Born in New York City on July 24, 1840, MacKenzie attained the rank of Major General during the Civil War. On February 25, 1871, at Fort Concho, Texas, he assumed command as Colonel of the 4th Cavalry, which soon became the finest regiment in the army.
He commanded three expeditions into this region against the Indians. The first, in 1871 against the Comanches, was unsuccessful; but in 1872 he found two feasible routes across the vast, hitherto unexplored, Llano Estacado; and on September 29, he defeated the Comanches on the North Fork of the Red River.
After a successful raid into Mexico in 1873, he commanded three of five columns of army troops in a final campaign against the Comanches, Kiowas, and Southern Cheyennes; and on September 28, 1874, he surprised and destroyed three of their villages in the depths of Palo Duro Canyon, also capturing 1,424 horses and mules in the engagement. Left without food, shelter, supplies, and horses, the southern plains tribes then submitted to life on the reservation, thereby opening western Texas to white settlement.
Later promoted to Brigadier General, Mackenzie died in New York, January 19, 1889, and was buried in West Point Cemetery. This park is named in his honor. (1968)