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Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History Review

This book shows why real history can be far more interesting than fiction.

The book describes the kidnapping of Cynthia Parker from the Fort Worth area and how she is raised by the Indians, has several children, and wants to stay Indian even after she is rescued. Explains how this theme was the basis for the John Wayne movie The Searchers.

Although I lived in western Oklahoma for 4 years, I never knew how Palo Duro canyon was a base of Comanche Indian operations, but the authors description of the land, its cold winters, harsh summers, and shortage of water paints a good picture explaining why it was so hard for settlers to penetrate this area in the face of mounted horse Indians, especially before the settlers had Spencer rifles and Colt revolvers.

The book describes a lot about the history of the Texas Rangers and how they were the first group to use the Colt revolvers. And it was eye opening to read just how savage the Comanche raiding parties could be (scalping, torturing, treatment of captives, etc). Makes you wonder why anyone would have wanted to take the risk of living on the frontier in those times because the Comanche raids sound like sheer terrorism on the fronter.

This is an awesome book and it prompted me to start another called "Captured" that describes the story of a number of German kids kidnapped from the Fredericksburg, Texas area. Like Cynthia Parker,after many of these kids were rescued, they have forgotten English, wanted to stay Indian, and had difficulty readjusting to life in white society.

In some places the book seemed a bit repetitive as some of these raids started to blur together, but reading about Indian military tactics was interesting.

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History Feature

ISBN13: 9781416591054
Condition: New
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Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History Overview

In the tradition of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a stunningly vivid historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West, centering on Quanah, the greatest Comanche chief of them all.

S. C. Gwynne’s Empire of the Summer Moonspans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches.

Although readers may be more familiar with the tribal names Apache and Sioux, it was in fact the legendary fighting ability of the Comanches that determined just how and when the American West opened up. Comanche boys became adept bareback riders by age six; full Comanche braves were considered the best horsemen who ever rode. They were so masterful at war and so skillful with their arrows and lances that they stopped the northern drive of colonial Spain from Mexico and halted the French expansion westward from Louisiana. White settlers arriving in Texas from the eastern United States were surprised to find the frontier being rolled backward by Comanches incensed by the invasion of their tribal lands. So effective were the Comanches that they forced the creation of the Texas Rangers and account for the advent of the new weapon specifically designed to fight them: the six-gun.

The war with the Comanches lasted four decades, in effect holding up the development of the new American nation. Gwynne’s exhilarating account delivers a sweeping narrative that encompasses Spanish colonialism, the Civil War, the destruction of the buffalo herds, and the arrival of the railroads—a historical feast for anyone interested in how the United States came into being.

Against this backdrop Gwynne presents the compelling drama of Cynthia Ann Parker, a lovely nine-year-old girl with cornflower-blue eyes who was kidnapped by Comanches from the far Texas frontier in 1836. She grew to love her captors and became infamous as the "White Squaw" who refused to return until her tragic capture by Texas Rangers in 1860. More famous still was her son Quanah, a warrior who was never defeated and whose guerrilla wars in the Texas Panhandle made him a legend.

S. C. Gwynne’s account of these events is meticulously researched, intellectually provocative, and, above all, thrillingly told. Empire of the Summer Moon announces him as a major new writer of American history.

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Customer Reviews

Great Story - Billy L. Smith -
I enjoyed this book very much because I like to read stories about the history of our country. The history of the Indians sometimes gets a little "gory" on both sides but it was a good read.

Amazing Historical Information - K. Guinn - Pittsburgh, PA USA
I do like history and this book does not disappoint. Historical facts are put in a cultural context that includes the ethnography of Indian tribes on the North American continent, with comparison to the history of the cultural development of the European continent. Interspersed are colorful stories about individuals. Some of the descriptions of torture are a little graphic. The book also provides interesting facts about the settlement of the American West and Plains, including what those areas would have looked like when encountered by the first settlers. I listened to the audiobook and would have preferred the reader to be less sing-songy in his reading, but otherwise it is well done.

The Human Condition - John R. Rawley -
Empire of the Morning Moon, a historical documentary, will give the reader an insight into the human condition seldom matched in other works. The story delves into the hardships, achievements, failings and even the personalities of cultures and civilizations, as well as individuals, and the mutual effects thereof, in a unique manner. The writer takes no sides. Parallels to all aspects of everyday life, in any era, are profound. A fascinating book; don't miss it.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Aug 23, 2010 07:26:01

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Monday, August 23, 2010