Site of the Principal Village of the Comanche Indian Reserve
Throckmorton, Throckmorton County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Established in 1854 * Here Colonel Robert E. Lee, U.S.A., then commanding Camp Cooper, held a peace parley with Chief Catumseh on April 11, 1856 Erected by the State of Texas 1936
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Established in 1854, the Comanche Indian Reserve on the Brazos was a federal experiment to settle Comanche people on farmland under government oversight. Here, in April 1856, Colonel Robert E. Lee — then commanding nearby Camp Cooper — held a peace parley with Chief Catumseh. Within a few years the reserve failed, and its residents were removed to Indian Territory in 1859.
Why it matters
This short-lived reserve marks a pivotal, troubled chapter in U.S.–Comanche relations and frontier policy, made vivid by the presence of a future Confederate commander at its center.
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Related people
- · Robert E. Lee
- · Chief Catumseh
Related events
- · Lee–Catumseh peace parley
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Site of Camp Cooper
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Established in January 1856 by Major W. J. Hardee's 2nd U.S. Cavalry, Camp Cooper guarded the Texas frontier against the Comanche and oversaw a nearby Indian reservation. Robert E. Lee commanded here for nineteen months before the Civil War, and the post launched the 1859 Cimarron Expedition. Texas troops seized it in February 1861 as the state left the Union.
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