Chief Timbo, known as Tah-cha-chi, or Hairless, ranks as one of the
leading chiefs of the Comanche Indians. With his stature of more than six
feet, he is a commanding figure among any Indians. The portrait of Timbo
reveals the striking difference to be found in the physiognomy of the
southern tribes as compared with the northern tribes of the Plains
Indians. In the photogravure presented Chief Timbo holds a long
steel-headed spear, girdled with varicoloured beads, ornamented with great
tufts of eagle feathers, and at the end of its ten feet of length bearing
a picturesque plume. This staff descended to Timbo from Quanah Parker,
once the leading chief of the Comanches. Chief Timbo brought this
insignia of office from the southland to the council of the chiefs. In
his own tribe the possession of such a mace answers among the Indians for
the sceptre of a monarch. It is a coup stick with manifold emphasis.
Chief Timbo accompanied the Kiowa, Cheyenne, and Apache chiefs to the
council. They came as brothers, but no fierce fighting among these
warlike tribes found a stronger or more fearless foe in the days gone by
than this stalwart chief. In the assembly of the chiefs he moved among
his fellows with a solemn and ponderous dignity, always silent and full of
commanding reserve. In the battles that raged over the southern plains
even far to the north, between the Comanches and the fierce Kiowas, Chief
Timbo led his fighting bands to certain victory. Fierce blood runs in the
veins of this masterful man, and only within recent years, and then not
easily, has he submitted to Government rule.
[The Downward Trail]