Quanah Parker Trail Arrows
As many of you may know, Oldham County is home to two Quanah Parker Trail Arrows. Vega’s Arrow is located behind the Magnolia Station and Boys Ranch’s Arrow is located just inside the entrance. This week I began looking into the history of these arrows and the Comanches in our area and in turn I learned that Saturday September 13th, is Quanah Parker Day!
The arrow’s marker in Vega at the Magnolia Station reads: Comanches camped at playa lakes here, traveling trail north to Tascosa and East/West to Tecovas Springs & Tucumcari.
The arrow’s marker in Boys Ranch reads: 1786-1874 Comanches met Comancheros at Atascoa Creek to feast, gamble, race their horses, & exchange trade goods.
I spoke with Holle Humphries, Quanah Parker Trail Committee Chair, who provided me with a wealth of knowledge that I would like to share with you all!
Back in the day of Bison and Indians, what is now present-day Vega, was a stop for the Comanche Indians as they traveled to north to Tascosa or on their travels east and west to and from Tecovas Springs and Tucumcari. Present-day Vega was a place they could stop to allow their horses to drink from playa lakes in the region which was also attracted bison. Bison was a prominent food source of the Comanches. The bison traveled along/atop a high elevated “ridge”, cutting a trail along as they did not like mud on their hooves any more than the Indians that who followed their migration routes. The Comanche bands were often the custodians of horse herds that could be as large as a thousand horses per band meaning they had to move frequently to find fresh water and grass for the herds.
Tascosa, now present-day Boys Ranch served as a trading site for Comanches who traveled through this region to trade with the Comancheros. The Comanches primary source of food were the bison so when they traveled to Tascosa they traded bison meat and hides in exchange for vegetables, corn, beans, squash, bread, and red dye/paint. The governor of Santa Fe at the time even had brokered a deal with the Comanches to trade such items. The Comanches and Comancheros would also gamble, race their horses, and feast.
The Quanah Parker Trail Arrows were sculpted by Charles Smith and placed in Oldham County in 2011 and 2014.
I wanted to share just a small bit of the information I have received from wonderful sources who I will credit and link below. I hope you will follow along with my blog as I learn more about the Quanah Parker and the Comanches that once visited our now small communities.
I would not have been able to put this post together without the help of Holle Humphries, Allison Kendrick, Texas Plains Trail, and Quanah Parker Trail. I would also like to give a special shout out to Deborah Sue McDonald who played a big part in the arrows within our communities and once served as the director of the Texas Plains Trail Region.
Pictured is the arrow in Vega, behind the Magnolia Station
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