William R. Sanford - Comanche Chief Quanah Parker

Comanche Chief Quanah Parker

As white settlers moved onto the Great Plains, trouble began. The U.S. Army was called in to force the Comanche onto reservations. Comanche Chief Quanah Parker realized his people were in danger, and led them into a war for survival.

The author tells the real story of this fearless leader, who led attacks on buffalo hunters, including the famous battle at Adobe Walls. For many years, Chief Quanah Parker eluded the U.S. Army and preserved the Comanche way of life. Later, he led his people during their years on the reservation.

About the Author

William R. Sanford is the author of numerous books for young people. He brings many years of teaching experience to the books he has created.

This book tells the true story of the Comanche chief, Quanah Parker. Many mistakenly believe that his fame rests on one battle, Adobe Walls. His true fame, however, comes from his success in two roles, those of warrior and statesman. Among white settlers, his name evoked fear. For a decade, his raids in Texas brought death and destruction. After his surrender, though, he led the Comanche in making the hard adjustment to the white mans road. During his lifetime, stories about Quanah Parker filled the press. Some were fiction, but others were true. The events described in this book all really happened.

During his years of raiding, Quanah was both feared and hated. In his later years, he was admired and liked by the whites with whom he dealt. Only one Native American chief succeeded well in both worlds. His name was Quanah Parker.

White buffalo hunters killed off the greater part of the herds on the Great Plains by the end of the 1880s.

The United States Armys top general was William Tecumseh Sherman. He believed there was only one way to end the fighting with the Native Americans. Kill all the buffalo and that would wipe out their source of food and clothing. It was the only way to bring lasting peace and allow civilization to advance. Soon, buffalo hunters were killing buffalo by the millions. Some freight trains from the West carried only buffalo skins. The hides sold for three dollars apiece.

On the southern Great Plains, white hunters were killing the buffalo in great numbers. Soon the Comanche would find none at all to hunt. Isatai was a medicine man in Quanah Parkers band of Comanche. It was his idea to wage war against the buffalo hunters. He said his magic would protect them in battle. Those white men cant shoot you, he promised. With my medicine, I will stop all their guns.... You will wipe them all out. Then the buffalo would return. The tribes could resume their old ways of life. Quanah believed in Isatais powers. In the spring of 1874, Quanah led the Comanche in a Sun Dance for the first time. This ceremony would insure their victory. Kiowas, Arapahoes, and Cheyenne came to join Quanahs group. He would lead them on a raid against the buffalo hunters.

Raiding was a way of life for the Comanche. Warfare between tribes had always given warriors a chance to prove their bravery. Now the buffalo hunters and the white settlers were the other tribes.

Quanah learned that a band of white hunters was at Adobe Walls. This trading post lay on the Canadian River in north Texas. Ten years earlier, Kit Carson had attacked the Comanche there. On June 27, 1874, Quanah led seven hundred warriors toward the hunters camp. He told them they would find the hunters asleep in the predawn dark. Meanwhile Isatai had painted himself yellow to honor the sun. He rode up to the top of a nearby hill to watch his prophecies come true.

The twenty eight hunters (and one woman) were not asleep. About two oclock that morning, a loud bang had awoken them. A ridgepole in one building had snapped. The hunters worked to fix it before the roof fell in. One hunter, Billy Dixon, spotted the horses of Quanahs men. As he watched, the warriors spread out and attacked. They gave a single long war whoop.Dixon saw that this was not a raid to steal horses. The warriors were heading straight for the camp. Quickly the hunters barred the doors of the three buildings they occupied.

Quanah Parker led the Comanche people for many decades.

Isatai had promised the warriors that they could kill the sleeping whites with clubs. Quanah led his warriors right up to the buildings. The attackers tried to smash their way in with gun butts and clubs. Quanah climbed atop one building. He tried to punch holes in the sod roof and set the building ablaze. Fire from the hunters heavy rifles drove him off. The warriors retreated, then charged again. Each time the hunters drove them back. A bullet killed Quanahs horse. As Quanah hit the ground, a bullet creased his shoulder. A mounted rider dashed up to his rescue.

The attacks lasted until noon. Then Quanah called his men back. Fifteen warriors lay dead. Many more had wounds. Isatai made an excuse. He said the attack failed because someone in the party had broken a taboo. Quanah knew better. One Comanche summed it up, The buffalo hunters... had telescopes on their guns. Sometimes we would be standing way off, resting and hardly thinking of the fight. They would kill our horses. One shot became famous. Billy Dixon killed a rider with a single shot. Later he measured the distance. It was 4,614 feet.

After Quanah broke off the attack, he led his force back onto the Staked Plains. That summer, Comanche raiders attacked from Texas to Colorado.

Cynthia Ann Parker, the daughter of white settlers, was the mother of Quanah Parker. She was known as Naduah.

In 1834, the Parker family moved to Texas from Illinois. They settled on the bottomlands of the Brazos River. There they built a log stockade. Other frontier families joined them. These thirty or so pioneers made up the westernmost white settlement in Texas.

On May 19, 1836, many of the men had left Parkers fort to work in the fields. Without warning, a hundred mounted warriors appeared outside the wall. Most of them were Comanche. One waved a soiled white flag. John Parker, leader of the settlers, sent his son Benjamin to talk with them. The band asked for beef to eat. When Benjamin refused, they killed him with lances. The horsemen dashed into the fort. They killed the adults, but Lucy Parker and her four small children slipped away. They headed for the river. Warriors briefly captured all five, but a man from the fort attacked the warriors. He forced the warriors to drop Lucy and two of the children. The warriors rode off with Cynthia Ann Parker, aged nine, and John Parker, aged six.

The war party rode their horses hard until midnight. At last, they stopped to make camp. Then they held a victory dance. The raid had been a triumph. No one had been killed or wounded. The captives were proof of their success. At dawn the dance broke up. The Comanche took the Parker children west. Cynthia and John survived the shock of capture. The Comanche adopted them into the tribe. Soon the children spoke the language and dressed like other Comanche.