Quanah Parker Biographical Sketch Rangers many times valiantly and with great intelligence.
He never lost a battle to a
Although the name Comanche is well known, it is uncertain where it originated, but
the preferred name of the tribe has always been Numunuh, meaning "The People."
The horse was a key element in Comanche culture, who are thought to have been
the first of the Plains Indians to have horses. In the beginning, they were primarily a
hunter-gatherer nomadic society, but with horses, they became more daring and
aggressive and were soon considered as the best buffalo hunters on the plains. The
Comanche had a ferocious reputation, but many historians debate whether it was
earned, indicating that they were only fighting for retrieval of the land they felt was
theirs. The formidable Comanche aggressively attacked the many settlers moving
onto their buffalo hunting grounds in East Texas. Some settlers were killed, but
most often their horses and cattle were stolen.
The fierce Comanche continued to maintain their independence and even increase
their territory until new diseases, including small pox and cholera, began to take
their toll. By the 1840's, these illnesses had reduced their population to about
10,000 people.
It was into this land that Quanah, meaning "fragrant," was born about 1850. He was
the son of Comanche Chief Peta Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker, a white girl taken
captive by the Comanche during a raid on a fort in Texas. Quanah was raised with
his little brother, Peanuts, and his little sister, Prairie Flower, until the Battle of
Pease River, when he was 12. Texas Rangers surprised them as the tribe was
bringing supplies back to camp. It was more like a slaughter. The soldiers slashed
their way through the village, killing everyone in sight, even the women, and the
dogs. Quanah and his brother, hiding behind trees in the forest, watched his father
killed by two white men, who scalped him (a common practice of both sides at the
time) and split the scalp between the two of them. Then there was silence. Peanuts
and Quanah would never see their mother or sister again. Quanah’s mother had
been kidnapped back by the white Americans. She never readjusted to living with
the whites again, having been given more freedoms as a woman with the
Comanche than she ever had or did in American culture.
In Comanche culture, becoming Chief is earned. It is not given by status at birth, or
bought with money. So though his father was a Chief, Quanah had to earn it
himself. Quanah and Peanuts had been left to raise themselves from the time they
were 12 and 10 years old. Quanah grew strong and brave. He fought the Texas
white man, as he was a master horseman and brilliant military strategist.
But even Quanah Parker was no match for the ‘repeating revolver.’ He was never
captured by the Army, but decided to surrender and lead his tribe into the white
man's culture, only when he saw that there was no alternative. Quanah rode to a
mesa, where he saw a wolf come toward him, howl and trot away to the northeast.
Overhead, an eagle "glided lazily and then whipped his wings in the direction of Fort
Sill.” This was a sign, Quanah thought, and on June 2, 1875, he and his band
surrendered at Fort Sill in present-day Oklahoma. His was the last tribe in the
Staked Plains to come into the reservation system.
Quanah was traveling the "white man's road," but he did it his way. He refused to
give up polygamy, much to the reservation agents' anger. Reservation agents
wanted to destroy all indigenous culture and replace it with theirs. Quanah Parker
also used peyote, negotiated grazing rights with Texas cattlemen, and invested in a
railroad. He learned English, became a reservation judge, lobbied Congress and
pleaded the cause of the Comanche Nation. Among his friends were cattleman
Charles Goodnight and President Theodore Roosevelt. He considered himself a man
who tried to do right both to the people of his tribe and to his "pale-faced friends".
Quanah Parker died on February 23, 1911, and was buried next to his mother.
Today the Comanche Nation claims approximately 10,000 members, about half of
whom live in Oklahoma and the rest scattered throughout Texas, California, and
New Mexico. Lawton, Oklahoma is the site of the annual pow-wow, when
Comanche from across the United States gather to celebrate their heritage and
culture.
The following resources were used in creating this sketch of Quanah Parker:
Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne
Legends of America: http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-commanche.html
Famous Texans: http://www.famoustexans.com/quanahparker.htm