Penatuhkah Trail Meeting – March 20th, 2023

Representatives from ten Central Texas communities as well as landowners of Traditional Cultural Properties in the area have begun a common effort to stimulate heritage tourism across the region. Towns included in the partnership are Coleman, DeLeon, Comanche, Early, San Saba, Goldthwaite, Brownwood, Paint Rock, Menard, and Santa Anna. Also members are the Executive Directors of the Texas Forts Trail and the Texas Midwest Community Network as well as numerous private landowners.

“The purpose of the meeting is to continue our plan to develop points of interest in our communities for tourists interested in history,” said Janice Modawell, of the Santa Anna Chamber of Commerce. “We are making a plan around our common link to the Comanche band that once controlled two-thirds of the state of Texas.”

Penatuhkah Comanche Trails Partnership Executive Director Montie Guthrie led the session as the members fleshed out their plan to create a heritage and ecologic tourism vehicle for economic growth centered around the common historical connection to the most southern band of Comanches, the Penatuhkah band.

Ideas included setting up trail markers with landowners, reaching out to elders and museums in the various communities, locating smoke signaling high points in each area, and developing authentic relationships with the Comanche Tribe of Oklahoma.

Participants offered encouraging responses to the noon hour process. Executive Director of Visit Early! Denise Hudson-Brian described the discussion of implementing Penatuhkah Comanche Trails as “informative and exciting.” But she added, “We’ve got SO much to do!”

After concluding the business meeting, the group was invited to hold its next meeting in Goldthwaite at the Legacy Plaza Botanical Gardens in Goldthwaite on April 17.