Of particular interest to me was the fascinating history of the Parker family, Quanah Parker and the Comanches. Also good to see significant coverage of the role Spanish Mexico played in the drama. Although praised by many in his tribe as a preserver of their culture, Quanah Parker also had Comanche critics. Some [ who?] claimed that he "sold out to the white man" by adapting and becoming a rancher. He dressed and lived in what some viewed as a more European-American than Comanche style. Critic Paul Chaat Smith called "Quanah Parker: sellout or patriot?" the "basic Comanche political question". [23] In the final chapter of the book, Gwynne writes about Quanah’s legacy: “The contrast could not be greater with his more famous neighbor, Geronimo” (p. 314). He goes on to explain that while Geronimo was not well liked by Indians on the reservation and died a drunk and a gambler, Quanah is remembered as one of the last great Indian chiefs. Do you think we will still remember Quanah one hundred years from now? What do you think his lasting legacy will be? This reading group guide for Empire of the Summer Moon includes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book. Quanah Parker did adopt some European-American ways, but he always wore his hair long and in braids. [1] He also refused to follow U.S. marriage laws and had up to eight wives at one time. [1] Family reunion [ edit ]

It's fairly balanced in it's treatment of all sides although I think Gwynne is overly kind to Texans and the Texas Rangers. Nothing good to be said of either imo. Burnett ran 10,000 cattle until the end of the lease in 1902. [6] The cattle baron had a strong feeling for Native American rights, and his respect for them was genuine. Where other cattle kings fought natives and the harsh land to build empires, Burnett learned Comanche ways, passing both the love of the land and his friendship with the natives to his family. As a sign of their regard for Burnett, the Comanches gave him a name in their own language: Mas-sa-suta, meaning "Big Boss". Quanah Parker earned the respect of US governmental leaders as he adapted to the white man's life and became a prosperous rancher in Oklahoma. His spacious, two-story Star House had a bedroom for each of his seven wives and their children. He had his own private quarters, which were rather plain. Beside his bed were photographs of his mother Cynthia Ann Parker and younger sister Topʉsana. Quanah Parker extended hospitality to many influential people, both Native American and European American. Among the latter were the Texas surveyor W. D. Twichell and the cattleman Charles Goodnight. [ citation needed] GR readers seem to be hotly divided as to whether Gwynn’s depiction of the Comanche is racist or simply tells it like it was. I fall into the latter group. That nomadic hunter gatherers were ruthless is hardly unusual. I enjoyed Gwynne’s notion of a time warp. Equating Herodotus’ view of the ancient Celts to the Anglo view of the Comanche, he sees the nineteenth century Celt (Scotch-Irish) now encountering a version of himself from centuries past. This book definitely strikes a nerve in some. These reactions may say as much about how non-native Americans view themselves and their legacy as the Comanche. The story of Quanah, which is threaded through the book, but is actually only central to the last act, was a great, honest portrait of a man worth knowing. Quanah Parker Dead. Famous Comanche Chief Once Entertalned Ambassador Bryce". New York Times. February 24, 1911 . Retrieved May 26, 2011. Quanah Parker, the famous chief of the Comanche Indian tribe, died at his home here today of pneumonia Quanah Parker's mother was a white girl who was ...Gwynne was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and grew up mainly in New Canaan, Connecticut. He majored in history at Princeton University and graduated in 1974. [4] He also has a master's degree in writing from Johns Hopkins University, where he was awarded a graduate fellowship and studied under novelist John Barth. [2] He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, the artist Katie Maratta. [2] He was also strikingly handsome: fully dark-skinned Comanche but with a classical, straight northern European nose, high cheekbones, and piercing light gray eyes that were as luminous and transparent as his mother's. He somehow looked completely Indian without looking Asiatic, and could have served as a model of how white people thought a noble savage ought to look.... Hymns of the Republic: The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War, Scribner, 2019, ISBN 9781501116223 The real problem is the author could not get out of the 19th century ethnocentric view of Indigenous Americans. I just shake my head that he still puts Native Americans in the outdated perception that the path to civilization is by turning nomadic communities into farmers, and therefore Native Americans were at the "earliest" point of this continuum.

Gwynne tells the story of the rise and fall of the Comanche by framing it around the Parkers, an early Texas family that set up a settlement in West Texas adjacent to Comanche territory. In the middle of a day in 1836, while the men were in the fields, a band of Comanche approached their homestead. At first they seemed friendly, then they began to kill and took as captives several women and children. One of the girls was Cynthia, who was nine. She witnessed the murder, rape and torture of several other family members. She would grow up among the Comanche and eventually marry one of the leading warriors. Their son (a half-bred), would be the last great warrior of the Comanche and the only Comanche to be chief over the whole tribe (the Comanche tended not to have a hierarchical structure as they lived in bands and when someone wanted to lead a “war party” he would recruit from the various bands enough warriors who would look to his leadership for that event).The 2008 miniseries Comanche Moon featured Quanah Parker as a minor character, played by Eddie Spears. Cox, Matthew Rex. "Roosevelt's Wolf Hunt". Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture – Oklahoma Historical Society. Archived from the original on October 5, 2011. Well, on May 19th, 1836, ten of the sixteen men of the Parker clan were out in the cornfields. Eight women and nine children were inside the fort, but the armored gate was left wide-open. The remaining men were unarmed. Clearly, the Parkers, despite the fact they built a fort perceived little danger. They were horribly wrong despite the fact that the Comanches were known to be raiding near-by. On the morning of the 19th a large band of Comanches rode up to the fort. Rachel Parker, age seventeen, guessed they were "friendlies" another bad mistake, common enough though since telling one Indian from another must have been a challenge. It was probably safer to pray for the best but arm yourself for the worst until you knew for certain what you were up against. But this subject is never touched upon in this book. It never puts forth an actual hypothesis. It never answers questions, but instead gives us fact after fact. And while that is useful and entertaining, especially in this case, it does little to advance our actual knowledge of the 'why's'.