Battle of North Fork of Red River
Lefors, Gray County, Texas
Marker Inscription
On Sept. 29, 1872, Col. Ranald S. MacKenzie (1840-89) found in this area a 262-tepee village of Comanches defying treaties that sought to confine them on Indian Territory reservations. MacKenzie's 231 U.S. Cavalry and infantrymen captured the village in half an hour and routed Chief Mow-Way's warriors, who made a desperate resistance from sheltering creek banks. That night the Indians succeeded in recapturing their horses from an army guard detail. This taught MacKenzie a lesson that led to his eventual victory in the 1874 campaign to subdue the Indians. (1972)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
On September 29, 1872, Colonel Ranald MacKenzie's cavalry and infantry surprised a 262-tepee Comanche village here on the North Fork of the Red River, whose people had refused to be confined to reservations. The troops seized the village in about half an hour, though Chief Mow-Way's warriors fought fiercely from the creek banks — and that night the Comanches slipped back and recaptured their horse herd. The lesson MacKenzie drew shaped his decisive 1874 campaign against the Southern Plains tribes.
Why it matters
This clash was a turning point in the U.S. Army's long campaign to break Comanche power on the Southern Plains, hastening the end of free Indigenous life in the Texas Panhandle.
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Related people
- · Ranald S. MacKenzie
- · Mow-Way
Related events
- · Battle of North Fork of Red River
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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