The Quanah Parker Star House, with stars painted on its roof, is located in the city of Cache, county of Comanche, in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. One old story relates that, after meeting a Brigadier General with many stars on his uniform, Quanah had 14 stars painted on the roof of his house, a smoke house and a summer house to represent his own military prowess. The son of a Comanche chief, Peta Nocona, and a captured white woman, Cynthia Ann Parker, he was a feared warrior during the Comanches’ final years on the Southwest plains. Il meurt en 1911 dans la Quanah Parker Star House (en). Instead of living out his life as a despondent ward of the Great White Father, Parker became a businessman, hob–knobbed with the famous and represented his tribe in Washington. Mr. Woesner worked diligently to restore the house. However, recent assessments have revealed serious deterioration at the site, and action is needed to save this rare piece of Oklahoma history, Home | Table of Contents In 1985 the park was forced to close by skyrocketing insurance rates — another gift to America from trial lawyers — and the revenue dried up. Despite numerous offers, he has also refused to rent or sell the home, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, to anyone, including the Comanche Nation. “This will start a conversation about saving it.”. | Links | PX and Library Trip Maps | Blood Trail Maps Mr. Gipson has no solutions: “I do not have thousands of dollars to pour into this,” he said. I came across the story of Quannah Parker’s house, which still stands today in Cache, Texas – though it’s not in its original location. “It’s too soon to say,” he said. Quanah Parker’s Star House. [3][4], The cost of construction was slightly over $2,000 ($48,000 in 2010, adjusted for inflation). After Parker died in 1911, one of his daughters, Linda Parker Birdsong, lived in Star House until 1957. On July 1, the day after I visited Star House, Mr. Coffey announced a $15,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to assess the house and create a stabilization plan. Star House, as it is known, sits in tiny Cache, Okla., and its private owner has neither the time nor money to maintain it, but so far he has refused to sell it to the Comanche Nation. Star House, built on Fort Sill around 1890 by Quanah Parker, the renowned last chief of the Comanche Nation, already felt like the loneliest tourist attraction in America. In 1956 the Star House faced a dire fate, when Ft. Sill almost destroyed it. The current owner, Woesner's nephew Wayne Gipson, offered the explanation told to him by Parker's descendants that the Chief had been to Washington D.C. to speak with Theodore Roosevelt, and while there had stayed in a "five star hotel". Mrs. Birdsong, who still lived in the house, worked with Herbert Woesner, Jr. to relocate the house to Eagle Park. Now. It would be easy to drive past the rusted trading post and Eagle Park signs thinking this is an abandoned site. In 1957 the Army decided to take her land and use it for a firing range. They asked what he would need from them in return for grazing rights. Although no one can be certain why Parker painted the stars on his roof, lore has it that he meant it as a display of rank and importance equal to a military general. His dynamic, laugh–out–loud commentary on current events, politics, and culture has connected with audiences in a wide variety of settings including corporate meetings, association conferences, Christian fellowship, political gatherings, university seminars and award dinners. Before the flooding, the major concern was the roof, or what was left of it. The most recent figures (from 2006!) It has been deteriorating for years, especially because large sections of the roof are missing, allowing the elements to damage the upper floors. Parker had 10 stars painted on his roof to explain to Roosevelt upon his arrival that he would have better accommodations with ten stars instead of five. And thus Star House was born. His last direct descent to occupy the house was Linda Parker Birdsong. Quanah Parker : biography 1845 or 1852 – February 23, 1911 During the next 27 years Parker and the Burnetts shared many experiences. Parker said build him a house just like the one the commandant of Ft. Sill lived in — only bigger. Yet he has always found reasons to say no to the Comanche Nation. Get directions, reviews and information for Quanah Parker Star House in Cache, OK. Quanah Parker Star House 810 N 8th St Cache OK 73527. S. C. Gwynne’s best-selling 2010 book, “Empire of the Summer Moon,” brought Parker and the Comanche history to a popular audience, and although he is less known by most Americans than Sitting Bull, Geronimo and Crazy Horse, he is a significant presence in Native American history. Us | Mail Bag | Search | Intro | Upcoming Events | Reader's Road Trips, Fort Tour Systems, Inc. … A non-profit organization, the Quanah Parker Society, sponsors these events. “He made the transition from the tepees to live in a very modern house because he knew it had to happen not just for him but for the rest of the tribal members as well,” said Wallace Coffey, who is in his sixth term as the Comanche Nation tribal chairman. The table that once hosted Teddy Roosevelt and Geronimo is now surrounded by a house that’s collapsing due to lack of funds and lack of will power. After the report Comanche Nation officials promised to spring for pocket change and register a “savethestarhouse.org” website to take donations. Burnett helped with the construction of Star House, Quanah’s large frame home, which bore the inverted white stars signifying his rank. Many callers since the flood don’t even visit after Mr. Gipson tells them the inside is off-limits, but he gave a tour that allows peeks through windows from the unstable porch: glimpses of the original wallpaper, the dining room with the original table, and the kitchen with its cast-iron stove. The large stars on the roof were also added shortly after construction, with many stories about their origins. Parker's friends in the cattle business, in particular 6666 Ranch owner Samuel Burk Burnett, financed the building of the house, circa 1890. “That was the only alternative I had,” he said, adding that he has always consulted with Parker’s descendants about each potential decision. [2], After Comanche chief Quanah Parker's surrender in 1875, he lived for many years in a reservation tipi. The state of the house raised alarms. Let’s put this in perspective. Among his celebrated visitors was Theodore Roosevelt. The feds spent $199 million building the Museum of the American Indian; the Comanches make millions in profits off their casinos each year and Gipson made $8.00 in sales the day I visited. With their food source depleted, and under constant pressure from the army, the Quahadi Comanche finally surrendered in 1875. Part of the problem is Gipson, a non–Comanche. Keeping a two-story, eight-bedroom house in good repair proved too expensive for Gipson, who lives on the proceeds of a small restaurant and trading post. Mr. Owens said that the total repair costs may top $1 million so the tribe is forming a nonprofit group for fund-raising. If they cannot persuade Mr. Gipson to sell, they hope he and his sister would join them in running the nonprofit. Just stabilizing Star House will cost $200,000. Quanah was the son of Chief Peta Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker, a white woman captured by the Comanches as a child. The Quanah Parker Inn is located on U.S. Highway 287 at the west end of Quanah, Texas. It’s not every day you can lean on the dining room table that once belonged to the Comanche’s last war chief, Quanah Parker, and wonder if your feet are going to crash through the floorboards. If he had, Gipson would’ve been selling Parker’s furniture piecemeal over the years to collectors. Two hundred people, many of them Parker descendants, attended. He asked that I not take close-up photos of the house because dressers, rugs and mattresses were dragged onto the porch to dry or be disposed of. Every year, the Star House plays host to the Quanah Parker Reunion and Powwow. It’s been moved a couple of times. Burnett asked for (and received) Quanah’s participation in a parade with […] [5] Parker was a founding supporter of the Native American Church. | Contact Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman A table inside the Quanah Parker Star House in Cache, Okla., Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016. “There’s an open door now,” said Ardith Parker Leming, great-granddaughter of Quanah Parker. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Comanche County, Oklahoma, in 1970. In order to accommodate his multiple wives and children, this two-story ten-room clapboard house with ten-foot ceilings and a picket fence was constructed for Parker. Email: rick@forttours.com. “I think the best thing that could have happened is the flood,” said Chenoa Barhydt, director of marketing and economic development for the Comanche Nation, which again hopes to persuade Mr. Gipson to relinquish control. Quanah Parker is buried beside his beloved mother, Cynthia Ann, and young sister, Prairie Flower, at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. In the spring the Comanche Nation brought in a contractor to evaluate the cost of repairs, which the tribe would have paid for, according to Will Owens, tribal administrator. Restoring will run over a million. Eagle Park became a relocation spot for over a dozen threatened buildings, with the intent of being a museum and tourist attraction, but closed over 25 years ago. Request for financial assistance was denied by the United States Government. | Forts | Road A grant from the National trust for Historic Preservation enabled an assessment of the condition of the house and developed a plan to maintain it. The Army was demolishing buildings to expand Fort Sill but agreed to move Star House to an empty lot in Cache. Menu & Reservations Make Reservations . He hosted military officers and politicians, as well as Geronimo and the Kiowa chief Lone Wolf. Parker then adapted his experience and leadership skills on the reservation, earning wealth and success for himself and his people. https://www.okhistory.org/publications/enc/entry.php?entry=PA014 Although it was uninhabitable, it wasn’t neglected. – All photos by Johnny D. Boggs unless otherwise noted – Once nearly extinct, buffalos have made a comeback since being reintroduced in 1907 at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge that Quanah Parker persuaded President Teddy Roosevelt to establish in 1901. In 2015 a reporter from the New York Times came to visit and he was optimistic that a May flood, which ruined most of the rugs and wallpaper, might have a silver lining. Parker lived in it until his death in 1911. “I don’t know if I’m any more interested in selling now,” he said, adding that he’s reluctant to agree to a nonprofit until he understands how the control would be divided. But it is complete, and still full of Quannah’s furniture.