The Quanah Parker Star house was built around 1890 by the Comanche chief and purchased by his daughter, Mrs. Birdsong, upon the chief's death in 1911. 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. The Preservation Oklahoma organization has listed the Star House as endangered.
CACHE, OK-The Comanche Nation of Oklahoma has offered to buy the Quanah Parker Star House, the home of famed Chief Quanah Parker that's fallen into disrepair:
The Star House today belongs to Wayne Gipson and his sister, who inherited it from their uncle, who obtained it through a trade with Quanah Parker's daughter in the 1950s. Quanah's daughter left the future of Star House up to the Gipson's uncle.
"... if anything is to be done with the Star House, she felt it would be up to him, and if he would trade her a livable house for the Star House, she would go along with the trade," said Gipson.
Gipson admitted he lacks the funds to properly maintain the old structure. "We had worked toward getting some funding for it, but it is basically at a standstill currently."
Quanah Parker's descendant Tina Emhoolah said the Comanche Nation has offered to buy the house, but Gipson would not sell.
"It is unfortunate that the property has deteriorated the way that it is, but the nation has made its offer; they chose not to take it," said Emhoolah.
According to sources in Wikipedia, the structure was built around 1890 by the Comanche chief and purchased by his daughter, Mrs. Birdsong, upon the chief's death in 1911. Originally located near the Wichita Mountains north of Cache on Fort Sill's west range, Birdsong moved the house from its original location to Cache and sold it to Herbert Woesner in 1958. 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. The Preservation Oklahoma organization has listed the Star House as endangered.
Wikipedia states that after Parker's surrender in 1875, he lived for many years in a reservation tipi. Parker decided that he needed living quarters more befitting his status among the Comanches, and more suitable to his position as a spokesperson for the white cattle owners...This two-story eight-bedroom clapboard house with ten-foot ceilings and a picket fence was constructed for Parker. Request for financial assistance was denied by the United States government. Parker's friends in the cattle business, in particular Four Sixes Ranch owner Samuel Burk Burnett, financed the building of the house.The cost of construction was slightly over $2,000 ($48,000 in 2010, adjusted for inflation). In his formal wallpapered dining room with its wood-burning stove, Parker entertained white business associates, celebrities and tribal members alike. Among his celebrated visitors was Theodore Roosevelt...Parker fed hungry tribal members in his home and was known to never turn away anyone.
