'Remembering Adobe Walls' at 150: Exhibit opens at PPHM

CANYON - Friday evening, June 28, the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum in Canyon introduced a new exhibit to a full crowd. "Remembering Adobe Walls" focuses on the events that eventually led to the Red River War, which directly affected United States history in a fundamental and far-reaching way, according to Michael R. Grauer, McCasland Chair of Cowboy Culture/Curator of Cowboy Collections and Western Art at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

Grauer was also a member of PPHM for 31 years and began his search for information about Adobe Walls while he was at the museum.

A reception was held to welcome the new exhibit that included a unique performance by the Comanche Nation. Benny Tahmahkera, member of the Comanche Nation, a direct descendent of Quanah Parker and also a member of the cast of TEXAS, was there in a native costume to answer questions and represent the people. He said they had brought in some royalty from around the nation with champion dancers from all over for the opening of the exhibit.

The exhibit artifacts and art have QR codes that let the public hear native Indians from the Comanche and Arapahoe nations give their interpretation about the event and the importance of it. The exhibit will be open to the public until May 2025, and is included in the regular admission for the museum.

Another Comanche leader, Wallace Coffey, who was chair of the Comanche Nation 25 years and a Harvard graduate, also spoke of the effects of Adobe Walls and the Red River War. He introduced some of the colorful clothing of the Comanche women, shown by members of the Comanche Nation.

Coffey said an elder of the group had once handed him some small stones and told him to keep them. He said they were the tears of the Comanche Indians once they found out of the slaughtering of their horses by Col. Ranald Mackenzie, who led the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon, part of the Red River War. Mackenzie knew that by killing their horses, they were ruined.

Michael Grauer, guest curator

“I worked at PPHM for 31 years, from 1987 to 2018, and worked on the Adobe Walls a lot before I left,” said Grauer before the presentation. ”I was curator of Art in Western Heritage at that time and helped out and advised them in this (exhibit), and it is carrying forward what I did here. All the artifacts are from the collections done by the archeological explorations done by the museum in the 1970s. It is a critical story. Everything changes after Adobe Walls. It’s a domino effect. There were events that led up to it (Red River War), and that’s what we’re talking about here. Ultimately it slammed the door on Comanche culture, Southern Cheyenne, Arapahoe, Kiowa culture. I don’t want this to sound crass, but it (Red River War) was just mopping up. It wasn’t about killing but about pushing them onto reservations in Western Oklahoma.”

Adobe Walls is located in Hutchinson County, Texas, around 17 miles from Stinnett. Only a monument and spirits are left of the original structures. Grauer said it is “hallowed ground and much blood was spilled there.” He said that the area was not a tourist destination or amusement park. “Spirits live there,” he said.

The six acres, surrounded by Turkey Track Ranch, are under the care and stewardship of High Plains Historical Society. The Coble Foundation donated the site to the society to preserve and protect, interpret and exhibit, according to Grauer. He gave credit to the exhibit crew who makes the beautiful displays possible.

The PPHM exhibit brings regional, national and possibly even international attention to the 150th anniversary of the second Battle of Adobe Walls and places the battle in its countrywide context. The exhibition aims to explain what actually happened, the myths that have emerged from the battle, and the national and international consequences of this critical event.

Massive Comanche Nation faces encroachment

According to Grauer, the Comanches came here in around 1700 from the north, and once they obtained horses, they controlled the vast area for 150 years. The “Comancharia” as the Spanish called it extended from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi Valley and from Canada to Mexico.

Arapahoe and Kiowa tribes moved in, and there was conflict with the Comanches until a different invader appeared, the Euro Americans. An uneasy alliance was formed to combat the mutual enemy.

In 1843, a Trading Post was established in the Canadian River Valley by the Bent Brothers, made out of logs. Later, it was replaced by an adobe structure and became a trading post with the different Indian nations. This structure was called Adobe Walls.

First Battle of Adobe Walls (1864): The first battle occurred November 1864 between a force of Kiowa, Comanche and Apache and an attacking presence of 372 U.S Army troops under the command of Kit Carson. The battle was intended to end the Native American raids on wagon trains traveling on the Great Plains. The American force was pushed to retreat.

Second Battle of Adobe Walls (1874): The second battle occurred on June 27, 1874, between a group of 28 buffalo hunters and a Comanche force of 700, led by Isa-tai and Quanah Parker. This battle was the result of buffalo hunters encroaching on Native American territory dictated by the 1867 Medicine Lodge Treaty, and angering the Indian Nation. The Native Americans were forced back after an assault on the trading post led by Isa-tai and Quanah Parker. On the second day, a group of 15 or 20 appeared on a mesa overlooking the post. That is when the famous gunshot of William (Billy) Dixon occurred. Dixon was inside the stockade and shot an Indian off his horse seven-eighths of a mile away, according to accounts of the story.

In 1849, William Bent blew up the remains of the interior of the fort and departed the panhandle of Texas.

After the battles of Adobe Walls, buffalo hunters worked on repairing the forts as the U.S army slowly evacuated them. By 1874, all hunters and civilians were removed by the U.S army. The repaired fort was attacked and burned by Native Americans toward late September, leaving only the adobe walls behind.

Following the battles and the Indian relocation, buffalo hunters would still come, but the herds had thinned. The Turkey Track Ranch was established, but the population of the area remained sparse. In 1877, a store was reopened within the area, despite human remains left scattered on the battlefields.

The hallowed grounds are now under the stewardship of Panhandle-Plains Historical Society. It became owners of the remains of the 1874 trading post, and conducted archeological excavations in the 1970s. On June 27, 1924, a red granite monument was erected in memory of the men from the 1874 battle. In May 1978, Adobe Walls, Texas was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

As a sidenote: In 1883, civilian Medal of Honor Recipient Billy Dixon (1850–1913) was hired on at the Turkey Track Ranch. He filed for two sections of land at Bent Creek and erected a log house. In 1902, Dixon and his family moved to Plemons. The first school building was destroyed by fire in 1920, and a temporary school was held on the second floor of Dixon's former home at Bent Creek, until a new one would be erected.

Dixon described the 1874 establishment: "All the buildings at Adobe Walls faced to the east, the main ones standing in a row. On the south was the store of Rath & Wright, with the adobe walls of the main buildings about two feet thick. In the southwest corner of the stockade was a mess house and the store as well. The blacksmith's shop was located just north of Hanrahan's saloon."

Dixon was appointed the first postmaster when Adobe Walls received its post office on Aug. 3, 1887. Dixon ran the post office out of his home, where he and business partner S.G. Carter also had a store. He served as postmaster until 1901, at which time Otto Anderson was appointed postmaster. The post office was closed in 1921 and mail service moved to Plemons.

According to the Texas Historical Society, Adobe Walls was a polling site, and voting there in the 19th century was a multi-day community event that included barbecue and accompaniments. Today, Adobe Walls is a ghost town.