Epoch
Permian through Pliocene; Quartermaster Formation (Permian, ~280 Mya); caliche caprock (Pliocene, ~5 Mya).
Displacement & Tenure
Cession 478: Treaty with the Comanche and Kiowa (Little Arkansas Treaty, 1865); Cession 511: Agreement with the Comanche, Kiowa, and Apache (Jerome Agreement, 1892, ratified 1900); Comanche and Kiowa bands used the canyon breaks as a refuge until Col. Ranald Mackenzie's Fifth Cavalry swept through during the Red River War campaign of 1874, forcing their return to the Fort Sill reservation; state purchased approximately 13,961 acres from the estate of rancher Theodore Geisler in May 1975; the park opened in 1982.
Shadow History
The Texas State Bison Herd at Caprock Canyons descends from calves captured by Charles Goodnight beginning in 1878, immediately after the systematic extermination campaign of 1874 to 1878 reduced the southern plains bison population from an estimated tens of millions to fewer than 1,000 animals continent-wide; Folsom- and Archaic-period archaeological sites are documented throughout the canyon, and Texas Parks and Wildlife acknowledges that most have been disturbed, with many artifacts removed, though no specific prosecution for looting at this site appears in public records.
