The Battle of Blanco Canyon was the decisive battle of Col.

Ranald S. Mackenzie Ranald Slidell Mackenzie, also called Bad Hand, (July 27, 1840 – January 19, 1889) was a career United States Army officer and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was described by General Ulysses S. Grant as its ...

's initial campaign against the

Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...

in West Texas, and marked the first time the Comanches had been attacked in the heart of their homeland. It was also the first time a large military force explored the heart of

Comancheria The Comancheria or Comanchería (Comanche: Nʉmʉnʉʉ Sookobitʉ, 'Comanche land') was a region of New Mexico, west Texas and nearby areas occupied by the Comanche before the 1860s. Historian Pekka Hämäläinen has argued that the Comancheria ...

. On 12 August 1871 Mackenzie and Colonel Benjamin Grierson were asked by

Indian Agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. Background The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of t ...

Lawrie Tatum to begin an expedition against the Kotsoteka and Quahadi Comanche bands, both of whom had refused to relocate onto a reservation after the Warren Wagon Train Raid. Col. Mackenzie assembled a powerful force consisting of eight companies of the Fourth United States Cavalry, two companies of the Eleventh Infantry, and a group of twenty

Tonkawa The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe indigenous to present-day Oklahoma. Their Tonkawa language, now extinct, is a linguistic isolate. Today, Tonkawa people are enrolled in the federally recognized Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma. ...

scouts.

Onset of the Campaign

New evidence in "West Texas Historical Review" Vol. XCI 2015 by Todd Smith and Paul Carlson shows the battle occurred in Southeastern Crosby County about seven miles east of the suspected site. The force assembled at the site of old Camp Cooper, on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River on 19 September 1871. The force set out in a northwesterly direction on 30 September 1871, hoping to find the Quahadi village, which housed the warriors led by

Quanah Parker Quanah Parker (Comanche ''kwana'', "smell, odor") ( – February 23, 1911) was a war leader of the Kwahadi ("Antelope") band of the Comanche Nation. He was likely born into the Nokoni ("Wanderers") band of Tabby-nocca and grew up among the Kwah ...

. This village was believed to be encamped in Blanco Canyon near the headwaters of the Freshwater Fork of the Brazos River, southeast of the site of present

Crosbyton, Texas Crosbyton is a city in and the county seat of Crosby County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,741 at the 2010 census. Crosbyton is part of the Lubbock Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The city was named for land office commissione ...

. On the fourth night of the march, the expedition established a base camp at the junction of the Salt Fork of the Brazos and Duck Creek, near the site of present

Spur, Texas Spur is a city in Dickens County, Texas, United States. The population was 1,318 at the 2010 census, up from 1,088 at the 2000 census. A city council resolution passed July 2014 proclaimed Spur the "nation's first tiny house-friendly town." On ...

. The following day, Col. Mackenzie made the decision to leave his infantry to fortify the base camp, and set out for Blanco Canyon with his cavalry, hoping to catch the Comanche by surprise, and strike a blow at them in their heartland.
Texas Indians. In the afternoon of October 9, 1871, the cavalry force reached the White River (Texas), White River and Blanco Canyon, the first non-Comanche military force to enter Blanco Canyon since the rise of the Comanche as a power on the plains.The Comanche Barrier to South Plains Settlement: A Century and a Half of Savage Resistance to the Advancing White Frontier. Arthur H. Clarke Co. 1933. Near midnight, Quanah Parker personally led a small Comanche force which stampeded through the cavalry camp, driving off about seventy horses and mules. As the pursuing cavalry reached the top of a hill on the top of the canyon, they found a much larger party of Indians, who were waiting in ambush. The cavalry fought their way clear, but suffered the loss of one cavalryman, the sole Army fatality of the entire campaign. Lt. Robert Goldthwaite Carter and a detail of five men mounted a rear guard action against the Comanches, and the remainder of the unit retreated. This action on 10 October 1871, won Lt. Carter the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

. Mackenzie's main column and the Tonkawa scouts, hearing the gunfire, advanced and probably saved the detachment from slaughter, as more Comanche had managed to surround the retreating unit. With the arrival of the main cavalry column, Quanah Parker and his warriors retreated. The Comanches fought their way up the walls of Blanco Canyon, sniping at the oncoming troopers and taunting their Tonkawa enemies before disappearing from the Army's sight as they went over the Caprock Escarpment, and onto the Llano Estacado, Carter lacerating his leg against a boulder in the process.

The remainder of the expedition

Col. Mackenzie pursued the Indians over the next few days, forcing them to abandon lodge poles, buffalo hides, tools, and most of their possessions as they fled. These were the necessities of life for the Comanche, and meant the coming winter would be unusually bleak, without shelter or accumulated food. The Army was able to catch up with the fleeing warriors, slowed by their families, in the late afternoon of October 12, 1871. Mackenzie was unable to attack them due to the arrival of an unseasonable " blue norther", (a winter storm from the

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

). High winds, blinding snow, hail and sleet halted the cavalry advance, and allowed the Comanche to again retreat safely.Comanches, The Destruction of a People, page 29 . Oxford Press. 1949. The cavalry force continued the pursuit the following morning, but the weather and conditions allowed the Comanche to disappear into the storm. Mackenzie ordered his troops to follow what the scouts believed was the Comanche trail for about forty miles, nearly to the vicinity of present-day Plainview, Texas. Given the deteriorating state of his men and horses, and low rations, Mackenzie reluctantly turned back.

Re-Entering Blanco Canyon

On October 15, 1871, the cavalry re-entered Blanco Canyon and Army scouts saw two Comanches spying on the troops on the walls of the Canyon. In the brief fight that followed their discovery, the two Comanches were killed, while Mackenzie himself, along with another soldier, were wounded. Despite his wound, Mackenzie and his force continued to the mouth of Blanco Canyon, where they rested for a week, awaiting supplies from

Henry Ware Lawton Henry Ware Lawton (March 17, 1843 – December 19, 1899) was a U.S. Army officer who served with distinction in the Civil War, the Apache Wars, and the Spanish–American War. He was the only U.S. general officer to be killed during the Philippi ...

. On October 24, 1871, Mackenzie decided to continue the campaign, and began marching towards the headwaters of the Pease River. However, his wound became too painful, he placed Major Clarence Mauck in command, and Mackenzie stayed with the other disabled and dismounted troops at Duck Creek. On November 6, in the midst of a snow storm, Major Mauck's expedition returned. On November 12, 1871, Mackenzie's force made it to

Fort Griffin Fort Griffin, now a Texas state historic site as Fort Griffin State Historic Site, was a US Cavalry fort established 31 July 1867 by four companies of the Sixth Cavalry, U.S. ArmyCarter, R.G., ''On the Border with Mackenzie'', 1935, Washington ...

and Fort Richardson on 17 Nov.

Result of the Expedition

Col. Mackenzie regarded the entire expedition as unsuccessful. The command had marched 509 miles, lost one life, and many horses. He considered that they had accomplished nothing but frighten one hostile Comanche band. However, he had marched to the heart of the Comancheria (and mapped the region in the process), penetrated into an area of the Llano Estacado no Americans except

Comanchero The Comancheros were a group of 18th- and 19th-century traders based in northern and central New Mexico. They made their living by trading with the nomadic Great Plains Indian tribes in northeastern New Mexico, West Texas, and other parts of the ...

s had ever seen, destroyed the winter equipment of the Comanche he encountered, and temporarily driven them from their homeland. The lessons he learned about Plains Indian warfare as a result of the battle of Blanco Canyon and this expedition would stand him in good stead during the

Red River War The Red River War was a military campaign launched by the United States Army in 1874 to displace the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Native American tribes from the Southern Plains, and forcibly relocate the tribes to reservatio ...

, and resulted a few years later in the surrender of the last free Comanche.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blanco Canyon Conflicts in 1871 Battles involving the Comanche

Battle of Blanco Canyon The Battle of Blanco Canyon was the decisive battle of Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie's initial campaign against the Comanche in West Texas, and marked the first time the Comanches had been attacked in the heart of their homeland. It was also the firs ...

Battles involving the United States Texas–Indian Wars 1871 in Texas Tonkawa history October 1871 events Blanco Canyon