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Avery Burns's avatar

Quannah Parker used to dicker with some distant kin of mine over how much homemade soap was worth a nickel. Strange the stories that pass down generations, eh?

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Derrick Jeter's avatar

I love that kind of family history.

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Jeri Massi's avatar

Wow, what a tragic story. Poor girl. All that and before she was 20. Thank you for presenting it.

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Derrick Jeter's avatar

Indeed. Her relative Cynthia Ann was also captured in that same raid. She was nothing but a child. She grew up among the Comanche, married a chief, and gave birth to the last great Comanche leader: Quanah Parker.

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Jeri Massi's avatar

Were the Comanche kind to her? Or was she more like a concubine? Thank you for the follow up info you provided.

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Derrick Jeter's avatar

Cynthia Ann? Since she was a child, no more than eight-years-old in 1836, they basically took her into the tribe and raised her as one of their own. When she was recaptured by the Texas Rangers in 1860 she was mistaken for a Comanche, except for her blue eyes. She was returned to her family but never adapted to the white world and died in 1871.

Here's the Wikipedia page on her: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynthia_Ann_Parker

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Jeri Massi's avatar

What an incredibly sad story. There's really no glory in war. Thank you for the information!

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Avery Burns's avatar

The Comanche were hostile to almost everyone and killed more settlers than any other tribe in defense of their territory. They were never a large tribe but everybody feared them. They had, apparently, no fear. A single warrior wouldn't hesitate to attack a superior force and that alone often won him the day. The women too would fight alongside the men.

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