full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Dustin Tahmahkera: The last chief of the Comanches and the fall of an empire

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Late one night in 1871, a group of rrdies descended on a seenlipg army camp. In minutes they stirred the camp into a pianc, stole about 70 horses, and disappeared.

Led by a young chief named quaanh Parker, the raid was the latest in a long series of altercations along the Texas finetorr between the iouginedns people known as the Numunu, or Comanches, and the United States forces sent to steal Comanche lands for whtie settlers. Though the conflict was decades old, U.S. Colonel Ranald MacKenzie led the latest iteration. From summer to winter, he tracked Quanah. But Quanah was also tracking him, and each time the cnoolel drew near his targets, they disappeared without a trace into the vast plains.

Open Cloze


Late one night in 1871, a group of ______ descended on a ________ army camp. In minutes they stirred the camp into a _____, stole about 70 horses, and disappeared.

Led by a young chief named ______ Parker, the raid was the latest in a long series of altercations along the Texas ________ between the __________ people known as the Numunu, or Comanches, and the United States forces sent to steal Comanche lands for _____ settlers. Though the conflict was decades old, U.S. Colonel Ranald MacKenzie led the latest iteration. From summer to winter, he tracked Quanah. But Quanah was also tracking him, and each time the _______ drew near his targets, they disappeared without a trace into the vast plains.

Solution


  1. quanah
  2. colonel
  3. indigenous
  4. riders
  5. frontier
  6. white
  7. sleeping
  8. panic

Original Text


Late one night in 1871, a group of riders descended on a sleeping army camp. In minutes they stirred the camp into a panic, stole about 70 horses, and disappeared.

Led by a young chief named Quanah Parker, the raid was the latest in a long series of altercations along the Texas frontier between the indigenous people known as the Numunu, or Comanches, and the United States forces sent to steal Comanche lands for white settlers. Though the conflict was decades old, U.S. Colonel Ranald MacKenzie led the latest iteration. From summer to winter, he tracked Quanah. But Quanah was also tracking him, and each time the colonel drew near his targets, they disappeared without a trace into the vast plains.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
united states 2
ranald mackenzie 2
quahada band 2


Important Words


  1. altercations
  2. army
  3. camp
  4. chief
  5. colonel
  6. comanche
  7. comanches
  8. conflict
  9. decades
  10. descended
  11. disappeared
  12. drew
  13. forces
  14. frontier
  15. group
  16. horses
  17. indigenous
  18. iteration
  19. lands
  20. late
  21. latest
  22. led
  23. long
  24. mackenzie
  25. minutes
  26. named
  27. night
  28. numunu
  29. panic
  30. parker
  31. people
  32. plains
  33. quanah
  34. raid
  35. ranald
  36. riders
  37. series
  38. settlers
  39. sleeping
  40. states
  41. steal
  42. stirred
  43. stole
  44. summer
  45. targets
  46. texas
  47. time
  48. trace
  49. tracked
  50. tracking
  51. united
  52. vast
  53. white
  54. winter
  55. young