Tule Canyon and the End of the Comanche Era

Tule Creek cuts through the eastern edge of the Llano Estacado in Briscoe County. It joins the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River in the county's north-central area. Before European settlement, the canyon's rugged walls sheltered Plains Apache and later Comanche people. They used the region for hunting and as a refuge. The area was also a well-known Comanchero trading zone in the 1860s.

In September 1874, Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie and the Fourth U.S. Cavalry camped at the head of Tule Canyon. On September 28, they struck south to Palo Duro Canyon. There, they routed a large Comanche, Kiowa, and Cheyenne encampment. Mackenzie's forces then returned to Tule Canyon and slaughtered more than 1,000 captured horses. Without their horses, the Southern Plains tribes could not survive on their own. Most surrendered to reservations in Indian Territory within months.

This campaign was part of what is known as the Red River War. It opened the Southern Plains to cattle ranching almost immediately. By 1878, the first ranchers had staked claims in Briscoe County. The bone pile left from the slaughtered horses became a known Panhandle landmark for years. The Handbook of Texas and Texas Historical Commission both document this history.