Palo Duro Canyon is another amazing Texas state park. It's the second largest canyon in the US and it's pretty darned impressive. We camped at the very bottom of the canyon and had great views of the beautiful red, tan, and pink rock formations. The sunsets were gorgeous.
The canyon was formed millions of years ago, but some of its more recent history is worth noting. The Comanche Indians were led by Chief Quanah Parker, the son of a captured white woman. Quanah and his tribe had refused to go to a reservation and had been raiding and harassing white outposts and settlements for years. US Colonol McKenzie finally put an end to this by conducting a dawn raid on Quanah's secret camp, deep in Palo Duro Canyon. The Comanches were caught completely by surprise and fled for the rocky canyon walls. Only 4 Indians lost their lives, but McKenzie was able to burn all their food and supplies, and captured 1,400 of their horses. This forced Quanah to surrender and retreat to the reservation. For more information on this story as well as a wonderfully readable history of the treatment of the Native Americans by our forefathers, Rick recommends the book The Empire of the Summer Moon by SC Gwynne.
Unfortunatley, we were unable to really enjoy Palo Duro. Beginning back in El Paso, I had been fighting a cold for about ten days. By the time we left Santa Fe, the cold had won. I was down for the count for our entire stay at Palo Duro Canyon, with a fever, cough, cold, and general misery. And now, of course, Rick has got it too, and it's greatly complicating our traveling plans.
Here are some nice photos that Rick took of the canyon before he got sick.
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