Irony of Peace Treaties
In attempting to pacify some of the more aggressive tribes, the US federal government had a policy of negotiating peace treaties in which the raiding tribes got to keep everything they collected during raids and were also given sizable gifts. This created a perverse incentive for them to start raiding every once in a while, since they received no incentive for simply living quietly and holding up their end of the agreement. So ironically the government, in trying to buy peace, bought more war.
Irony of Captivity
Cynthia Ann Parker, captured by the Comanche at age nine, was adopted by the Comanche and treated with love and kindness. She assimilated into that culture so thoroughly that, as an adult, she had multiple opportunities to leave but preferred to stay with her chosen husband and the children they had together. When she was captured after a battle and returned to the Parker family, she tried constantly to escape and lived the life of a captive.
Irony of Texas Rangers
Provisioned very poorly and equipped very badly-- the only thing their government supplied reliably or well was ammunition--the Texas Rangers were mounted fighters who could move about very quickly and live off the land. This made them far more effective fighters than the more adequately provisioned infantry troops of the regular army. They could move quickly and follow the Comanche effectively into their own territory, since they travelled just as light.
Irony of Quanah Parker's Influence
Although he was influential due to his status as a war leader, Quanah Parker was never actually a chief of the Comanche. After the end of the war when the Comanche people moved to the reservation, Quanah wholeheartedly embraced the ranching life, learning English and cultivating relationships with powerful Americans. This made him appear, from the outside, to be an actual leader of a tribe. But his influence came more from his ability to manipulate the white politicians than from any other source. Other Comanche leaders whose authority came from the will of the Comanche people (such as Isa-Tai) frequently resented Quanah's prominence and regarded him as a sellout.
Irony of Wealth
Quanah Parker became extremely wealthy after moving to the reservation, acquiring a great deal of land and many cattle. He did this in order to provide for as many of the Comanche as he could, and for his family in particular. However at the time of his death, decades of generosity and numerous wives and children had left him with almost nothing to his name except his home, some pictures, and the limited personal effects a nomadic warrior might plausibly have owned.
Irony of Savagery
J.M. Chivington, a brigardier general in the US Army, led seven hundred US soldiers in a brutal attack on a Cheyenne village while most of the men were out hunting buffalo. What followed was a vicious slaughter of children, surrendered captives, and women (some of whom were occasionally combatants, but they surrendered in this case since they were caught by surprise). The Sand Creek Massacre, as it was later called, was widely praised in Denver and elsewhere on the frontier, where the returning soldiers were greeted as heroes. The "civilized" settlers, who believed themselves to be superior in culture, religion, and morality, were showing themselves to be just as savage and ruthless as the people whose territory they had invaded. Farther east, away from the frontier, people in the cities reacted with revulsion and shame.
