| |
N0KFQ > TODAY 19.05.17 14:53l 82 Lines 3906 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 33032_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - May 19
Path: IW8PGT<IR2UBX<IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<LU4ECL<N0KFQ
Sent: 170519/1249Z 33032@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.13
1836
Cynthia Ann Parker is kidnapped
During a raid, Commanche, Kiowa, and Caddo Indians in Texas
kidnap nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker and kill her family.
Adopted into the Commanche tribe, she lived a happy life until
Texas Rangers recaptured her and forced her to return to live
again among Anglo-Americans.
Silas and Lucy Parker moved their young family from Illinois to
Texas in 1832. To protect themselves against the hostile Indians
in the region, they erected a solidly constructed civilian
stockade about 40 miles east of present-day Waco that came to be
called Parker's Fort. The tall wooden stockade was reportedly
capable of holding off "a large enemy force" if properly
defended. However, when no Indian attacks materialized for many
months, the Parker family and the relatives who joined them in
the fort became careless. Frequently they left the bulletproof
gates to the fort wide open for long periods.
On this day in 1836, several hundred Commanche, Kiowa, and Caddo
Indians staged a surprise attack. During the ensuing battle, the
Indians killed five of the Parkers. In the chaos, the Indians
abducted nine-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker and four other white
women and children. The Commanche and Caddo bands later divided
women and children between them. The Commanche took Parker, and
she lived with them for the next 25 years.
Like many Plains Indian tribes, the Commanche had long engaged in
the practice of kidnapping their enemy's women and children.
Sometimes these captives were treated like slaves who provided
useful work and could be traded for valuable goods. Often,
though, captives eventually became full-fledged members of the
tribe, particularly if they were kidnapped as young children.
Such was the case with Parker.
Anglo-Texans first learned that the young girl might still be
alive four years later. A trader named Williams reported seeing
Parker with a band of Commanche near the Canadian River in
northern Texas. He tried to purchase her release but failed. The
Commanche Chief Pahauka allowed Williams to speak to the girl,
but she stared at the ground and refused to answer his questions.
After four years, Parker apparently had become accustomed to
Commanche ways and did not want to leave. In 1845, two other
white men saw Parker, who was by then 17 years old. A Commanche
warrior told them he was now her husband, and the men reported
"she is unwilling to leave" and "she would run off and hide
herself to avoid those who went to ransom her."
Clearly, Parker had come to think of herself as Commanche. By all
accounts, her husband, a rising young warrior named Peta Nocona,
treated her well, and the couple was happily married. She gave
birth to three children, two boys and a girl, and Nocona was
reportedly so pleased with her that he rejected the common
practice of taking several wives and remained monogamous.
Unfortunately, Nocona was also a warrior engaged in brutal war
with the Anglo-American invaders, and he soon attracted the wrath
of the Texas Rangers for leading several successful attacks on
whites. In December 1860, a Ranger force attacked Nocona's
village. The Rangers mortally wounded Nocona and captured Parker
and her daughter, Prairie Flower.
Returned to Anglo society against her will, Parker was taken to
her uncle's farm in Birdville, Texas, where she tried to run away
several times. However, with her husband dead and her adopted
people fighting a losing battle to survive, Parker apparently
resigned herself to an unhappy life among a people she no longer
understood. Prairie Flower, her one connection to her old life,
died of influenza and pneumonia in 1863. Depressed and lonely,
Parker struggled on for seven more years. Weakened by
self-imposed starvation, she died of influenza in 1870.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
Winlink: n0kfq@winlink.org
Using Outpost Ver 3.1.0 c41
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
