Traces of Texas@TracesofTexas
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An incredibly rare photo of Quanah Parker that is in the fabulous Lawrence T. Jones III archive of Texas photos at SMU's Degolyer Library. It shows Quanah on a trip to Fort Worth in December, 1885 along with Yellow Bear (seated left) and medicine man Isa-Tai, seated right. The young man standing on the right is probably the son of Isa-Tai. The two bearded men are unidentified, one may be George Briggs, who accompanied the men while in Fort Worth. The trip was sponsored by noted rancher Dan Waggoner. It was during this sad trip that Yellow Bear died of asphyxiation in his hotel room. After a night out in Fort Worth, he and Quanah went to their hotel room to sleep. Yellow Bear turned out the light but left the gas accidentally turned on. He died during the night. Quanah managed to roll out of bed toward a crack in the door, through which he somehow managed to get enough fresh air to live. The group was only to be in Fort Worth for two nights, so this photo must have been made within 48 hours of Yellow Bear's death and possibly as few as 12 hours or so. Sad to consider, isn't it? We never know when that train is going to arrive at the station.