the frontier for a firsthand look. He arrived in Fort Richardson
feeling vindicated in his belief as he’d encountered no
hostiles. But as history recorded, he’d narrowly escaped death
when his small entourage had crossed Salt Creek Prairie
some 20 miles west of Fort Richardson. On May 17, a party
of over a hundred Fort Sill Reservation Indians watched
from a high ridge as Sherman passed, saved by a medicine
man who advised the party should not attack the first group
(who were obviously armed soldiers) to pass but the second
— the Warren Wagon Train from Weatherford (the group
of teamsters left Weatherford from the building that now
houses Parker County Today magazine). The mainly Kiowa
raiders massacred the teamsters and animated an embarrassed
Sherman who sent then Colonel Mackenzie and a contingent
of his Fourth Cavalry first to the scene of the massacre then
after the reservation jumpers. So grotesque was the massacre,
that both Sherman and Mackenzie became unwavering
in their mission to complete the subjugation of the Plains
Indians.
While Custer finished dead last in the Class of 1861 at
West Point, Mackenzie finished first in the following year’s
class. Grant called him “the most promising young officer in
the Army.” As it turned out, Mackenzie became the man the
Army turned to when it needed something done.
Custer’s demise is well-known and certainly sad.
Relatively few people know of Mackenzie’s end, which was
DECEMBER 2016
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
General Custer
56
Country living at it’s best in Jordan Ranch
SOLD: 101 Ranch Hand
SOLD: 118 Ranch Hand
SOLD: 130 Ranch Hand
Your Neighborhood Realtor
Tracey Thompson
817.507.5871
traceythompsonrealtor.com
Truly extraordinary properties are different at every level, and they
require real estate services that are as well. To market a distinctive
home requires uncommon knowledge and resources, allow me to
represent you. I love selling this beautiful community and look
forward to talking to you about these recent sells and what I can do
for you.
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Fort Worth, TX 76132
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