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Quanah is a small town in the North Central Plains region of Texas.

Understand

The Medicine Mounds

Although now located on private property with very limited access, these 5 dolomite mounds were to the Comanche not only a magic place of healing. They also provided a meeting place for flint trade, a lookout which provided views of the plains for 50 miles all around, and a training ground for horsemanship. Visible into the 1940s but now overgrown, there was once a track around the mounds over which Quanah Parker and his braves raced horses in training for attacks on the white buffalo hunters. The mounds are easily visible from US 287 east of town.

Quanah was named after Quanah Parker, known as the last chief of the Comanches. His mother, Cynthia Ann Parker, was captured in 1820 by the Comanches. She became assimilated into the group, marrying a Comanche and having children, of whom Quanah was the first. She was later "rescued" by the white settlers in a location near Copper Breaks south of town, and never allowed contact with her husband or children again, starving herself to death two years later. Quanah went on to lead a large band of Comanches in attacks against hunters and the US Army in an effort to retain tribal lands and save the great buffalo herds, which the whites were mercilessly and wastefully killing off at an alarming rate. He participated in many famous battles throughout the Panhandle, including the Second Battle of Adobe Walls, near modern-day Borger. When finally cornered at Palo Duro Canyon in 1875, Quanah's band was the last group of free Plains Indians to be forced onto a reservation, bringing an end to the Red River War. Quanah subsequently became something of an advocate for westernization, quickly learning English and Spanish and converting to a form of Christianity. He was eventually named chief of all the Comanche people. By 1905 he was parading with Geronimo in the inaugural parade for Theodore Roosevelt, with whom he went on occasional hunting trips. Quanah Parker is now buried at Fort Sills in Oklahoma.

Get in

By car, Quanah is most easily accessible by US Route 287, halfway between Childress and Vernon. The second option is by Texas Route 6 which connects the city with Eldorado, Oklahoma to the north, and Copper Breaks State Park to the south.

The nearest commercial airport is in Wichita Falls (SPS IATA).

Get around

A car is the best option. Almost everything lies along the main strip of US 287.

See

  • Hardeman County Museum, 105 Green St. The lower floor of this old jail, built in 1891, has been transformed into exhibit space, while the second floor preserves original jail cells. 
  • Quanah Acme and Pacific Depot Museum, 100 Mercer St, ☏ +1 940 663-5272. A branch of the county museum. 
  • Quanah Memorial Park Cemetery. With a 160-year history, the cemetery has graves including that of Texas Ranger Captain Bill McDonald and that of Joe Earle, who was killed by Indians even before the founding of the town. 
  • Quanah Parker Monument. On the Courthouse Square. 
  • Quanah Rocket (Corner of Third and Main streets). This US Army meteorological rocket was named after the city in honor of Quanah-born Research Meteorologist Kenneth R. Jenkins who served in the Upper Atmosphere Tech Area at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. 

Do

  • Quanah City Pool, 403 Good St, ☏ +1 940 663-8196. Cool off at the local municipal swimming pool. $2. 
  • Quanah Ranch Rodeo, ☏ +1 940 663-2222. Held on the last weekend of June. 

Buy

Like many small towns in the area, antiques are the only truly interesting shopping to be had.

Eat

Practically everything is located on the main drag, 11th Street, otherwise known as US 287. In addition to a Pizza Hut, Subway, and Sonic, you will find the following local outfits.

Drink

Sleep

All the hotels are located on 11th Street/US 287.

Go next

  • Copper Breaks State Park is just south on Texas Route 6, offering camping, hiking and a couple of lakes.
  • Medicine Mound Museum, about 4 miles south on farm road 1167 east of town. Medicine Mound, a Texas ghost town located east of the mounds themselves, saw its last residents in the 1950s but has an interesting museum housed in one of the original buildings.
Routes through Quanah
END ←  NW  SE  → Clifton → Bryan-College Station
Amarillo ← Childress ←  N  S  → Vernon → Wichita Falls


This city travel guide to Quanah is a usable article. It has information on how to get there and on restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.
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