“The Palo Duro Canyon”
Last month, June of 2009, my wife, Corinne, and I visited The Palo Duro Canyon State Park in the Texas Panhandle. For four days, we stayed in the small town of Canyon, Texas, which is about twelve miles west of the park and about fifteen miles south of Amarillo, Texas. It rained every night and most of one day while we were there.
This painting shows Palo Duro Canyon with a stormy sky and the late afternoon sun breaking through the cloud cover to light up the canyon.
This part of Texas was named Llano Estacado by Coronado in 1541 when he and his Spanish expedition passed through this area on their great exploration trip. There seems to not be a definite English translation of his name for the region; however, “The Staked Plains” seems to be the most popular translation today.
For hundreds of miles in each direction, this part of Texas appears to be a flat treeless grassland with very little natural access to water. Prior to the drilling of water wells by American pioneers, it was greatly feared by travelers and was inhabited only by bison, antelope, and the Indians that hunted them. Now, there are some trees that grow nearby and around farm homes. But the land is still mostly flat and the sky goes from horizon to horizon.
In geological terms, this vast area is called an uplift and, although not apparent to the human eye, it slowly slopes from the west to the east at about ten feet per mile. Over the last million years or so, a few creeks have developed that slowly eroded some canyons. The most spectacular of these canyons is Palo Duro Canyon. It is about 120 miles long, up to two to three miles wide and about 600 to 800 feet deep. It was formed by Palo Duro Creek that eventually becomes The Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River.
About the time that I was born in 1934, The State of Texas acquired about 26,000 acres of the most scenic area of the Palo Duro Canyon. This was at the time of the great Depression and President Roosevelt and Congress had established the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to make jobs for young unemployed men. The CCC made a very large camp up on the plains near the park entrance and constructed the roads and buildings for the state park.
To me, to fully get the impact of Palo Duro Canyon, a person has to approach the canyon from up on the flat treeless grasslands of The Llano Estacado. The twelve mile trip on State Highway 217 from Canyon, Texas, across the flat grasslands to the park entrance helps to get the visitor in the proper frame of mind. So when you come to the rim of the canyon and first look down into its vastness of orange, red, green, lavender, gray, brown and yellow colors that seems to go on for forever, and with a sky that is uninterrupted from horizon to horizon, it is just simply breathtaking.
The valley floor down in the canyon has creeks, trees, green grass, flowers, birds and lots of wildlife. When we were there, a pair of Mississippi Kites were soaring on the updrafts near the cliffs. I watched one fold up its wings and dive at a great speed for several thousand feet down to a ledge and catch some creature. I never grew tired or bored enjoying this view. Every few minutes it would change. As the clouds and the sun moved, so did the colors, shades and shadows.
Decending down into the valley, Park Road 5 goes for five miles through the forest of cottonwood and elm trees crossing the red waters of Palo Duro Creek several times. We saw deer, turkey and lots of colorful birds. We saw a number of Painting Buntings with their blue head, lime-green back and red chest. Colorful flowers were everywhere.
Down in the valley, there are camp grounds, picnic areas, and trails to follow. About five miles down the canyon the park road ends and there is a turn-around. At this turn-around, there is a historical marker which states the following:
The Battle of Palo Duro Canyon, September 28, 1874
One of the most significant battles of 1874-1875 Indian campaign; columns of troops converging from five directions harassed Indians on the Panhandle Plains for over six months. The 4 th Cavalry under Colonel Ronald S. Mackenzie, moving north from Fort Concho, tracked a large band of Indians to their secret canyon camp. Moving silently at dawn down a perilous path on the south rim, the first troops reached the floor of the canyon before the aroused camp fled. Some of the warriors took up positions on the canyon walls from which they fired on the troops, seeking to give their families time to escape. Realizing his tactical disadvantage, Mackenzie ordered the Indian camp and supplies burned and withdrew, taking 1,400 captured horses (1,000 of which he later destroyed). The cavalry suffered no causalities in the fight and only four Indian dead were counted. Having lost half their horses as well as all their supplies and shelter, the Indians drifted back to their reservations at Fort Sill and Fort Reno. (1967)
Since reading that historical marker, I have been reading about that battle. From what I can find out, a lot of the above statement is not exactly what happened that day. However, the basic information is true.
It is true that Col. Mackenzie and the 4 th Cavalry regiment did attack several large Indian villages of Kiowa, Cheyenne and Comanche Indians. Since this canyon had been occupied by Indians for their winter camps for the last 12,000 years, it could not have been much of a surprise to find them there preparing their winter camp. The Indians saw Col. Mackenzie and his troops up on the cliff tops early in the morning looking for the trail down into the canyon. Nearly all of the Indians escaped, but did not get to take with them all of their horses, tepees and supplies.
Col. Mackenzie and his troops burned their tepees and winter supplies and killed approximately 1,000 captured horses. About 400 of the best horses were given to their Tonkawa Indian Scouts. This battle would be the last major battle between US troops and the Plains Indians.
The Indians who did manage to escape were left to face the extremely cold winter weather of the upper Texas plains without tepees, supplies and not enough horses. So through the winter months, those who survived and could make the trip went to Fort Sill in western Oklahoma and surrendered.
The Quahada Comanche band led by a young chief, Quanah Parker, remained at large on the plains. Col. Mackenzie sent the Fort Sill physician and interpreter, Jacob J. Sturm, to find him and persuade him to bring his band of about 400 to Fort Sill and surrender. According to Dr. Sturm, he spoke with the young chief, who then went to the top of a nearby mesa to ask his gods for guidance. A wolf trotted up to him and howled and then trotted toward Fort Sill. An eagle glided overhead and then whipped his wings in the direction of Fort Sill.
His gods had given him their answer. He brought his band to Fort Sill and surrendered in June of 1875.
His father was the Comanche chief named Peta Nocona. (The town of Nocona, Texas is named after him.) His mother was a white captive named Cynthia Ann Parker who became the wife of Chief Nocona. She and her daughter, Prairie Flower, were captured by Texas Rangers, led by Captain Lawrence Sullivan Ross, in 1860.
She was returned to her family in Texas, however after twenty four years living as a Comanche woman, she never adjusted to living with the whites again. After repeated attempts to run away, she spent most of her remaining years locked in a room. After her daughter died, Cynthia Ann died in 1870. Some accounts say she starved herself to death and some say she died of influenza. My hunch is it was probably some of both. She was just 43 years old at the time of her death.
Soon after Quanah and his band surrendered at Fort Sill, he asked Col Mackenzie to help him find out the fate of his mother and sister. Col. MacKenzie corresponded with the Parker family in Texas and relayed to Quanah that is mother and sister were dead. (Since there are several different accounts of his father’s death, I am not sure how or when he died.)
Col. Mackenzie evidently recognized that this young, tall and slender Comanche chief with the blue-grey eyes had great potential. He soon appointed him chief of all the Comanche Indians on the reservation. He advised the young Comanche to follow the ways of the white man. Quanah took his advice.
Quanah would become the recognized chief of all of the Comanche Indians, learn to speak English, become an eloquent speaker, be a regular official visitor to Washington, D.C., meet with and know President Theodore Roosevelt and be in his inauguration parade, have five wives and twenty five children, live in a large and well-furnished twenty-two room home called Star Mansion, own a large herd of cattle and horses, own a large farm, serve as a judge on the reservation court, be the major investor in a railroad, be friends with the major cattlemen of the day including Charles Goodnight and be one of the founders of the Native American Church Movement.
By the time of his death in 1911, he was the wealthiest and most famous Native-American Indian in America. The town of Quanah, Texas, is named after him.
His name, evidently given to him by his mother, is the Comanche word for “fragran.t” It was customary in the Comanche culture for young men, after reaching manhood, to change their childhood name to something more fitting for a warrior. He chose to keep his boyhood name and to add the Parker family name. In looking at the many available photographs of this remarkable man, one thing stands out: he never tried to be anything other than to be a very proud Comanche Chief.
A few months before his death on February 23, 1911, he had his mother’s body, Cynthia Ann Parker, moved from Anderson County, Texas, to the Fort Sill Military Cemetery and reburied on Chiefs Knoll so that he could be buried beside her.
The inscription on his tombstone reads:
Resting Here Until Day Breaks
And Shadows Fall and Darkness
Disappears is
Quanah Parker Last Chief of the Comanches
Born 1852
Died Feb. 23, 1911
Cheers,
Acree
P. S. Visit this4University of North Texas web page to see photos of Quanah Parker.
<< Back to Email
Archive Page >>
|
