The Stars at Night

Texas is big. Really big. Texas spans 171,902,080 acres. Bet you don’t know how big an acre is! It’s also 268,597 square miles. It’s bigger than even France. It has 654,923 miles of highway. Most of that is in Dallas/Fort Worth, and guess what, everyone who lives there is on the go at the same time. 

One beautiful place that we stayed was Canyon Breaks State Park. Canyon Breaks is designated as an International Dark Sky Park, meaning that the conditions are right for seeing gajillions of stars at night. The park is out in the middle of nowhere, and they keep the lights down so as not to interfere with nature’s flashy show. Sure, I couldn’t find the camper after I went to the bathroom before bed, but it’s not about me. I got back eventually, didn’t I?

When the sun went down I could make out all the constellations I knew – all four of them – plus a couple of planets, a shooting star or two, and the simple magnificence of The Great Beyond. I woke up early in the morning to watch the moon glowing at me through the window. I lay there for a long time and felt the rays.

We knew this would be a great place to stay when immediately upon arriving we came upon two coyotes loping across the road. Later we heard packs of them howling back and forth to each other through the night. This is rugged country, dry and rocky, and if you lived here you would need to be tough to survive. 

This area played a key role in Texas history. Around here took place the kidnapping of Cynthia Ann Parker. Cynthia was born in 1827 to John Parker and Sarah Duty. John Parker was key in the effort of the United States government to usurp land from the native peoples and enlarge the boundaries of this country. Between 1834 and 1836 he built Fort Parker, an outpost designed to facilitate the westward expansion of white settlers.

In May 1836, local tribes, including the Comanche, Kiowa, Caddo, and Wichita, raided various settlements, including Fort Parker. They captured several Parker family members, including Cynthia, who was nine at the time.

Cynthia was adopted into the tribe and stayed with them for many years. She married a Comanche chief, Peta Nocona, and bore three children with him. She assimilated and did not desire to return to her biological family.

However, her family wanted her back. At the request of her father, the Texas Rangers, the military force in the region, kidnapped her when she was 33 and brought her back to white society. She became a celebrity, receiving land and a pension from the Texas legislature. But she never adjusted to this new phase of her life. Her daughter died in 1864. Later, Cynthia began refusing food and water, and died in 1871.

Her son, Quanah, carried on the legacy of protecting his tribe’s land and culture, however, ultimately the native people were driven to live on reservations. Quanah was known as the “Last Chief of the Comanche.” 

The town of Quanah, Texas is named for him.