The nature of the encampment — multiple villages spread across the canyon floor, the families using the length and the side canyons of Palo Duro to disperse their horses and organize their camps — both helped and hurt the defenders.

It helped because the scattered nature of the villages made it impossible for Mackenzie’s force to encircle the entire population simultaneously.

It hurt because the scattered nature of the villages also made organized military resistance difficult: the leaders of the different bands could not quickly coordinate a unified defense.

Warriors took up positions on the canyon walls and fired down at the soldiers on the floor below.

The Texas Historical Commission marker describes this directly: “Some of the warriors took up positions on the canyon walls from which they fired on the troops, seeking to give their families time to escape.”