The vast, semi-arid grasslands of the southern Great Plains could be dominated
by hunters and warriors on horseback. In the first half of the nineteenth
century, the Comanches, often referred to as “lords of the Plains,” were the
single most powerful military force in the region, to the frustration of both
the Mexican and U.S. governments. In this engrossing chronicle, award-winning
journalist Gwynne traces the rise of the Comanche people from their roots as
primitive bands of hunter-gatherers to their mastery of the horse and emergence
as the feared power brokers of the area. At the center of the narrative is the
charismatic Quanah Parker, who skillfully navigated the gaps between his
traditional culture and the emerging, settled culture of the late-nineteenth
century.
Quanah was the son of a Comanche warrior and a woman named Cynthia Ann
Parker, who was kidnapped at the age of nine and chose to stay with the
Comanches.
