Prey, available on Hulu (Comanche vs Predator)

kyron4 said:

Would there have been large groups of French Trappers that far west in 1719 ? It seemed really early for French beaver trappers to be that far west that early.

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"The Beaver Men" by Mari Sandoz is a good book on that subject. It's a condensed version of a lot of info on the fur trade from the late 1500’s on.

There were a lot of fur traders all over the place way earlier than I ever took the time to learn about.

Is this inspired by Cowboys and Aliens but now Indians and Aliens? Can't wait for it to come out and check out the details in costuming, beadwork, weapons, horse tack, language, etc.

Read somewhere that there were more Native American, Metis and French-Canadien trappers out than Anglo. Even some Sandwich Islanders.

Ok enough movie chat, let's get down to business: How does the alien predator clean his plasma cannon? Does he do it when he gets home or in the field?

RanchRoper said:

Ok enough movie chat, let's get down to business: How does the alien predator clean his plasma cannon? Does he do it when he gets home or in the field?

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Bet he doesn’t use bore butter or Ballisol.

Could be wrong, but I think the movie was filmed here in Alberta. Around RanchRopers home area in fact.
Walk

Well if you see 3 little red dots on my head, it’s been nice knowin’ ya.

RanchRoper said:

Well if you see 3 little red dots on my head, it’s been nice knowin’ ya.

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Thinking you’d do a much better job fight’n back with a flint gun than those in the movie!!!

RM

It is a fun bit of fluff. I couldn't get past the Comanche being in a heavily wooded, mountainous landscape. They lived in the Southern plains, West Texas and New Mexico for the most part. At first I thought they must be Blackfeet in NW Montana. The boomerang ax was a bit much. Traditionally, native peoples were much more "gender fluid" than we might guess, but the "they didn't take her seriously because she's a girl" trope is getting old. Still, it beat the series I tried to watch about some sort of Seal Team 6 with a super model in command.

Comanche didn't move down to the southern plains until they acquired horses for the most part, and most likely it was a gradual process. This movie is supposed to be right about the time they first started acquiring them.

DixieTexian said:

Comanche didn't move down to the southern plains until they acquired horses for the most part, and most likely it was a gradual process. This movie is supposed to be right about the time they first started acquiring them.

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I would agree with@DixieTexian. The Spanish colonials were fanatic about documentation, and their first mention of Comanches, I believe, was in the first decade of the 18th century. They were originally mountain people, akin to the Utes, with a society more typical of the Great Basin than the plains… no warrior societies or Sundance until late in the 19th century.

This is not intended to defend the integrity of the movie, which I’m sure is entertainment rather than history. It would seem if there were French trappers involved, the timeframe of the story is questionable.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob

DixieTexian said:

Comanche didn't move down to the southern plains until they acquired horses for the most part, and most likely it was a gradual process. This movie is supposed to be right about the time they first started acquiring them.

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In empire of the Summer Moon, the author talks about them being a northern people. But they moved down or rather were forced down south prior to having horses. They were if you can believe, a very weak people in comparison to their neighbouring tribes and continually got pushed southward.

Descriptions of them were of short scruffy people, not the handsome 6ft people like the Cheyenne for e.g.

They obtained horses on the plains if memory serves me correct and then moved northward...and eastward and southward and westward!

I find it interesting many average people think of the mounted western Indian as quintessential and eternal. Some of the northern tribes only had then for 50 years when white man came west. I don't want to digress too far, but I have wondered if buffalo populations were decreasing before Americans got a foothold there due to the horse, better hunting methods and indian trade. Obviously not to the point of extinction though.

If there were 60 million bison.

And

We wiped them out in 60 years.

That would be killing an avg of 2700 bison a day, every day from 1820 to 1880.



I think there might have been some bovine disease involved in their demise.

William Sublette said:

If there were 60 million bison.

And

We wiped them out in 60 years.

That would be killing an avg of 2700 bison a day, every day from 1820 to 1880.



I think there might have been some bovine disease involved in their demise.

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There wasn't 60 million. That figure came from one guy watching one herd moving across in front of him and extrapolating it over the continent.

Contemporary estimates range from 25-35 million or thereabouts from memory. Populations would cyclically rise and fall with good and poor seasons.

Official estimates are that there were between 30-60 million bison on the plains of North America between the 1700's and 1800's. There were substantial herds east of the Mississippi, as witnessed by many long hunters in the early 1700's. The population was so stable that it is believed that it didn't change more than two million, one way or the other, regardless of what nature threw at them. There were beaucoup bison!!

Sublette is correct!

Most zoologists and ethologists tend more toward the 60 million mark!

It has been suggested, with decent evidence, that the cow herds being brought up from Texas to supply such entities as Indian Agencies, burgeoning cities like Chicago, the cities in the East, brought bovine diseases that decimated the bison population. It's an interesting thing to look into. There's a story about one scouts memoir seeing hundreds of dead bison on a plain, with no signs of obvious death. Again, it's an interesting rabbit hole to jump into!

There is an all Comanche dialogue version, too. First ever. They worked quite hard on trying to get things accurate for the tribe.
With Reservation Dogs (I want a spirit guide like that!), Rutherford Falls, and Dark Winds becoming big hits, tribes are heavily involved in trying to keep things accurate on shows and movies.
Perhaps tribes will work with groups to have a joint rendezvous type of event on a reservation sometime.