Empire of the Summer Moon

Manifest Destiny was the belief held by many Americans that it was their right to settle and cultivate all the frontier land west of the Mississippi to the Pacific. This, of course, meant that in order to do so, the indigenous population would have to be removed, assimilated, or destroyed. The idea first dawned after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and then heightened after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that forced the defeated Mexicans to surrender much of their territory. 

This was a Comanche warrior’s medicine (magic) that was often a source of strength, power, and protection for him. Quanah’s puha, for example, was the bear (cf. Chapter 13, Page 199).

An anglicized Comanche word meaning chief, used throughout the book and nearly synonymous with “leader” or “commander.”