One of several routes used by traders dealing with Indians, primarily Comanches (hence name). Weapons, whiskey and trade goods were swapped for stolen Texas cattle, horses and captives. Pursuit apparently began in the 1760s when Mexican hunters ventured out on "Staked Plains" (Indian domain) to hunt buffalo for New Mexico meat markets. Early explorers Zebulon Pike (1807), Josiah Gregg (1830) and Capt. R.B. Marcy (1848) told of finding Comanchero campsites and wagon trails on the plains. The Comancheros ceased to operate in the mid-1870s. (1970)