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

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Not only did Quanah pass within the span of a single lifetime from a Stone Age warrior to a statesman in the age of the Industrial Revolution, but he never lost a battle to the white man and he also accepted the challenge and responsibility of leading the whole Comanche tribe on the difficult road toward their new existence. Does this moral dichotomy even need to be reconciled, or is it wrong to apply modern standards of ethics to the Comanche?

At the settlement [of Adobe Walls] they crowded around the buildings, firing their carbines at windows and doors. Hays soon realized that the only way to fight the Comanche was to fight like them, mounted and able to fire their weapons while riding.

He recognized the futility of attempting to continue the old way of Comanche life, especially as the buffalo herds were no longer large enough to sustain them in the plains and their numbers had so diminished due to war and disease that further resistance would mean the obliteration of the Comanche people. Comanche boys became adept bareback riders by age six; full Comanche braves were considered the best horsemen who ever rode. In the face of the ever inevitable destruction of their tribe, Quanah wreaked havoc on the settlers in the Texas Panhandle, a last and legendary resistance of the Comanche before they're wiped out. S. Army and other heavily armed enemies, who finally broke the Quahadi resistance after removing other Comanche bands to reservations and reducing their number to no more than 2,000. I leave you and this way too long review with this actual historic description of the young war chief in battle.

The Quanah Parker Trail, a public art project begun in 2010 by the Texas Plains Trail Region, commemorates sites of Comanche history in the Plains and Panhandle of Texas, the central region of Comancheria.Parker’s tough leadership eventually proved no match for the combined weight of Texas Rangers, the U. Gwynne considers Parker alongside Geronimo, the better-known Apache leader, and finds the latter wanting in the comparison. The buffalo were the Comanche's primary food source, while their hides were treated and used to provide shields, blankets and clothing. LIke most Plains Indians the Quahadis were nomadic and led by a fierce and brilliant young Chief named Quanah.