Archeological Sites at Mackenzie Reservoir and Tule Canyon
Silverton, Briscoe County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Before this area was covered by Mackenzie Reservior, evidence of human occupancy was found at 77 recorded archeological sites. The earliest artifacts date back 10,000 years to a bison kill. Prehistoric occupancy is indicated by burial sites, shallow hearths, and stone tools. Gun flints, glass beads, and metal objects confirm 18th century European contact. By 1874 Col. Ranald S. Mackenzie's 4th Cavalry had driven the Indians from the Tule Canyon area which had been a lush grazing ground for buffalo and antelope. (1979)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Before Mackenzie Reservoir flooded this stretch of the Texas Panhandle, archeologists recorded 77 sites documenting some 10,000 years of human presence, beginning with an ancient bison kill. Burial sites, hearths, and stone tools mark long prehistoric occupation, while gun flints and glass beads record the arrival of European trade goods in the 1700s. The era closed in 1874 when Col. Ranald Mackenzie's 4th Cavalry drove Native peoples from Tule Canyon, once a rich grazing ground for buffalo and antelope.
Why it matters
The concentration of sites layers together millennia of Indigenous life and the violent close of the Southern Plains Indian wars in a single place.
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Related people
- · Ranald S. Mackenzie
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Two Miles North of Here
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After U.S. cavalry under Mackenzie routed Southern Plains tribes at Palo Duro Canyon in September 1874, the troops slaughtered roughly 1,450 captured horses two miles north of this marker. Destroying the herd left the surviving warriors afoot, forcing them back onto their reservations.
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Camp Resolution of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition
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The Battle of Palo Duro Canyon
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At dawn on September 28, 1874, Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie's 4th Cavalry descended a treacherous path into Palo Duro Canyon and surprised a large Native encampment sheltering there. Though the warriors fought from the canyon walls to cover their families' escape, Mackenzie burned the camp and supplies and captured some 1,400 horses — destroying a thousand of them — leaving the tribes without shelter or mounts and forcing their return to the reservations.