Mackenzie's raid on the Palo Duro Canyon

Background. By winter 1873–1874, southern Plains Indians faced crisis. The Red River War aimed to displace Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes from the Southern Plains to reservations in Indian Territory. Following the 1867 Medicine Lodge Treaty, warriors led by Lone Wolf left assigned reservations in late summer 1874, seeking refuge in Palo Duro Canyon, Texas. Mackenzie's scouts later found a large village there that included the tribes' horses and winter food supply.

The Engagement. Mackenzie's scouts discovered a large village in upper Palo Duro Canyon. On September 28, 1874, troops attacked down a steep canyon wall at dawn. Warriors fired from above, prompting Mackenzie to reassure his men. The engagement was a complete rout with light casualties for the Army, but the destruction of mounts and supplies prevented the tribes from surviving the winter.

Aftermath. The battle marked the final major engagement of the Red River War and one of the last battles of the Texas-Indian Wars. Without sufficient resources, many tribes returned to the Fort Sill reservation by November 1874. The war officially ended in June 1875 when Quanah Parker and his band of Quahadi Comanche entered Fort Sill and surrendered. The war as a whole marked the end of free-roaming Indian populations on the southern Great Plains.