Comanche Warriors and Butterflies

Book excerpt: Among the most enduring tales of the Old West is the story of John Parker and his sister, Cynthia Ann Parker, who were kidnapped by the Comanche in 1836 from Texas. Raised by their captors, they later became Comanche. Cynthia married Peta Nocona, chief of the Qwahadi Band, and had several children, including Quanah Parker, chief of the Comanche. Of John Parker, though, nothing further is known with certainty. However, legends of him still ride the wind. The most often heard relates how John Parker became a great warrior and traveled to Mexico with the Comanche on their yearly raids. These raids caused horrific and widespread damage and loss of life, from the Rio Grande, south, all the way to Queretaro and Guadalajara, deep in Mexico—an incredible distance of more than a thousand miles from the Comanche homeland. Even Mexico City lay in dread of being attacked. Hundreds of thousands of horses and cattle were taken as well as numerous hostages. During one such raid, John Parker took seriously ill and was left in the Chisos Mountains, just across the border in south Texas, to recuperate, along with a young Mexican woman, who the Comanche had taken hostage. They fell in love, married, and returned to Mexico, living happily there for many years. But there’s so much more to this story that yet rides the wind.