|
Keywords |
Quanah Parker Comanche chief historic marker attraction destination display education highway information landmark marker tourist Texas Adobe Walls attractive Col. Ranald MacKenzie Cynthia Ann Parker educating Fort Sill Fourth U.S. Cavalry historical marker Historical Site Historical Sites info Medicine Lodge Treaty Panhandle Battle Peta Nocona Place of Interest Places of Interest Qua-Ha Di road road side Roadside Roadsign sign Star House Tarrant County Texas Rangers tour tourism tourist attraction Tourist Destination Tourist Destinations travel Travel Destination Travel Destinations Native American United States appealing motorway no people Jason O. Watson / historical-markers.org sightseeing signage American Indian United States of America attract history nobody sightsee daytime destinations displays historic markers landmarks markers Native American ethnicity South tourists appeal color image educate historic outdoor vertical chiefs day ethnicity historical markers road sides signs tourist attractions tours colour image historical Native Americans outside day time motorways race TX American Indians day-time minority US color images daylight outdoors USA verticals ethnicities colour images natural light outsides U.S. U.S.A. minorities historic site sign with text |
Caption |
QUANAH PARKER
Comanche chief Quanah Parker was a son of two cultures. He was born about 1845 along Elk Creek, Indian Territory (Oklahoma). His Anglo mother was Cynthia Ann Parker, taken captive in a May 1836 raid and adopted by Qua-Ha-Di (Antelope) Comanches, and his father was Comanche chief Peta Nocona. Texas Rangers reclaimed Cynthia Ann in an 1860 fight at the Pease River. Nocona died soon after, and Cynthia Ann lived with relatives near Birdville in Tarrant County before dying with no further contact with her Comanche family.
Becoming chief upon his fatherÕs death, Quanah refused to sign the 1867 Medicine Lodge Treaty that sent many Plains Indians to reservations. Instead, he led raids in Texas and Mexico for another seven years, likely including the last foray into Tarrant County in June 1871. That winter, QuanahÕs band eluded Col. Ranald MacKenzieÕs Fourth U.S. Cavalry across the Texas panhandle. Comanche losses during the 1874 Panhandle Battle of Adobe Walls, in which Quanah was wounded, followed by a harsh winter, finally brought him and fewer than 100 remaining Qua-Ha-Di to the reservation at Fort Sill, Indian Territory in May 1875.
Quanah served as liaison between his people and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He proved to be a pragmatic leader, encouraging the Comanches to take up ranching and farming, and to educate their children in government schools. Quanah prospered through his investments and built his spacious ÒStar HouseÓ near Cache, OK. He traveled widely, giving speeches and interviews and participating in wild west shows, the Texas State Fair, Texas Cattle Raisers Association gathering and the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show. Quanah visited Fort Worth and the Stockyards on many occasions. He died in 1911 and is buried at Fort Sill. |