The Comancheria or Comanchería (Comanche: Nʉmʉnʉʉ Sookobitʉ, 'Comanche land') was a region of New Mexico, west Texas and nearby areas occupied by the Comanche before the 1860s. Historian Pekka Hämäläinen has argued that the Comancheria formed an empire at its peak, and this view has been echoed by other non-Comanche historians. Geography The area was vaguely defined and shifted over time but generally was described as bordered to the south by the Balcones Fault, just north of San Antonio, Texas, continuing north along the Cross Timbers to encompass a northern area that included the Cimarron River and the upper Arkansas River east of the Rocky Mountains. Comanchería was bordered along the west by the Mescalero Ridge and the Pecos River, continuing north along the edge of the Spanish settlements in Santa Fe de Nuevo México. It also included West Texas, the Llano Estacado, the Texas Panhandle, the Edwards Plateau (including the Texas Hill Country), Eastern New Mexico, western Oklahoma including the Oklahoma Panhandle and the Wichita Mountains, southeastern Colorado and southwestern Kansas. History Background Before the Comanche expanded out of present-day Wyoming in the early 18th century, the lands that became known as Comancheria were home to a multitude of tribes—most notably the Apaches. Much of the region had previously been known as Apacheria. Greatest extent and possible empire Some historians have begun to consider Comancheria, at the peak of its power, as an empire. This concept was based on ideas developed by Pekka Hämäläinen who argues that from the 1750s to the 1850s, the Comanches were the dominant group in the Southwest and developed a form of imperialism. Confronted with Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. outposts on their periphery in New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, and Mexico, they worked to increase their own safety, prosperity and power. According to Hämäläinen, disease was the single most dangerous threat to Native Americans. The Comanche managed to avoid disease, which gave them an upper hand over the Apaches and other tribes in this area. Along with this, the Comanche were able to exchange goods with Europeans. The main thing exchanged for that gave them power was horses. Horses gave the Comanches more military power, and allowed them to hunt more buffalo. The Comanches used this military power to obtain more supplies and labor from the Americans, Mexicans, and Indians through thievery, tribute, and kidnappings. Although powered by violence, the Comanche empire was primarily an