Career
Quanah was introduced into the Destanyuka band, where Chief Wild Horse took him under his wing only after his father's death, several years after Pease River. Until Nocona died, he took care of his son and raised him.Chief Wild Horse taught Quanah the ways of the Comanche Warrior and he grew to considerable standing as a warrior. He never felt comfortable with the Destanyuka because he was half white. He left and joined the Quahadi (Antelope Eaters) band with warriors from another tribe. The Quahadi grew in number, becoming the largest of the Comanche bands, and also the most notorious. Quanah Parker became a leader of the Quahadi, and led them successfully for a number of years. In October 1867, Quanah was a young man along with the Comanche chiefs just an observer at treaty negotiations at Medicine Lodge. Chief Wild Horse made a statement about his refusal to sign the Medicine Lodge Treaty.
In the early 1870s, the Plains Indians were losing the battle for their land with the United States government. Following the capture of the Kiowa chiefs Satank, Adoeet (Big Tree), and Satanta, the Kiowa, Comanche, and Southern Cheyenne tribes joined forces in several battles. Colonel Ranald Mackenzie led US Army forces to round up or kill the remaining Indians who had not settled on reservations.
On June 1874, a Comanche prophet named Isa-tai summoned the tribes in the Texas Panhandle to the Second Battle of Adobe Walls, where several American buffalo hunters were active. With Kiowa Chief Big Bow, Quanah was in charge of one group of warriors. The Indians were repelled by long-range Sharps rifles and, as they retreated, Quanah's horse was shot out from under him at five hundred yards. He was then hit by a ricocheting bullet that lodged in his shoulder. The attack on Adobe Walls caused a reversal of policy in Washington and led to the Red River War which culminated in a decisive Army victory in the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon. On September 28, 1874, Mackenzie and his Tonkawa scouts razed the Comanche village at Palo Duro Canyon and killed nearly 1,500 Comanche horses, a source of the Comanche wealth and power.
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