Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History

The Comanche numbers in 1874 were at their lowest, roughly 3,000. In August and September, the army prepared for a final campaign to destroy them or bring them all to the reservations. It was the largest force ever sent against the Indigenous people of the West because it wasn’t only the Comanches but all the Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains whom the army was after. The campaign consisted of many skirmishes, not all of which the whites won. Mackenzie and the 4th Cavalry fought the largest and most decisive of the engagements, however, which became known as the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon.

The Comanches and their allies were under the command of a powerful war chief, Lone Wolf. Mackenzie and his troops, using Tonkawa scouts, tracked the Comanches over many miles. The Comanches attacked at night, but Mackenzie had commanded his men to secure the horses so that the Comanches couldn’t drive them off or steal them. The Comanche attack was repulsed with only one casualty on the US side. In the morning, Mackenzie moved his troops in a strategic feint. His goal was the main camp, but he made it look like he was going in a different direction.