| How to get there Palo Duro Canyon is a state park that can only be reached on its western side. Take FM 217 east from Canyon. Canyon lies south of Amarillo on Interstate 27. You can also check out this map for Canyon's location. Canyon is the home to West Texas A&M and the Panhandle Plains Museum, the largest historical museum in Texas. |
The United States' second largest canyon is breath taking in its beauty and tragic in its history. Lying just south of Amarillo, Palo Duro
Canyon's colorful rock is cut by forks of the Red River.
The Canyon was once home to the Comanche and the Kiowa, One can really visualize the camps they made along the bases of the
mountains, carrying water from the reddish stream that meandered along the clay soil. If you listen closely, you may even hear the distant
thunder of long forgotten buffalo herds.
But the Plains Indians way of life was under constant attack by powerful railroads, persuasive missionaries, expansionist politicians and
bankers, and desperate farmers and ranchers. To combat the influx of new peoples, the Plains Indians had raided settlements for many
years, often taking captives, who could be sold into slavery, adopted into the tribe, tortured to death, married off, etc. Anglo Texans
demanded that the "menace" be eradicated, and Palo Duro Canyon proved the last battleground in the Red River War. In 1874, Ranald S.
MacKenzie, a general based out of Fort Richardson, surrounded the Plains Indian camps on all sides. Though a shootout ensued,
casualties on both sides were slight, and the Plains Indians knew they were outnumbered and out gunned.
Surrender was not enough for the U.S. Calvary, however. In this war of attrition, MacKenzie and his troops took the Natives' horses, which
numbered over 1,000, to a clearing a few miles south of the Canyon. The troops then slaughtered the horses in a hail of bullets that must
have lasted hours. The cries of the scared beasts must have been deafening.
MacKenzie just did what other commanders did before him - George Custer had killed all of the Cheyenne's horses after the Battle of the
Washita, too. Both men knew that to kill the horse was to force the Indian off the land, for horses was the Plains Indians' only source of
wealth.
The Comanche, Cheyenne, Kiowa and Apache surrendered - among them Quanah Parker, Kicking Bird, White Bear, Satank, and Satanta.
They were forced to live their lives on the reservations surrounding Fort Sill in Indian Territory. Within five years after the Battle of Palo
Duro Canyon, the last buffalo herd of the Southern Plains was killed by hide hunters near Adobe Walls. The frontier ceased to exist.
Just remember when you visit Palo Duro Canyon that its stark beauty exposes dark wounds.
Canyon's colorful rock is cut by forks of the Red River.
The Canyon was once home to the Comanche and the Kiowa, One can really visualize the camps they made along the bases of the
mountains, carrying water from the reddish stream that meandered along the clay soil. If you listen closely, you may even hear the distant
thunder of long forgotten buffalo herds.
But the Plains Indians way of life was under constant attack by powerful railroads, persuasive missionaries, expansionist politicians and
bankers, and desperate farmers and ranchers. To combat the influx of new peoples, the Plains Indians had raided settlements for many
years, often taking captives, who could be sold into slavery, adopted into the tribe, tortured to death, married off, etc. Anglo Texans
demanded that the "menace" be eradicated, and Palo Duro Canyon proved the last battleground in the Red River War. In 1874, Ranald S.
MacKenzie, a general based out of Fort Richardson, surrounded the Plains Indian camps on all sides. Though a shootout ensued,
casualties on both sides were slight, and the Plains Indians knew they were outnumbered and out gunned.
Surrender was not enough for the U.S. Calvary, however. In this war of attrition, MacKenzie and his troops took the Natives' horses, which
numbered over 1,000, to a clearing a few miles south of the Canyon. The troops then slaughtered the horses in a hail of bullets that must
have lasted hours. The cries of the scared beasts must have been deafening.
MacKenzie just did what other commanders did before him - George Custer had killed all of the Cheyenne's horses after the Battle of the
Washita, too. Both men knew that to kill the horse was to force the Indian off the land, for horses was the Plains Indians' only source of
wealth.
The Comanche, Cheyenne, Kiowa and Apache surrendered - among them Quanah Parker, Kicking Bird, White Bear, Satank, and Satanta.
They were forced to live their lives on the reservations surrounding Fort Sill in Indian Territory. Within five years after the Battle of Palo
Duro Canyon, the last buffalo herd of the Southern Plains was killed by hide hunters near Adobe Walls. The frontier ceased to exist.
Just remember when you visit Palo Duro Canyon that its stark beauty exposes dark wounds.
| Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River |
| The recreated Charles Goodnight dugout inside the park. Goodnight ranched here for several years, and let Kiowa and Comanche warriors to conduct buffalo hunts on the land, of which a film was shot in 1915. The movie is available at the Palo Duro Canyon State Park store. |
| Palo Duro Canyon: The Birthplace of the Red River |
| Know Your History The history of how the Plains Indian tribes and the Anglo settlers in Texas interacted is very complicated. Both sides had legitimate complains but also, both sides were not always open to peaceable interactions. This was mainly due to the lack of insight into either culture. A good book to learn about these cultural misunderstandings is "Empire of the Summer Moon" by S.E. Gwynne. |
| The canyon floor is breathtaking. Within the crumbling rock hide caves and jackals, used by Comanche, Mexican, and French traders. Here, they bought and sold goods, food, and even slaves (often, captives from Indian Territory or from Texas). |
| Intrepid explorer Randolph B. Marcy followed the Red River to its source at Palo Duro Canyon and was mighty impressed. Read about his discoveries here! |
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| Questions or comments? E-mail me: robin@redriverhistorian.com |
| An older landscape photograph of the canyon floor (Austin History Center). |
| In 1958, Robert Utley of the Texas Historical Commission took an aerial photograph of the field where the battle of Palo Duro Canyon commenced. The battle took place in 1875 and led to the defeat of the Comanceria. |
| This photograph possibly depicts one of the last camps, named Mow-wi, that Southern Plains women (Comanche, Kiowa, Apache, Arapaho, Cheyenne) built before forced onto the reservation at Fort Sill after the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon in 1875. (University of Texas Arlington). |