Quanah Parker and His Lasting Legacy on Texas

This post will relate to anyone who has been a Texas resident for many years and has a passion for a state with a wide assortment of diversity among it's populations. Many Indian Tribes roamed the regions of the plains and Hill Country but we will focus on an iconic leader that was apart of a tribe on the High Plains making a trip through our history in the Panhandle region. During his tenure with the Comanche tribe Quanah Parker served as a chief in several wars including the Red River War and the Second Battle of Adobe Walls which was held in the Northern Panhandle at the Canadian River in what is now known as Hutchinson County. On June 27th 1874 four tribes including the Kiowas and Parker's tribe initiated attacks on a total of 28 hunters that included one woman who held living quarters within the Adobe Walls area. The war would last for one year until 1875 when the pressure from the Commanche tribe due to a need to nourish the Indian people Quanah would eventually surrender and move the reservation to the Southwest Oklahoma region.

Parker also fought in the battle of Palo Duro Canyon which also took place around the Plains region in the 1800s and involved Col. Nelson A. Miles coming off of a retreat from Fort Dodge, Kansas in August 1874. This war would go for a couple days from August 27th to 31st along the Red River in the canyon's rim. Quanah would then retreat his tribe into Oklahoma to fight against other rival Indians at different reservations during his time as a chief.

Other battles Parker fought in include the Fort Sill Oklahoma battle where he fought for another couple of years with rival tribes in the state of Oklahoma sending his fighters in the field where the war was taking place. I would like to see these battle grounds in person so I can be where the battle took place in the past. There are numerous historical markers around the country that commemorate Quanah Parker especially in the state of Texas down around the rolling plains area since the city in this region is named after him.

To this day you might wonder what it was like to live in the times where you mostly had to get your food from a field rather than the grocery store and Quanah more than likely knew how to use a bow and arrow to get his harvest. This skill is even used today by hunters in America along with other options like guns with a decent caliber.

Hopefully we will recognize this peice of Texas History for years to come. I am happy and blessed to have been born in this state.

-Tristan