping Comanche village. The so-called Battle of Little Robe Creek was actually three distinct separate incidents which happened over the course of a single day. The first was the attack on the sleeping village. The second was a follow-up attack on the village of Iron Jacket, somewhat further up the Canadian River. Iron Jacket was killed in this exchange, and the remainder of his village was saved by the timely intervention of Peta Nocona with a third force of Comanche who arrived to engage Ford while all the villages along the Canadian made a swift withdrawal. Iron Jacket's death came when he repeatedly rode down the line of firing Rangers and Tonkawa, taunting them. Many historians believe the mail that protected him from light weapons fire simply was not able to protect him from the buffalo gun used by Tonkawa Jim Pockmark which killed him or, as Ford records, "six rifle shots rang on the air". In any event, the death of their legendary chief discouraged his warriors, and only the timely intervention of his son, Peta Nocona, and his warriors saved Iron Jacket's village. As it was, his body could not be recovered, and it was

scalped Scalping is the act of cutting or tearing a part of the human scalp, with hair attached, from the head, and generally occurred in warfare with the scalp being a trophy. Scalp-taking is considered part of the broader cultural practice of the taki ...

and partially eaten by the cannibalistic Tonkawas.

Personal life

Iron Jacket's son was the famous Comanche War Chief

and his grandson was

Quanah Parker Quanah Parker (, ; – February 23, 1911) was a war leader of the Kwahadi ("Antelope") band of the Comanche Nation. He was likely born into the Nokoni ("Wanderers") band of Tabby-nocca and grew up among the Kwahadis, the son of Kwahadi Coman ...

, the last Comanche Chief.

Legacy

In James DeShields' 1886 book, ''Cynthia Ann Parker'', he notes "The trophies of Pohebits Quasho, including his lance, bow, shield, head-dress and the celebrated coat of scale mail, was deposited by Col. Ford in the State archives at

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

". This claim is repeated verbatim in John Wesley Wilbarger's 1889 book, ''Indian Depredations in Texas''. However, T. R. Fehrenbach wrote in his 1974 book, ''Comanches, The Destruction of a People''; "the Rangers broke up his scale mail and kept the shingles for souvenirs. His other accoutrements, such as his lance and shield, were sent to the Governor in Austin for display."

In popular culture

The 1980 film '' The Mountain Men'' featured a fictionalized version of Iron Jacket named "Chief Iron Belly", portrayed by

Victor Jory Victor Jory (November 23, 1902 – February 12, 1982) was a Canadian-American actor of stage, film, and television. He initially played romantic leads, but later was mostly cast in villainous or sinister roles, such as Oberon in ''A Midsummer Ni ...

Sources

;Books * * * * * * Leckie, William H.; Leckie, Shirley A. (1967) ''The Buffalo Soldiers: A Narrative of the Negro Cavalry in the West''. Norman, Oklahoma. University of Oklahoma Press. * * Newcomb Jr., William W. (1972) ''The Indians of Texas: from Prehistorics to Modern Times''. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. * * * * Nye, Wilbur Sturtevant. (1983) ''Carbine and Lance: The Story of Old Fort Sill''. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. * * Schilz, Jodye Lynn Dickson; Schilz, Thomas F. (1989) ''Buffalo Hump and the Penateka Comanches''. El Paso, Texas: Texas Western Press. * Chalafant, William Y. (1991) ''Without Quarter: the Wichita Expedition and the fight on Crooked Creek''. Norman, Oklahoma. University of Oklahoma Press. * Fowler, Arlen L. (1996) ''The Black Infantry in the West, 1869-1891''. Norman, Oklahoma. University of Oklahoma Press. *

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iron Jacket 1858 in the United States Native American leaders Native American people of the Indian Wars Comanche people People from Texas 18th-century births 1858 deaths