Mark Twain once said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes. An echo of this sort of rhythmic repetition of themes in history can be heard right in our local town of Santa Anna this weekend as the town pays tribute to retired six-term Penatuhkah Comanche leader Wallace Coffey. Coffey served as Chief of the Oklahoma tribe from 1992 through 2012. He took a particular interest in the history of the Comanche in Texas, forming relationships with towns like Santa Anna, where the Penatuhkah branch of the tribe once lived.
It’s been more than 150 years since the Penatuhkah band roamed the brushy hills of West Central Texas, trailing buffalo, fighting settlers over land and resources while surviving in a harsh environment, training their young people in the arts of war and the hunt. Despite the time that has passed, there are many sites in Brown and Coleman Counties–as well as surrounding areas–that still reverberate with the presence of this southernmost band of Comanche who fought fiercely here for their land and way of life. Salt Mountain in Brown County was described by one historical writer as the hottest Indian battleground in Texas. Chief Santa Anna, undisputed leader of the Penatuhkah, had his headquarters at Santa Anna Mountain, where warriors were trained.
Chairman Coffey’s speech in Santa Anna this weekend marks a historic circle. A people once forcibly ejected from their home here are welcomed back to celebrate the planned opening of the Penatuhkah Comanche Trail, an ecotourism project designed to highlight Comanche influences in the region. The Santa Anna event is a time of reconciliation and remembrance for the tribe, as well as those of us who live in the area. “As a six-term Tribal Chairman he [Coffey] was involved, influential and extremely helpful in reconnecting his people with places they occupied during the peak of their Horse Culture in Texas. He, and the knowledgeable Comanche leaders who joined him, retrieved Comanche interpretations of these places and taught us how to understand these landscapes from a Comanche perspective.[ …] He traveled with an inner circle of advisors including spiritual leaders, respected artists, educators, and some of the most knowledgeable Elders. Chairman Coffey’s trips to Texas always left us much better informed and with significant new knowledge about the past Comanche presence in the Penatuhkah homeland, and taught us how to understand these landscapes from a Comanche perspective,” stated anthropologist and educator Linda Pelon, who has worked tirelessly to make the Penatuhkah Trail project a reality.
“Those of us who have taken this long journey with Chairman Coffey have deep gratitude for his role in setting the stage for us to now celebrate and share the Penatuhkah Comanche Trails and our partnership with the world. This is an epic story associated with legendary places and people on the Texas frontier. And much of it is still unexplored! Luckily, the Comanche Nation recently elected a new Tribal Chairman, Forrest Tahdooahnippah, who is very interested in Texas, and we are hopeful that next year Wallace Coffey can pass the torch to him as we celebrate the Grand Opening of the Penatuhkah Comanche Trails,” Pelon added.
Retiring Chairman Coffey will speak at the Santa Anna Visitors Center/Museum at 2 pm on Saturday, reflecting on his people’s history in the area and the important relationship the town has with the Comanche Nation. Santa Anna is hosting a bison cook off on that day, where you can judge for yourself just how well Texans can prepare the traditional Comanche dish. Come and hear some stories from this witty and articulate storyteller, who can speak in the original Comanche language. It is a full circle of history to once again hear this language resound from near the mountain. In Santa Anna, a rhyme of history will complete itself in a special way.
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Diane Adams is a local journalist whose columns appear Thursdays on BrownwoodNews.com.
