Cedar Lake
Loop, Gaines County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Or Laguna Sabinas. Largest Alkali Lake on Plains; old Indian camp and burial site; birthplace of Quanah Parker. A skirmish between Indians and United States Cavalry under command of Lieutenant John L. Bullis took place here in October, 1875. Erected by the State of Texas 1936
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Known also as Laguna Sabinas, this largest of the plains' alkali lakes was long an Indian camp and burial ground, and by tradition the birthplace of the great Comanche leader Quanah Parker. In October 1875 it was the scene of a skirmish between Native fighters and U.S. Cavalry under Lieutenant John L. Bullis, one of the closing clashes as the Comanche were driven from the Llano Estacado. Water, refuge, and memory converged at this remote West Texas lake.
Why it matters
Cedar Lake ties the homeland of the Comanche and their legendary leader Quanah Parker to the final military campaigns that ended free life on the Southern Plains.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
Cedar Lake, also called Laguna Sabinas, sits on the Llano Estacado, the Staked Plains. This vast, high tableland stretches across West Texas and eastern New Mexico. Surface water is scarce there, so a large lake, even an alkali one, was precious. For generations, Native peoples crossing the plains knew where to find water and shelter, and places like this became camps, meeting grounds and burial sites.
For much of the nineteenth century the Southern Plains were Comanche country. Comanche bands built their power on horses and the buffalo, and they controlled this region for a very long time. As American settlement pushed west after the Civil War, that world came under growing pressure. The buffalo herds were being slaughtered, and the U.S. Army was campaigning to force the Southern Plains tribes onto reservations in Indian Territory.
The Red River War of 1874–75 broke the power of the free Comanche and their allies. By the middle of 1875 most bands had come in to the reservation. Even so, the Army kept sending patrols across the Llano Estacado, and small clashes like the one this marker records still happened in the war's aftermath.
People & events
The marker ties Cedar Lake to Quanah Parker, one of the best-known Comanche leaders. His mother was Cynthia Ann Parker, a white girl captured in the 1836 raid on Fort Parker who grew up Comanche. His father was the Comanche leader Peta Nocona. The State of Texas marked Cedar Lake as Quanah's birthplace, but be aware that his birth year and birthplace are both uncertain, and other locations have been suggested. Here the claim rests on tradition and on what the 1936 marker records.
Quanah led one of the last bands to hold out on the plains. After he came in to the reservation, he became an influential leader and a go-between for his people and the U.S. government. He argued for Comanche interests in a completely changed world.
The marker also records a skirmish here in October 1875 between Native fighters and U.S. Cavalry under Lieutenant John L. Bullis. Bullis is best remembered as commander of the Black Seminole Indian Scouts, who were known for their tracking skill and endurance on the West Texas frontier. The marker gives no details of the fight itself, and it's best not to guess. What it shows is that Army patrols were still reaching this remote water source months after the main war ended.
Its place in the American story
Cedar Lake brings together two sides of a turning point in American history: the free life of the Plains peoples and the military campaigns that ended it. On one lake you have a traditional camp and burial ground, the reputed birthplace of a famous Comanche leader, and a cavalry skirmish from the closing years of the Plains wars.
Quanah Parker's life follows that change from start to finish. He was born into a Comanche world that still ruled the Southern Plains, and he lived long enough to deal with ranchers, railroads and Washington officials. His mixed ancestry, as the son of a captive Anglo mother and a Comanche father, makes his story an especially powerful symbol of the violent, tangled meeting of cultures on the frontier.
The mention of Lieutenant Bullis points to another often-overlooked part of that history: the Black Seminole scouts. These men were descended from people who had escaped slavery and allied with the Seminoles. They served the U.S. Army on the Texas frontier, which is a reminder that the story of the American West involves many more people than the familiar image suggests.
If you visit
Cedar Lake is in far West Texas, near the small community of Loop in Gaines County. This is big, flat, sparsely settled country. The lake is a salt or alkali basin, and depending on the season and rainfall it may hold water or show a broad pale flat. Either way, stand at the marker and take in the scale of the open plain around it. You'll quickly see why any water here drew people from far away.
Please remember that the marker describes this as an old camp and burial site. Treat the area with the respect you'd show any cemetery. Stay on public roads and pull-offs, don't cross onto private land, and leave everything exactly as you find it.
This is a good stop for travelers exploring the Llano Estacado and the history of the Comanche and the Red River War. Pack water, fill up the tank before you head out, and give yourself time. Spots like this reward a slow look and a little imagination more than a quick photo.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · Quanah Parker
- · John L. Bullis
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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