Wayne Gipson from Cache, Oklahoma

Published: Aug. 18, 2021, 3:14 p.m.

Wayne Gipson is the current owner of the Quanah Parker Star House which now sits next to Eagle Park, an amusement park Wayne's family owned and operated from 1957 to 1985. The Gipson family built the park from scratch one ride at a time; his uncle gave his entire life to building the park and collecting the buildings which sit on the property- including the Star House. Wayne's first job in the park, at 6 years old, was to operate the mini golf course. In our conversation Wayne explains how his uncle acquired the Star House from Linda Parker Birdsong, Quanah Parker's daughter in 1957. When Wayne's uncle, Herbert Woesner, passed away in 2008 he passed the house down to Wayne and his sister. Since 2008, the Comanche Nation have made attempts to purchase the house from Wayne who has remained resistant. This story of the Star House dating back to 1890 is a fascinating story- Quanah Parker, the Commanche chief, demanded the US Government build it for him in 1890 on Fort Sill when he surrendered to them. Now in 2021, the Gipson family who acquired the house in a trade from Quanah's daughter have owned the house for 64 years, nearly as long than the Parker family owned the house. To this day the house continues to fall apart rapidly, mostly due to the roof being severely damaged. Negotiations between Wayne and the Comanche Nation are stagnant and it's clear in talking to Wayne how deeply he cares for this house, the park, and the restaurant which he now operates daily at the top of the hill up the road from the house. He wants to repair the house and revive the story but has no money and no time to pour into this project which he estimates may cost around 1 million dollars at this point. His apprehensiveness in selling the house to the Comanche Nation stems from the unknown of where he and his family will stand when things shake out. The house and the park is at the core of his DNA- his lifelong dream was to operate Eagle Park and continue sharing the story of Quanah Parker and his Star House. Every year that goes by without a solution is detrimental to the house and the story. I will be following up with Wayne on the story. I hope he can come to an agreement, find a solution that works for his family and the Comanche Nation, and that the house can be restored.