Until the coming of the white man, Coleman County was a part of the domain of the Comanche Indians and was visited by an occasional tribe of Kiowas, Apaches, and Tonkawas.  The Comanche were nomadic, were more savage, cruel, and treacherous than the other tribes, and were excellent horsemen.  Although the Comanches had not always lived on the plains, they took over the most desirable portion of the Great Plains, which included this part of Texas.  They had no regular village life and lived wherever they chose to camp, though each tribe did have its own range.  After they were placed on government reservations, they continued to make forays into this area hunting buffalo and stealing horses and cattle.

     The Tonkawa Indians were allowed the privileges of citizens because they were harmless and had long been friends of the white man. They were once a powerful tribe, but because they refused to join the other tribes against the whites, they were killed out by their enemies until they were but few in number.  They had been placed on reservations in Oklahoma, but would always come back to Texas.  They would hang around the military posts for protection, and were used by the army commanders for trailers on the hunt for marauding bands.  There were known camps of the Indians on the Jim Ned and three miles from Valera on Bead Mountain.  The Santa Anna Mountains were used as a burial ground for the Comanches and points of lookout for the Comanches, Kiowas, and Apaches.  It was from these peaks that signal tires or smoke signals were sent to tell whether there were any white men in the vicinity, where the danger lay, and the situation generally as to the whereabouts of water and buffalo.