Heard about this book on N.P.R.- Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne. It is a non-fiction story about Quanah Parker, the last chief of the Comanche Indians, "the most powerful Indian tribe in American history." Quanah was half-white, half-Comanche and one of the most blood-thirsty warriors in tribal history. The Comanche were very war-like, often torturing victims by placing hot coals on their victim's stomachs before scalping them. Quanah's mother's family were Scotts/Irish settlers who moved from the eastern U.S. to Texas where their little nine year old daughter, Cynthia Ann Parker, was kidnapped from their home by the Comanche. She was forced into slavery and eventually was accepted as a tribal member, even married the Chief. Years later, when she was in her thirties, she was kidnapped back from the Indians by the whites. Most of the tribe was massacred in the assault and she was almost shot as she ran holding her baby daughter, Prairie Flower, but the soldiers saw she had blue eyes, and they realized she was a kidnapped settler. Poor Cynthia Ann never could readjust to life among the whites, the few remaining years of of her life were spent trying to escape back to the prairie, back to the
Comanche and her son Quanah, until Prarie Flower died from influenza and Cynthia Ann starved herself until she died,in captivity, at a distant relatives home. This is some of what the author said in the interview, but there's much more to the story. I'm reading back and forth between One Dark Blot and this novel right now.
Comanche and her son Quanah, until Prarie Flower died from influenza and Cynthia Ann starved herself until she died,in captivity, at a distant relatives home. This is some of what the author said in the interview, but there's much more to the story. I'm reading back and forth between One Dark Blot and this novel right now.
