This was first time a major force of the US Army had attacked the Comanches in their own territory and marked the beginning of the end of the Comanches and the plains Indians.

Battle of the North Fork of the Red River

The Battle of North Fork or the Battle of the North Fork of the Red River occurred on September 28, 1872, near McClellan Creek in Gray County, Texas, United States. A monument on that spot marks the site of the battle between the Comanche Indians under Kai-Wotche and Mow-way and a detachment of cavalry and scouts under U.S. Army Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie. There was an accusation that the battle was really an attempt "to make a massacre," as during the height of battle some noncombatants were wounded while mixed in with warriors.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle of the North Fork of the Red River
• Gwynne, S. C., 2010, Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian: Simon & Schuster, New York, 371p.