Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History*Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award* *A New York Times Notable Book* *Winner of the Texas Book Award and the Oklahoma Book Award* This New York Times bestseller and stunning historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West “is nothing short of a revelation…will leave dust and blood on your jeans” (The New York Times Book Review). Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches. Although readers may be more familiar with the tribal names Apache and Sioux, it was in fact the legendary fighting ability of the Comanches that determined when the American West opened up. Comanche boys became adept bareback riders by age six; full Comanche braves were considered the best horsemen who ever rode. They were so masterful at war and so skillful with their arrows and lances that they stopped the northern drive of colonial Spain from Mexico and halted the French expansion westward from Louisiana. White settlers arriving in Texas from the eastern United States were surprised to find the frontier being rolled backward by Comanches incensed by the invasion of their tribal lands. The war with the Comanches lasted four decades, in effect holding up the development of the new American nation. Gwynne’s exhilarating account delivers a sweeping narrative that encompasses Spanish colonialism, the Civil War, the destruction of the buffalo herds, and the arrival of the railroads, and the amazing story of Cynthia Ann Parker and her son Quanah—a historical feast for anyone interested in how the United States came into being. Hailed by critics, S. C. Gwynne’s account of these events is meticulously researched, intellectually provocative, and, above all, thrillingly told. Empire of the Summer Moon announces him as a major new writer of American history. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 12 | |
Three WORLDS IN COLLISION | 23 |
Four HIGH LONESOME | 36 |
Five THE WOLFS HOWL | 53 |
Six BLOOD AND SMOKE | 73 |
Seven DREAM VISIONS AND APOCALYPSE | 89 |
Eight WHITE SQUAW | 102 |
Fourteen UNCIVIL WARS | 207 |
Fifteen PEACE AND OTHER HORRORS | 222 |
Sixteen THE ANTICUSTER | 235 |
Seventeen MACKENZIE UNBOUND | 250 |
Eighteen THE HIDE MEN AND THE MESSIAH | 258 |
Nineteen THE RED RIVER WAR | 274 |
Twenty forwArd in dEfEAT | 288 |
Twentyone THiS wAS A mAn | 308 |
Other editions - View all
Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the ... S. C. Gwynne Limited preview - 2010 |
Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the ... S. C. Gwynne No preview available - 2010 |
Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the ... S.C. Gwynne No preview available - 2011 |
Common terms and phrases
Adobe Walls American Apaches arrows attack band battle became blood Buffalo Hump camp captives captured cattle Cavalry Charles Goodnight Cheyennes Civil Colonel Coman Comanche Barrier Comanche chief Comanche raids Comancheria Comanches and Kiowas Creek Cynthia Ann Parker Ernest Wallace expedition Fehrenbach fight fire Fort Sill fought Goodnight happened Hays herd Hoebel horses Houston hundred hunt Ibid idea Isa-tai Jack Hays James killed Kiowas knew land later lived Llano Estacado Mackenzie Mackenzie’s Mexican Mexico miles mounted moved mules never night Oklahoma Parrilla peace Penatekas Peta Nocona Plains Historical Museum Plains Indians Plummer Quahadis Quanah Parker Rachel Rachel Plummer Ranald Red River reservation riders riding rifles rode Ross San Antonio scalped scouts settlements settlers shot Sill soldiers soon Spanish Texans Texas frontier Texas Rangers thousand tipis Tonkawas took trail treaty tribes troops village wanted warriors white man’s Wichita women wounded wrote young