Comanche Feats of Horsemanship, 1834 Pennsylvania artist George Catlin toured the Great Plains and captured Comanche equestrian warfare in training. “Every young man,” Catlin wrote, learned “to drop his body upon the side of his horse at the instant he is passing, effectually screened from his enemies’ weapons. . . . He will hang whilst his horse is at fullest speed, carrying with him his bow and his shield, and also his long lance . . . which he will wield upon his enemy as he passes.”

Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C./Art Resource, NY.