In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

฀ haps the tribal judge who was a Lipan (Jose Torres) was prevailed upon to quietly help. Or perhaps Dinero was spirited away from Mescalero in the interval between Bennett’s departure and the arrival of his successor, Hinman Rhodes, in early 1891. Antonio Apache, another Lipan living at Mescalero at the time, only related that “Dinero got in trouble here [i.e., at Mescalero],” but didn’t go into detail regarding the type of trouble or how it was resolved.43 The only two documents that exist to prove the tale are Comanche census records. At the end of the 1891 Comanche census, taken at the Kiowa Agency in Oklahoma, there is a loose scrap of paper with the heading “Lost Tickets.” This paper lists those Comanches who had lost their ration tickets and needed replacements; the ticket system (where each family was assigned a ticket number) was also used to take the annual agency census, and families were listed by ticket number. The scrap of paper titled “Lost Tickets” contains six names; ticket #694 is the family head named Penaro, which is the Comanche version of the name Dinero. A second verifying document is the Comanche census for 189293 , which lists under ticket #694 the family of two persons; the husband is named Penaro,and the wife is named Ad-do-che-nah.44 This is the woman with whom Dinero probably had the affair,Agatha Wyeth; she had to leave Mescalero, or she would have been killed because of her adultery. In the remarks section next to the names of Penaro and Ad-do-che-nah is the notation,“From Mescalero Agency.”45 The Bodyguards When he finished his business in New Mexico, Quanah Parker was ready to leave, to go back home to Oklahoma. He told Chevato to tie up his family ties and to immediately follow him. Quanah Parker had told him in a general way where Ft. Sill was located, and that was where Chevato and Dinero were supposed to go. So Chevato went to his wife, and Dinero went to his wife. They told them that they had gotten a reprieve and that they were going to Indian Territory. This didn’t sit too well with the wives, because they would have to leave their culture and go to a new culture, so the wives said no. They were released from their matrimonial agreements, and both wives stayed in Mescalero. I don’t know if Dinero had any children with his Mescalero wife, but Chevato had three children—two boys and a girl. Chevato and Dinero bought supplies and packhorses or mules with money given to them by Quanah Parker; they also dressed in western attire. Being from Mexico, Chevato was accustomed to this western dress. So they set off for Oklahoma, going through the panhandle of Texas. On reaching Oklahoma, the first place they stopped was at a firing range adjacent to the old post at Ft. Sill. There were some army troopers there target shooting when Chevato and Dinero rode up on them. There was also a civilian there who later got acquainted with Chevato. The civilian later told me this story when I was a young boy. He told me,“Here comes these two men on horses leading these pack mules. They come up on the range, and I took them for scouts because they were dressed in western apparel rather than being dressed in the Native American way.Your grandfather came up to me and asked where Quanah Parker lived. He told me that they were hunting him. The army officer got suspicious and asked what they wanted to see Parker for. Your grandfather answered that Quanah Parker hired them in New Mexico and that they were supposed to work for him. This seemed to satisfy the officer , and he gave them directions to Quanah Parker’s house.” They traveled on about seventeen miles west of Ft. Sill to a little town called Cache. It’s a French name, but the native people around pronounce it “Cash” instead of “Cachet” and get very perturbed if you say“Cachet.” They’ll quickly point you to your error. Near Cache is where Quanah Parker had his home, called Star House. It was a two-story building with a porch all the way around. It was painted all white. Built by the government with government money, and it was quite a nice house for that time and that era. The roof...

Share