Battle of Blanco Canyon The Battle of Blanco Canyon was the decisive battle of Col . Ranald S . Mackenzie ' s initial campaign against the Comanche in West Texas , and marked the first time the Comanches had been attacked in the heart of their homeland . It signified the end of Comanche control over the heart of their Comancheria , and the beginning of the end of the Comanche as a free people . In September 1871 Mackenzie received permission from Gen . William T . Sherman to begin an expedition against the Kotsoteka and Quahadi Comanche bands , both of whom had refused to relocate onto a reservation after the Warren Wagon Train Raid . Col . Mackenzie assembled a powerful force consisting of eight companies of the Fourth United States Cavalry , two companies of the Eleventh Infantry , and a group of twenty Tonkawa scouts . Onset of the Campaign . The force assembled at the site of old Camp Cooper , on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River in late September , 1871 . The force set out in a northwesterly direction on October 3 , 1871 , hoping to find the Quahadi village , which housed the warriors led by Quanah Parker . This village was believed to be encamped in Blanco Canyon near the headwaters of the Freshwater Fork of the Brazos River , southeast of the site of present Crosbyton , Texas . On the fourth night of the march , the expedition established a base camp at the junction of the Salt Fork of the Brazos and Duck Creek , near the site of present Spur , Texas . The following day , Col . Mackenzie made the decision to leave his infantry to fortify the base camp , and set out for Blanco Canyon with his cavalry , hoping to catch the Comanche by surprise , and strike a blow at them in their heartland . In the afternoon of October 9 , 1871 , the cavalry force reached the White River and Blanco Canyon . Late that evening Quanah Parker personally led a small Comanche force which stampeded through the cavalry camp , driving off sixty - six horses . As the pursuing cavalry reached the top of a hill on the top of the canyon , they found a much larger party of Indians , who were waiting in ambush . The cavalry fought their way clear , but suffered the loss of one cavalryman , the sole Army fatality of the entire campaign . Lt . Robert Goldthwaite Carter and a detail of five men mounted a rear guard action against the Comanches , and the remainder of the unit retreated . This action won Lt . Carter the Medal of Honor . Mackenzie ' s main column and the Tonkawa scouts , hearing the gunfire , advanced and probably saved the detachment from slaughter , as more Comanche had managed to surround the retreating unit . With the arrival of the main cavalry column , Quanah Parker and his warriors retreated . The Comanches fought their way up the walls of Blanco Canyon , sniping at the oncoming troopers and taunting their Tonkawa enemies before disappearing from the Army ’ s sight as they went over the Caprock Escarpment , and onto the Llano Estacado . The remainder of the expedition . Col . Mackenzie pursued the Indians over the next few days , forcing them to abandon lodge poles , buffalo hides , tools , and most of their possessions as they fled . These were the necessities of life for the Comanche , and meant the coming winter would be unusually bleak , without shelter or accumulated food . The Army was able to catch up with the fleeing warriors , slowed by their families , in the late afternoon of October 12 , 1871 . Mackenzie was unable to attack them due to the arrival of an unseasonable " blue norther " , ( a winter storm from the Great Plains ) . High winds , blinding snow and sleet halted the cavalry advance , and allowed the Comanche to again retreat safely . The cavalry force continued the pursuit the following morning , but the weather and conditions allowed the Comanche to disappear into the storm . Mackenzie ordered his troops to follow what the scouts believed was the Comanche trail for about forty miles , nearly to the vicinity of present - day Plainview , Texas , but winter was coming early , and the weather continued to worsen . Given the deteriorating state of his men and horses , Mackenzie reluctantly turned back . Entering Blanco Canyon . On October 15 , 1871 , the cavalry became the first non - Comanche military force to enter Blanco Canyon since the rise of the Comanche as a power on the plains . Army scouts saw two Comanches spying on the troops on the walls of the Canyon . In the brief fight that followed their discovery , the two Comanche were killed , while Mackenzie himself , along with another soldier , were wounded . Despite his wound , Mackenzie and his force continued to the mouth of Blanco Canyon , where they rested for a week . On October 24 , 1871 , Mackenzie decided to continue the campaign , and began marching towards the headwaters of the Pease River . However , his wound became worse , and he decided he was no longer fit to command . Capt . Clarence Mauck assumed command , though Mackenzie stayed with his troops . But winter had come early , and the conditions grew steadily worse . About the first of November , 1871 , Mackenzie ordered Mauck to end the expedition . Around November 15 , 1871 , Mackenzie released his troops to normal duty , and they returned to Fort Davis and Fort Richardson . Result of the Expedition . Col . Mackenzie regarded the entire expedition as unsuccessful . The command had marched 509 miles , lost one life , and many horses . He considered that they had accomplished nothing but frighten one hostile Comanche band . However , he had marched to the heart of the Comancheria , penetrated into an area of the Llano Estacado no Americans except Comanchero s had ever seen , destroyed the winter equipment of the Comanche he encountered , and driven them from their homeland . The lessons he learned about Plains Indian warfare as a result of the battle of Blanco Canyon and this expedition would stand him in good stead during the Red River War , and resulted a few years later in the surrender of the last free Comanche .