a Sacred Refuge

It’s not a long hike to the top of the highest of the four Comanche Medicine Mounds, which are located a few miles southeast of Quanah, near the Red River in northern Texas. It’s also not easy. Even following a trail of switchbacks cut through the brush, I encounter obstacles: loose gravel here, horse crippler cactus there, not to mention the prospect of diamondback rattle-snakes lounging in the low shade of redberry cedars. But it’s worth the risk: When I reach the apex of the flat-capped hill, I feel like I’m walking on top of the world.

I’m actually only about 300 feet above the rolling plains that surround these dolomite mounds, but I can see for miles. The Wichita Mountains rise above the morning horizon 75 miles to the northeast in Oklahoma. Quanah Parker, the best-known Comanche chief, and his mother, Naduah (Cynthia Ann Parker), are buried at the Fort Sill Post Cemetery near the Wichitas. Since long before Quanah’s challenging tenure as a tribal leader in the late 19th century, and continuing to today, Comanche people have traveled to the Medicine Mounds in search of healing plants and spiritual renewal.

I feel the energy as I look out over the plains. My hike