The Last Comanche Chief: The Life and Times of Quanah Parker

Plenty has been written about the Comanche warrior leader Quanah. Many books chronical the last days of his existance as a free-living figurehead and rallying point of restistance by the natives of the Southern plains of America against the white-man's encroachment . The Last Comanche Chief covers Quanah's early life and interesting family history,takes the reader through the years of war and dignified surrender. Unlike the many accounts which are concerned mainly with his role as a warrior this book then continues to follow Quanah's life story up until his death . His assimilation into white business society resulted in financial success yet he was also able to maintain a massive degree of power and credability amongst his own people and played a part in founding the Native American Church. Quanah was more than a warrior ,businessman,land-owner,tribal judge and evangalist . A man with -in more ways than one - a foot in two different worlds he was truly worthy of the title Chief . This little book is full of gap-filling anecdotes that help humanise this most interesting of men and I really enjoyed it !

Der Autor hat es verstanden, die Mythen und Wahrheiten um Quanah Parker und seine Umgebung sachlich und reell darzustellen. Mit anderen Buechern um Quanah Parker zusammen ergibt es ein vollstaendiges Bild.

Loved the book

I recommend this book, The Last Comanche Chief: The Life and Times of Quanah Parker by Bill Neeley (Author), as a supplement, after reading, Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S. C. Gwynne (Author) The first five chapters of Neeley’s account covers the Comanche background up through the US Army battles to subdue the Comanche warriors and their Kiowa, et al., allies. This is done well, if matter-of-factly with little fanfare, ending, however, in Quanah’s decision to surrender. For Quanah, in keeping with his incredible leadership skills, that was a Night-on-Bald-Mountain experience, beautifully articulated by Neeley (it’s not documented, standing as his first poetic stretch but clearly in keeping with Quanah’s image; thus, from Charley’s PhD dissertation, “Even after the building of his house near present day Cache, Oklahoma, he had but one woman’s picture in his room and that was of his mother’s.57 Even though he practiced polygyny and held as many as seven wives at once.”): “Even before Dr. Sturm’s expedition had reached his camp near Mucha–que, the Eagle had struggled with the most momentous decision of his life. Only the natural world could provide the answer. Accordingly, Quanah rode out from camp to Cañon Blanco and climbed a large mesa. With a buffalo robe drawn over his head, he fought his greatest battle. For himself, he would rather die than surrender. But should he lead his people to their death? He despised the reservation Indians who planted crops and drew subsistence from the agency, but he thought of his mother. She had been white and had learned to live the Indian way. Perhaps he could learn the white man’s way. Down on the flat ground below the mesa, a rangy wolf turned his head toward Quanah and howled, then trotted off to the northeast, toward Fort Sill. Above him an eagle glided lazily and then whipped his wings in the direction of Fort Sill. These were signs from the Great Spirit, and Quanah obeyed.” So, Quanah and the warriors surrendered (a word, according to Gwynne, that was not in the Comanche language), and took up life on the Ft Sill reservation. For your information here is the escarpment defining the northwest Texas boundary of Comancheria, stretching from the Arkansas River near Wichita to the Rio Grande and into Northern Mexico. This is where Quanah took refuge for inspiration; it drains into the Red River and its tributaries, rising from 3000 to 5000 ft, one of the few scenic areas of the West that I have never visited. Llano Estacado NATURALATLAS.COM Llano Estacado Llano Estacado is a plain in Great Plains, TX, NM. View a map of this area

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