chapter 5

A New Foe on the Staked Plains

Image Credit: Fort Sill National Historic Landmark Museum

Quanah Parker, in war bonnet and leather jacket, was an awesome force on the southern Great Plains.

To the Comanche, the Staked Plains had always been a safe haven. This began to change in 1871. Colonel Mackenzie led a group of black soldiers, known as “buffalo soldiers.” They formed the tough Fourth Cavalry. Their base, Fort Richardson, Texas, lay northwest of Dallas.

When the Fourth rode out on August 2, they went to hunt Quanah Parker. For six weeks, the soldiers found burned ranches and fresh graves. They found no trace of Quanah. As always, the Comanche struck, then retreated onto the Staked Plains. Mackenzie retreated to his base. He knew he would have to lead his men onto the Staked Plains. Only then could he find and defeat Quanah.

Mackenzie gathered his forces once more. In late September the 600 soldiers were getting ready to move out again. Only twenty miles away from their camp, the Comanche raided a ranch. They stole a dozen horses and 120 cattle. Two nights later, the thunder of hoofs awoke the soldiers. Buffalo pounded into their camp. Mackenzie knew the Comanche had caused the stampede.

The soldiers headed for one of Quanah’s known campsites, Canyon Blanco. That night Quanah led an attack on the soldiers’ camp. His warriors dragged buffalo hides behind their horses to scatter the campfires of the soldiers. They fired, yelled, and rang cowbells. Quanah led half a dozen warriors straight to the army horses. The horses fled in a wild stampede. The raid gained over 70 horses for the Comanche. Among them was Mackenzie’s gray pacer.

Another time, Lieutenant Robert Carter led a group of soldiers out to look for missing horses. Quanah led the attack on them. Carter wrote:

A large and powerfully built chief led the bunch on a coal black racing pony.... With six shooter poised in air, he seemed the incarnation of savage... joy. His face was smeared with war paint.... A large, cruel mouth added to his ferocious appearance. A full length headdress... of eagle’s feathers [spread] out as he rode.... Large brass hoops were in his ears. He was naked to the waist.... A necklace of bear’s claws hung about his neck. His scalp lock was carefully braided and tied with bright red flannel.... Bells jingled as he rode at headlong speed.¹

Quanah broke off the attack when a relief party arrived. The soldiers then chased the fleeing Comanche. For the first time, the army moved onto the Staked Plains. An early blizzard forced Mackenzie to turn back. The campaign was over for the year.

Mackenzie returned to the Staked Plains the next year. He led his men into land they had never seen before. They always seemed to be a day or two behind Quanah. The troopers crossed Texas into New Mexico before turning back. By mid August they were back at Canyon Blanco. They had crossed the Staked Plains by two routes. The region was a mystery no more. In September, the army attacked a camp of the Kotsoteka. They killed 52 warriors and 130 women. Three thousand horses fell into army hands.

Quanah camped nearby. That night Quanah attacked the army camp. His warriors took back the Comanche ponies. They took some army mounts as well. The army returned to Fort Richardson. Mackenzie had lost another campaign against Quanah Parker.