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. |
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! |
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, |