DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. General Ranald Slidell Mackenzie. Born in New York City on July 24, 1840 — and the man would spend the better part of his life a very long way from New York City.
By the time the Civil War was done with him, he'd risen all the way to major general. That's no small thing. But the story the marker wants to tell starts on February 25, 1871, at Fort Concho, Texas, where Mackenzie took command as colonel of the 4th Cavalry.
Now, the marker says what happened next plain as day: that regiment became the finest in the army. The finest. In the whole army.
So you know something's coming. Three expeditions into this region against the Indians — that's what he commanded. Three.
The first, in 1871, went up against the Comanches. And it was unsuccessful. The marker doesn't dress that up, and neither will I.
But 1872 was a different chapter. That year, Mackenzie found two feasible routes across the Llano Estacado — that vast, hitherto unexplored tableland stretching out in every direction like the earth forgot to stop. And then, on September 29 of that year, he defeated the Comanches on the North Fork of the Red River.
A successful raid into Mexico followed in 1873. And then came the campaign that the Southern Plains would not forget. Mackenzie commanded three of five columns of army troops in a final push against the Comanches, the Kiowas, and the Southern Cheyennes.
Five columns of men converging on this country from every direction. And on September 28, 1874, Mackenzie surprised and destroyed three of their villages — not out in the open, but in the depths of Palo Duro Canyon. The canyon hid them.
Until it didn't. He also captured one thousand four hundred and twenty-four horses and mules in that engagement. Think about that number for a moment.
Fourteen hundred and twenty-four. Left without food, shelter, supplies, and horses, the Southern Plains tribes then submitted to life on the reservation. That's the marker's language, and it carries the full weight of what that meant — for the tribes who had lived on this land, and for the western Texas that came after.
Mackenzie was later promoted to brigadier general. He died in New York on January 19, 1889, and was buried in West Point Cemetery. The man who was born in New York, made his name on the Llano Estacado, and came back to New York to be buried.
This park carries his name. That's the marker's way of making sure we don't drive past without knowing whose story happened right here.
What the marker says
Born in New York City on July 24, 1840, Mackenzie attained the rank of major general during the Civil War. On February 25, 1871, at Fort Concho, Texas, he assumed command as colonel of the 4th Cavalry, which soon became the finest regiment in the army. He commanded three expeditions into this region against the Indians. The first, in 1871 against the Comanches, was unsuccessful; but in 1872 he found two feasible routes across the vast, hitherto unexplored, Llano Estacado; and on September 29, he defeated the Comanches on the North Fork of the Red River. After a successful raid into Mexico in 1873, he commanded three of five columns of army troops in a final campaign against the Comanches, Kiowas, and Southern Cheyennes; and on September 28, 1874, he surprised and destroyed three of their villages in the depths of Palo Duro Canyon, also capturing 1,424 horses and mules in the engagement. Left without food, shelter, supplies, and horses, the Southern Plains tribes then submitted to life on the reservation, thereby opening western Texas to white settlement. Later promoted to brigadier general, Mackenzie died in New York, January 19, 1889, and was buried in West Point Cemetery. This park is named in his honor. (1968)