Palo Duro Canyon – Art on the Land

Visited on site: [7/19/2025]

Top of the Canyon

Standing above Palo Duro Canyon offers a sweeping view into one of the most significant sites in American frontier history. From this height, the land looks eternal — red walls, green patches, and distant silence. But in 1874, this canyon became the final battleground in the U.S. campaign to end Comanche resistance.

This video captures the moment from above — the overlook where I painted and reflected on what once took place in the depths below. The land holds its silence, but the weight of history remains.

The Red River War

In September 1874, Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie led U.S. cavalry troops into Palo Duro Canyon to destroy Native winter camps. Lodges were burned. Food stores were wiped out. Over 1,400 horses were captured — and later shot — in one of the most devastating blows to Indigenous survival on the Southern Plains. The canyon, once a place of refuge, became a symbol of forced surrender.

The View Today

Palo Duro Canyon is now a Texas State Park — a place of awe, hiking, and beauty. But its cliffs remember more than erosion and wind. This is where freedom ended for many who once rode without borders. I came here to observe, paint, and record what still lingers in the silence.

Artist’s Reflection

I painted from above, where the sky meets the edge of history.
The view was calm. The wind was soft.

But I knew what happened below — where fires rose, horses fell, and freedom was extinguished.

From this overlook, I didn’t just paint the canyon.
I painted the silence it left behind.