They introduce the conflicts between Native American Tribes and the United States as if they could be understood in isolation of any other event or time period.

We tend to think that the Texans and Mexicans would have had an advantage with their gun powder weapons over the Comanches with their bows and arrows. Prior to the advent of repeating rifles, post-Civil War this simply was not true. As a historian, I will rarely give a general or popular history more than 3 stars. Much the same way I will never say 'an historian'. And no matter the amount of research that goes into popular history, it hardly ever seems to merit so much praise. And that is because it answers no questions, asks no new questions, puts forth none of its own theories, and has no one singular hypothesis. This book, although a fantastic, sweeping history of the Comanche, it is not a work to be discussed as academic history. Carlson, Paul H. and Crum, Tom (2012). Myth, Memory and Massacre: The Pease River Capture of Cynthia Ann Parker. Texas Tech University Press. ISBN 978-0896727465. OCLC 793384221 As a native Texan who grew up in the former Comancheria, and whose family (both white and native) has deep roots there, I've always been fascinated by the blood-feud between Texans and Comanches. I was once an editor for Ted Fehrenbach, and admire his classic on the Comanches, and found this to be an excellent, well-told companion piece. Ironically Comanches were the proximate cause of Texas developing into the home of its most implacable foes, as Spain desperately recruited Anglo Americans to stand as a buffer between New Spain and the Indian Nation that was its most dangerous foe. And there was irony on the other side, too, Spain lost its territory (and much more besides) to the "human buffer" that had been thrown to the Comanche lances. Though Gwynne uses the term loosely, the Comanches were an “empire” in the very literal sense of the word. They came from the Wind River region in present-day Wyoming, and slowly migrated toward the south. For a long time, they were at the mercy of other tribes, until, in an ultimately bitter irony, the Spaniards – and their horses – arrived on the scene. Brilliantly adapting the horse to their lifestyle, the Comanches grew into a potent martial and political force. They nearly annihilated certain tribes – such as the Apache and the Tonkawa – made treaties with other tribes, and consolidated their holdings into a roughly delineated land known as Comancheria, which comprised portions of present-day Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Kansas.The Parker family story was the inspiration for Allen Lemay's western masterpiece "The Searchers," subsequently filmed by John Ford in 1956, starring John Wayne and Natalie Wood. Although both book and movie were highly acclaimed, the story told there comes nowhere close to the dramatic truth of the history of the Parker family.

My reading this year has brought about a new wave of interest of mine - the Wild West. From reading wonderful books such as The Sisters Brothers and Blood Meridian, I moved on to Butcher's Crossing, to True Grit which led me to reading The Son by Philipp Meyer. The Son included this fascinating band of Native Americans which has since led me onto a complete discovery of this period of history. It was only a matter of time until I began to read non-fiction on this area once it captured my imagination. From watching a podcast by Joe Rogan and his guest S.C Gwynne I knew I had to read this, and Empire of the Summer Moon really was the phenomenal read that I expected.

Once Quanah committed to his fate of defeat, he blossomed into a properly civilized leader for his tribe and successful partner with the white victors. He wangled ways of beating the corrupt federal administration of the reservation at their own game, such as in lucrative income from grazing rights. He build a mansion in the Wichita Mountains to house his large family of eventually nine wives and many children. Though not a very spiritually inclined tribe, he became one of the founders of the Native American Church and the use of peyote in their sacrament and vision quests. Gwynne's work is a complex story of a lesser known era in American history. It is a story worth knowing. Gwynne tells it well. I would encourage anyone interested in expansion of the American frontier to read it. One not fully familiar with Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico geography would be well served to have maps readily available to appreciate the range of the Comanche travels and the speed in which they achieved it.

The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the sphere of suffering shared, and in this case extended to the death march itself, there is no spiritual or emotional legacy here to offset any reader reluctance. After moving to the reservation, Quanah Parker got in touch with his white relatives from his mother's family. He stayed for a few weeks with them, where he studied English and Western culture, and learned white farming techniques. 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 is 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. Tiger of the Week: Author S.C. Gwynne '74". Princeton Alumni Weekly. November 12, 2014 . Retrieved July 27, 2017.

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History ~~ S.C. Gwynne Gwynne's writing style is just annoying, filled with "What happened next was one of the greatest/worst/most...." or "No one knows why...." This isn't a story being told around a cowboy campfire. Give me some facts and let me decide, thank you very much.

One of the things I look for in a series like that is how historical is it. Since much of the series dealt with the Texas Rangers, pre-Civil War, and their interactions with the Comanches (and Mexican bandits) I have to admit that I knew little. The Comanches did not farm, clear timber or settle down for more than a month at a time. They followed the buffalo, whose slaughter played a key role in their cultural demise. In reality, most of 1800's America (at least the America east of the Mississippi) thought that the problems between white settlers and Indians were the fault of the white settlers. Most US citizens and almost all of Congress believed the answer to stopping the violence was to leave the Indians alone and stop bothering them. Horses - The story of how the plains Indians ended up with the horse - "The Great Horse Dispersal" - was great, as was the story of how those horses changed the Comanches' way of life. Empire of the Summer Moon is, in other words, a marvelous combination of many genres. It is a captivity narrative, a multi-person biography, and a military history. Gwynne does all these things extremely well. He is a really good writer. This is one of those rare history books where the prose is actually worth mentioning, at least in a positive sense. The descriptions of battle leave you with the stink of gunpowder in your nose. There are certain points when Gwynne uses his prose in combination with his insights into the participants – especially the mirror-twinned lives of Cynthia Ann and Quanah, who were both forced to leave their settled existences and live in spheres not of their choosing – that Empire of the Summer Moon reaches extremely rare heights. At its best, this book is among the best.Quanah Parker Trail, a small residential street on the northeast side of Norman, Oklahoma. [ citation needed] Every now and then one runs across an historical non-fiction book that is breathtakingly enlightening. Memorials and honors [ edit ] The Quanah Parker Inn is located on U.S. Highway 287 at the west end of Quanah, Texas