Quanah & Cynthia Parker: Exhibit Booklet

The story of Quanah and Cynthia Ann Parker is one of love and hate, freedom and captivity, joy and sorrow. And it began with a typical colonial family’s quest for a better life.

Like many early American settlers, Elder John Parker, a Revolutionary War veteran and Baptist minister, constantly felt the pull to blaze the trail into the West, spreading the word of God along the way. He led his family of 13 children and their descendants to Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee before coming to Illinois, where they were among the first white settlers of what is now Coles County, arriving in c. 1824. The Parkers were influential in colonizing the region, building the first mill, forming churches and organizing government. One of Elder John’s many grandchildren was Cynthia Ann Parker, who was born c. 1827.

But the Parker family’s saga didn’t end here. Several members of the Parker clan pulled up roots again, leaving Illinois to create Fort Parker in Texas in 1833. A few years later, a band of Indians attacked the fort, killing many and kidnapping a few of the children, including Cynthia Ann, age 9. She grew up as a member of the Comanche tribe, marrying one of the chiefs and bearing three children; the oldest of these was Quanah. The Parker family, particularly her Uncle James, spent many years searching for the white captives. Cynthia Ann, however, rejected any attempts to reunite with the Parkers, wishing to remain with her Comanche family. Nevertheless, she found herself a captive again in 1860, when U.S. soldiers who attacked a Comanche camp reunited Cynthia Ann with her Parker relatives in Texas. Still, she never forgot her Indian family and wished to return to them, rejecting the Parkers’ efforts to “civilize” her.

Quanah Parker grew up as a fierce Comanche warrior and became a leader of his tribe. Like his mother, he initially refused attempts by the U.S. government to civilize his people. But later, fearing for their survival, he led his tribe peacefully onto an Oklahoma reservation, where he became influential in protecting their rights. He was well-known in Washington, D.C., and became friends with political leaders, including President Teddy Roosevelt. U.S. ocials later bestowed on him the title of the “last Comanche chief.” Quanah never forgot his mother and used his political connections to search for her. However, they were reunited only after her death and are buried together in a cemetery at Fort Sill, OK.