November is Native American Heritage month. This commemorative month provides an opportunity for Native people in the United States to share their culture, traditions, music, crafts, dance, and ways and concepts of life. This gives Native people the chance to build bridges of understanding and friendship in their local area.

The Comanche people, who traveled this area from 1700 to 1875, were of the Penatuhkah band, led by chiefs such as Muguara, Old Owl, Buffalo Hump, and Santa Anna.  These Comanches controlled most of Texas during her fight for independence, her time as a Republic, her becoming a state, and the Civil War period.

Led by Old Owl and Santa Anna, the Penatuhkah entered a treaty with the German colony in and around Fredericksburg in 1847.  The signing ceremony was held just east of San Saba on the San Saba River.  This could very well be the only treaty between red and white peoples that has never been broken.  In 1997, the city of Fredericksburg hosted a re-signing ceremony to formalize the treaty with modern-day Comanches.

Efforts are ongoing to recall the days of the horse culture in Texas.  A group designated as the Penatuhkah Comanche Trails Partnership has brought together representatives from over ten cities in the Central Texas region to offer citizens the opportunity to learn of the Comanche connections to this place.  Native American Heritage month is an ideal time to learn of the Comanche connections to your local area.   Both Early and Brownwood are members of the Penatuhkah Comanche Trails Partnership.