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Quanah Parker Day on Saturday

Quanah Parker Trail arrows will stand a little taller on Saturday, Sept. 12 – Quanah Parker Day in Texas. The statewide observance, which Texas Governor Greg Abbott decreed for the second Saturday of each September, commemorates the life of Comanche Chief Quanah Parker.

In the Texas Plains Trail Region, volunteer leaders launched a Quanah Parker Trail project in 2010, which has organized some regional events and avenues for participating in the statewide recognition.

Every Texas student passing through 4th and 7th grade by now has learned the story of Quanah Parker; his mother Cynthia Ann Parker, who was kidnapped as a child and raised among the Comanches; and their lives as Texas Indians. The Comanches were called “Lords of the Southern Plains” owing to their superb horsemanship and prowess in hunting bison from horseback.

Texans are encouraged to honor Quanah Parker Day by paying a visit to a nearby steel arrow sculpture that marks a county’s inclusion on the Quanah Parker Trail. Take a stand with Quanah Parker and the arrow. Share your photos on social media.

Counties of the TPTR installed 88 steel arrows created by sculptor welder Charles A. Smith to commemorate their inclusion in the Comanchería, the territorial range of the Comanches in the 19th century. The trail is named for Quanah Parker, as he is considered as the most renowned Indian leader who frequented this area.

Every county’s land within TPTR was once part of the territory of the Comanches, known as the Comanchería.

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