Reddit reviews The Comanche Empire (The Lamar Series in Western History)

Well, according to that page, radiocarbon dates at the Honey Creek site show that it was occupied through the Early Historic era. That means that Europeans were present and active on the landscape.

European contact drastically reduced native populations through conflict and disease. Sites would be abandoned with reduced population. Most of the Native Americans that were left would either be pushed off of the land, or forced into more European ways of life. This was especially common in Spanish-held parts of the continent, where conversion of the Natives to Catholicism was very important. Many Native Americans in the American Southwest were forced into virtual slave labor in Spanish Missions, forever severing them from their traditional way of life. I, however, am not the best person to talk about that. An actual historian would the early contact era would be a much more useful source.

Another major change in human subsistence during the Early Historic era on the Edwards Plateau was the intensification of the bison-hunting and trading economy dominated by the expanding Comanche presence. This new economy was enabled by the re-introduction of the horse into North America and drastically changed the way of life on the Great Plains and surrounding regions. The Comanche Empire by Pekka Hämäläinen is a fantastic book on the subject.

So in summary, the Edwards Plateau was undergoing several great transitions between 1400 AD and 1700 AD. Traditional ways of life drastically changed during this time period.

"Unsubdued Indians"...damn straight, that's Comanche territory (check out Comanche Empire to learn how very unsubdued they were). Silly Euro-Americans.

You are asking me to condense Early Modern History to a comment on Reddit? Uhh, no. But you can read a book if you are interested!

Try After Tamerlane: The Rise and Fall of Global Empires, 1400-2000

Great read, with a new Global perspective on the rise and fall of Empires.

If you want to continue, you should then dive into the arbitrary/flexible notion of the Empire and read The Comanche Empire

Good stuff.