Here is a Little Texas Panhandle History

The High Plains or Golden Spread could be another name that you call the area but the names mean the same thing, I have loved living on the flat plains of Texas and have lived there since I was born. In the 1800s you had several tribes of Indians roaming the area, the Comanche were the dominant ones who lived in teepees in the canyon areas of Palo Duro and Ceta Canyon.

The Texas Rangers and Buffalo Soldiers were hunter-gatherers who hunted bison for their food so they could survive. I am trying to put myself in that time and I can imagine how life was, this was the 1800s and you had a bow and arrow to hunt game instead of a gun because they had yet to be invented. They got around on horseback as they traveled through the field in the era before cars became common, Cynthia Ann Parker was one to be adopted by the Indian tribe.

It happened when she was taken from her previous home and for 24 years she grew up with the tribe hunting and participating in battles. When Parker was grown her relatives found her and she married a chief of the Comanches and went back to live with her immediate family even though she grew to love serving the Indians so she was unhappy with being away from them for extended periods of time. She would pass away five years later and Quanah Parker her son would fill her shoes becoming a famous chief. I have been through the town of the same name multiple times going to Dallas-Fort Worth on trips, it’s a decent size for mom and pop stuff.

The State Parks of Fort Griffin and Fort Richardson were once spots established after the Civil War to protect Chiefs from raids of other tribes during battle. If I was there to see what it was like I would definitely be sheltering until it was safe to go outside of my area, of course I would have plenty of food gathered ahead of time before raids and battles on the fields in case there is a need to act during a war. In 1881 these structures would be abandoned and the Comanches would be defeated and the areas would be vacant until made into historical markers. I might make a trip to Palo Duro Canyon this Spring to see the beauty and history behind the biggest canyon on the High Plains.

The Panhandle and it’s history will live on for generations to come, I hope it carries on for a long time so it can be passed on to future residents of the area.

Here is a sunset in the flatlands of the Plains, I am so thankful to be living where I can see this happen.

God bless

-Tristan