Comanche Massacre Site -- Fort Parker Memorial Cemetery, Groesbeck TX USA
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member Benchmark Blasterz
Assisted by: Groundspeak Regular Member WalksfarTX
N 31° 32.876 W 096° 33.002
14R E 732572 N 3492932
Memorial located at the center of Fort Parker Memorial Park Cemetery, near the site of a famous 1836 Comanche Raid that carried away Cynthia Ann Parker and resulted in the deaths of several settlers
Waymark Code: WM15WRG
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 03/11/2022
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member TerraViators
Views: 2
Created From:
 Fort Parker Memorial - 1932 - Groesbeck, TX - posted by WalksfarTX

Famous in Texas as the Comanche Massacre Site, the Fort Parker Memorial Cemetery hosts a large carved stone monument to the settlers killed on that dreadful day. This was the raid where Cynthia Ann Parker was carried away - she assimilated into the Cherokee tribe, married Chief Peta Nocona, and bore a son, Quanah Parker, who became a great Comanche War Chief in the 1870s, eventually surrendering and leading his tribe to the Fort Sill OK Indian Reservation.

From the Texas Brazos Trail website: https://texasbrazostrail.com/plan-your-adventure/historic-sites-and-cities/sites/fort-parker-memorial-cemetery"

"GROESBECK: FORT PARKER MEMORIAL CEMETERY
LONG GONE BUT STILL REMEMBERED

Fort Parker Memorial Cemetery, located near the Brazos Trail Region community of Groesbeck, is the burial site of a number of the settlers who died in the attack on Fort Parker in 1836. The tragic event, known to most Texans for the kidnapping of Cynthia Ann Parker, left settlers Elder John Parker, Benjamin F. Parker, Silas M. Parker, Samuel M. Frost, and Robert Frost dead after Caddo and Comanche Indians attacked the simple fortifications. Today, visitors to the cemetery will find a large slab over the mass grave of these five dead settlers. The slab is engraved with their names (although Benjamin’s name is spelled differently) and includes the words “In memory of those who laid foundations others have built upon”, perhaps a reference to the pioneers’ efforts to help settle the Texas frontier. Visitors will also find a large monument dedicated to the Fort Parker settlers, including the survivors of the attack, complete with bigger than life-size stone figures mounted on a columned base. The monument, erected in 1932, has withstood time far better than the actual fort, a timber stockade that was reconstructed nearby in the late 1960s and currently open for visitors to tour."

More information on the statue at the waymarked site can be found here: Smithsonian Art Inventory

"Roy Weldert and W.H. Dietz fabricated the base of the memorial and ordered the sculpture from Italy. When the sculpture was installed in 1932, Fort Parker Memorial Park was known as Glenwood Memorial Cemetery.

The statue honors the Fort Parker "martyrs." On March 19, 1836, Comanche and Kiowa Indians attacked the fort, killing Silas M. Parker and four others, wounding three, and capturing several residents, including Cynthia Ann, the Parker's daughter.

Three members of the pioneer Parker family stand side-by-side atop shaft. Silas M. Parker, stands about to leave the Fort, holding the barrel of a rifle with his right hand, the butt of which rests on the ground. He holds the rim of his wide-brimmed hat with his left hand. He is dressed in a long-sleeved shirt, a vest, pants and knee-high boots. To his left is Lucy Parker wearing a head covering and full-length dress, her head turned towards her husband. Her left hand rests on the shoulder of their young daughter, Cynthia Ann Parker, who stands beside her. The sculpture is mounted upon a shaft with a square column at each corner. The shaft rests on a tiered base set on a wide platform with two steps on each side."

Date of crime: 05/15/1836

Public access allowed: yes

Fee required: yes

Web site: [Web Link]

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Benchmark Blasterz visited Comanche Massacre Site -- Fort Parker Memorial Cemetery, Groesbeck TX USA 04/27/2022 Benchmark Blasterz visited it
WalksfarTX visited Comanche Massacre Site -- Fort Parker Memorial Cemetery, Groesbeck TX USA 08/02/2020 WalksfarTX visited it

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