June 2024 update.

There will be a sesquicentennial celebration on the anniversary of the Second Battle. Please go to last post for update.

To begin, most here probably know that Adobe Walls was the name of a trading post established in Hutchison County in 1843, and an adobe fort built in 1845. It was built by Bent and St. Vrain, of the famous Bent's Fort in Colorado. It was to be a trading post for the Comanches, but was blown up and abandoned for the last time in 1849, due to repeated Indian Attacks.

This site is not accessible. The later site, about a mile north, is the one detailed here.

It's about 15 miles ENE of Stinnett, but is 28 miles from there by car. The 5 acre site is owned by the Panhandle Historical Society, which runs the Panhandle Plains Historical Museum in Canyon. But it is within the historic Turkey Track Ranch, and you travel the last few miles there on one of their roads. The easement is granted by the current owners, and I hope the new owners will honor the easement, once it sells.

The road is mostly paved, with a few caliche sections. It's a good road, and can be done with all but the most low-slung 2WD cars. It's probably accessible in light rain, but I probably would not go if heavy rain is expected. If you appreciate farming, you pass several big, nice, farming operations on the road out.

The ruins of old post were the site of the largest Indian Battle fought during the Civil War, November 25, 1864. Kit Carson, and over 300 Union volunteers from Colorado, New Mexico, and California traveled down the Canadian River from Santa Fe and Fort Bascom, to punish the Indians who were raiding into New Mexico Territory. They were accompanied by around 70 Ute and Jicarilla Indian Scouts, and carried two mountain howitzers.

When they got to Adobe Walls, they found at least a thousand Indians, some accounts say as many as 7,000, engaged them in battle, and only escaped back to New Mexico by the grace of God and the Mountain Howitzers.


In 1874, with the buffalo numbers declining, hide hunters moved into Comancheria, to the last great hunting grounds. A new trading post, also built of adobe and sod, was set up about a mile from the ruins of the 1845 post. The Comanches and the other Southern Plains tribes took exception to this, and on June 27, 1874, about 700 of them, lead by Quanah Parker, attacked the 28 buffalo hunters in the fort. Among the hunters there were Bat Masterson, and Billy Dixon.

Google Maps showing the 85 mile drive from Amarillo:

Here's a close Google Maps shot of the five acres or so owned by PPHM, and declared a US Historic Site. Coordinates 35.894614, -101.164418




The bottom point of the way mark rests on Billy Dixon's grave. Just above the blue way mark is the monument to the Buffalo Hunters. Follow the path due south, nearly to the edge of the 5 acres, and you see the monument to the Indian warriors. Follow the path due east from the Indian monument, and just before the road is the grave of William Olds, the only death during the battle. Other whites were killed before the battle.

The view below shows the same area above, but expanded out to see a bluff about 9/10 of a mile away. marked with a white X. Those familiar with Billy Dixon may know the significance of that bluff.



In this view, you can see the 1874 Adobe Walls site, the Turkey Track Ranch HQ, and reservoirs on what I believe to be Bent (Bent's) Creek. The 1843-1849 fort is somewhere about one mile south of the 1874 site, but I have not been able to spot it.

Unfortunately for photographs, the inscribed panels face east, and we were there in late afternoon. I'm going to cheat and post photos from others, as mine are hard to read.



From Waymarking.com

Quote:

---

Here on June 27, 1874, about 700 picked warriors from the Comanche, Cheyenne and Kiowa Indian Tribes were defeated by 28 brave frontiersmen.

James Hanrahan Billy Tyler
"Bat" Masterson "Dutch" Henry
Mike Welch ------- Keeler
------- Shepherd Mike McCabe
Hiram Watson Henry Lease
Billy Ogg "Frenchy"
James McKinley James Langton
"Bermoda" Carlile George Eddy
William Dixon Thomas O'Keefe
Fred Leonard William Olds
James Campbell Sam Smith
Edward Trevor Andrew Johnson
Frank Brown Ike Shadler
Harry Armatage "Shorty" Shadler
Mrs. William Olds

---

To me, the other marker is almost more significant. Dedicated in 1941, it must be one of the earliest monuments to the Indian side in the Indian Wars.


https://www.theclio.com/entry/15297

If you can't read it

Quote:

---

They died for that which makes life worth living.
Indian's Liberty, Freedom, Peace
On the Plains Which They Enjoyed for Generations
(Names of fallen)
In Memory of the Indian Warriors
Who fell in the 2nd Battle of Adobe Walls
June 27, 1874

---

https://hutchinsoncountymuseum.org/

Back to my photos, Billy Dixon's grave. I believe he was re-interred here on sometime near the 50th anniversary of the battle, in 1927.



He received the Medal of Honor for the Buffalo Wallow fight, September 10, 1874.

https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/buffalo-wallow-fight

The Army later rescinded a lot of the early MoH citations, but Dixon refused to return his medal. It is in the archives of the PPHM in Canyon.

In his case, it was rescinded because he was a civilian scout, not an soldier. Congress restored a lot of those medals in the 1980s, including Dixon's. He remains one of a handful of civilians to receive a MoH.

Some visitors leave bullets on the footstone of Dixon's grave.

Students of the battle will recall that the Indians made many brave attacks, and came close to overwhelming the buffalo hunters on the first day of the battle. But they had little chance against people who hunted for a living. Especially when those men were behind thick sod and adobe walls, and holding huge stocks of guns and ammunition.

On the third day of the siege, the Indians backed away, which allowed the hunters to venture outside, drag off some of the dead horses and Indians, and survey the situation.

Accounts vary, but the general story is that a group of Indians rode to the top of a bluff, some eight- or nine-tenths to the east of the hunter's compound. As they surveyed the hunter's camp, the hunters spotted them. Someone asked Dixon if he thought he could hit the Indians.

Quote:

---

On the morning of June 28, 1874, the third day of the fight, the Plains Indians convened a war council. The war chiefs and White Eagle sat their horses on a bluff about a mile away from Adobe Walls and discussed what course of action they should take. The warriors were angry with the medicine man. They demanded to know if there were now bad omens, if the buffalo hunters possessed some magic of their own.

"What's the matter with your medicine?" Quanah Parker asked White Eagle. "You got pole cat medicine?" White Eagle defended his prophecies. He admitted the buffalo hunters had strong medicine, but their defeat was still a certainty, he promised.

Meanwhile, down in Adobe Walls, Billy Dixon took aim. He was using a Sharps Big Fifty, a single-shot with an octagonal, 34-inch barrel, firing a .50, 600-grain bullet driven by 125 grains of black powder. He dialed in his adjustable rear peep sight and got ready. He was aiming for the group of riders on the bluff, rather than any one particular target, and in later years he would call it a lucky shot, though he would also note, "I was not without confidence in my marksmanship."

White Eagle punctuated the heights of his oratory by raising his staff and shouting, "Today, the victory is ours!" At that very moment, a warrior named Ton-han-kah fell off his horse. It was a full 4.1 seconds later when the warriors heard the distant roar of the Sharps rifle that had fired the shot.

"Some of the boys suggested that I try the big '50' on them," Dixon said of the incident later. "I took careful aim and pulled the trigger. We saw an Indian fall from his horse." Dixon believed his bullet had killed the warrior, but later Comanche accounts claim the wounded man was hit in the elbow and suffered a broken arm.

The Shot of the Century sent the war party into a retreat, and the siege on Adobe Walls was lifted. White Eagle had earned the hatred and derision of his fellow warriors. They changed his name to Isatai'I, which meant "Coyote Vagina," the type of insult common among the rough Comanche warriors.

---

https://texashillcountry.com/shot-century-billy-dixon-history/

White Eagle's name change reminds me of the kind of insults my Aggie Buddies and I trade with each other.

The shot ended the battle, but the attack precipitated the Red River Wars, in which the Southern Plains Indians were finally forced back onto the reservation.


I believe the photos below are of the bluff in question, as well as the map marked with an X above. The first photo is with the zoom lens set at about how the bluff would appear to the naked eye, the second of the maximum zoom.

Last photos, a portion of the road to the site. Most is open farmland, rangeland, or canyons, but this was lined with huge cottonwoods that are common in the canyon bottoms of the high plains.



As we got closer to the cottonwoods, we saw 10-20 red headed woodpeckers. I suspect that many, many more were back in the trees. Really pretty little birds.



Reminders that you are there with the permission of the owners

Summation, we enjoyed out visit. Interesting farm country on the way. The road is good, but some 90 degree, 15mph turns on the last few miles. I'd avoid it in extreme weather, but you could make it with a 2WD, even in light rain, if you're careful. Not a road for low-slung sports cars, but regular cars and minivans would be fine. There are oil wells on the ranch, so be alert for oil field trucks. Lots of farms on the road to the site, be alert for large farm machinery.

Very remote site, you're 30 miles from gas, bathrooms, or help. Be aware that everything off the road is private property, and the site itself is on the National Register of Historic Places, thus protected. Don't park in the grass and start a fire. Be respectful of the owners and don't litter. They could withdraw access if people act like jerks.

If you need a lot of interpretive signs, or a lot to do, you're out of luck. If you just enjoy seeing the places where history happened, and/or enjoy some open country and solitude, then come on out.

Links

Google Maps

1st Adobe Walls

2nd Adobe Walls

History of the Adobe Walls trading posts and subsequent settlements

Bent (or Bent's Creek)

Buffalo Wallow fight

Adobe Walls account

The shot of the Century

You can own the Turkey Track Ranch for a mere $200,000,000

Above includes lots of photos and videos

UPDATE:

I just discovered that there is a 1936 Texas Historical marker at the site of the 1st Battle. It is on private property, and I can't discern any of the old trading post on the aerial photos.

https://goo.gl/maps/aoumR41LLFZW8EZt5



The top red dot is the 1874 battle, the lower red dot is the marker for the 1864 Kit Carson battle

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing this.

Very well done, Canyon.

You are a great resource.

Canyon thanks for the great read. Always enjoy Texas history especially concerning the Comanche Indians in Texas. So many historical sites are now on private land never to be experienced by the public. Thank goodness the Turkey Creek ranch allows people to visit and experience the great history of our state.

Going to copy from Facebook, as I'm not sure how many can see it there

https://www.facebook.com/groups/381851215339659/permalink/1922895957901836/

Post Cards From The Panhandle
Chris Gerald Admin

As Paul Harvey used to sign off, "And now you know the rest of the story" Another part of the story of the Adobe Walls Monument.

Comanche National Museum and Cultural Center

In 1939, two Comanche warriors who survived the 1874 Second Battle of Adobe Walls came to visit the well known historical site. The honored leaders Yellowfish and Timbo came for a special reason. They sought to build a monument to be dedicated to the warriors killed in the fight at Adobe Walls. Along with other Comanches which included Knox Takawana and Albert Attocknie, the old warriors were welcomed by the community and were guests of honor at a wonderful dinner for them at the Turkey Track Ranch Headquarters.

In their visit of 1939, the aged warriors left the following words through an interpreter:
"We come on a friendly mission as friends of the Texas people and in a spirit of cooperation and goodwill. It looks as if our country will again go to war. If it does our sons will be in battle with your sons just as they were in the last world war."

With much assistance, the Comanches soon returned for the planned event at Adobe Walls in 1941. Tribal members heartily participated in the marker commemoration with the Hutchinson County Fair Association. On October 19, 1941, the monument was dedicated in memory of fallen warriors at the 1874 Adobe Walls battle site. Tribal members and several thousand white friends were in attendance. The event finished with prayer along with additional tribal celebrations. Olive King Dixon, widow of the scout Billy Dixon, was present at the event. The unveiling was a part of a three day celebration held at the site and in the town of Borger, Texas.

Wonderful picture of Comanches participating in the commemorative parade and celebration held in Borger, Texas, circa 1941. Photograph by F. D. Fowler. In the group, the second Comanche dancer from the left is Henry Pratt "Hank" Tomahsah, the warrior Yellowfish is shown fifth from the left holding his hat, and the well-known Albert Attocknie is in the center wearing a headdress. Additional information courtesy of the Amarillo Globe-News, Amarillo, Texas and the Hutchinson County Historical Museum, Borger, Texas.