Quanah Parker has been a fascinating historical figure to me for many years. Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History, has finally sated my curiosity. S. C. Gwynne has written a scholarly, unbiased chronicle of the Plains Indians, particularly the Comanches.
Gwynne traces the rise of the Comanche people, their fierceness in battle and their mastery of the horse. In fact, the Comanches were the first plainsmen to use horses in battle. When they encountered other tribes, or the U.S. Army, they did so on horseback, while their opponents rode to battle, then dismounted for the fight. Those afoot with the early single-shot rifles were no match for mounted Indians skilled with arrows and lances. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the Comanches were often referred to as “Lords of the Plains.”
In 1836, a fierce band of Comanches, the Quahadis, raided Fort Parker, capturing nine-year old Cynthia Ann Parker together with four of her relatives. Cynthia Ann eventually became a full member of the tribe and married a war chief. In 1860, when her oldest child, Quanah, was twelve, the Texas Rangers attacked the Indian encampment, killing Cynthia Ann’s husband, and “rescuing” Cynthia Ann and her baby daughter. Her two oldest children, Quanah and his brother, escaped. Afterward, Cynthia Ann was miserable with her white relatives and begged to return to the tribe and her other children.
Quanah Parker grew to became a brilliant, feared war chief. When it was obvious that the nomadic free life of the Indian was no longer a reality, Quanah guided his people in adapting to their inevitable new way of life. He became a spokesman and even traveled to Washington, D.C. to advocate for his people.
I found Empire of the Summer Moon an enlightening source of history of both the Plains Indians and the early frontier settlers. I highly recommend this book for an honest appraisal of clashing cultures. The book is written by a master story-teller, an author who fairly presents both sides of our often violent history.
