This is consistent with the picture of a camp where horses were distributed across the canyon — grazing in different areas, tied near different lodges, some with the families as they fled and some captured by the soldiers.

The horses that survived with the families were the foundation for whatever horse herds those families rebuilt over the following years.

On the reservation, horse breeding continued — at a smaller scale, under different conditions, without the open range of the Staked Plains and without the buffalo hunting economy that had supported the large herds.

The horse culture did not end at Palo Duro Canyon.

It was diminished.