Kiowa up to their strongholds amid the hills of the Canadian River and into the Wichita Mountains, and if possible kill their warriors, decimate their food supply, strike at their homes and families, and generally destroy their ability to make war. Once he had advanced far into the Texas Comancheria, Ford intended to go further, law or not. On April 15, his Rangers and the Indians from the Brazos Indian Reservation crossed the Red River and advanced into the portion of the Comancheria in the Indian Territories in Oklahoma. Ford knew full well he was violating federal laws and numerous treaties by moving into the Indian territories but stated later that his job was to "find and fight Indians, not to learn geography." Battle at Little Robe Creek At dawn on May 12, Ford attacked a small Comanche village in the Canadian River Valley, flanked by the Antelope Hills. Later that day, they attacked a second village, which provided much stiffer resistance until its chief, Iron Jacket, was killed. His son Peta Nocona arrived with reinforcements, which led to a third distinct clash between the Texas forces and the Comanche. At day's end, the Rangers and their allies retreated to Texas; the Comanches, though in retreat, were gathering reinforcements as more of their tribe arrived, together with Kiowa and Kiowa Apache allies. Having suffered only four Ranger casualties, plus over a dozen Tonkawas, the force killed a reported 76 Comanche and took 16 prisoners and 300 horses. It had burned Iron Jacket's village and the original small village that they had attacked. Mention in history is limited, and none is in Ford's official reports on the battle, that the Tonkawa ate their dead Comanche rivals on the night of May 12 in what is referred to as a "dreadful feast". Aftermath Ford returned to Texas and requested that the governor immediately empower him to raise additional levies of Rangers and return north at once to continue the campaign in the heart of the Comancheria. Runnels had exhausted the entire budget for defense for the year, though, and disbanded the Rangers. Although Ford was unable to continue this campaign, it changed the face of Indian fighting on the Plains and marked the beginning of the end for the Comanche and Kiowa. Only the Civil War delayed the inevitable. For the first time, Texan or American forces had penetrated to the heart