The Comanchero Trail was one of several routes used by traders dealing with Indians, primarily Comanches, from whom it took its name. Weapons, whiskey, and trade goods were exchanged for stolen Texas cattle, horses, and captives. The pursuit apparently began in the 1760s, when Mexican hunters ventured onto the Staked Plains, an Indian domain, to hunt buffalo for New Mexico meat markets. Early explorers Zebulon Pike in 1807, Josiah Gregg in 1830, and Captain R.B. Marcy in 1848 reported finding Comanchero campsites and wagon trails on the plains. The Comancheros ceased to operate in the mid-1870s.