Book Reviews Gwynne, SC Empire
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Book Reviews Gwynne, S. C. Empire of the Summer Moon: populations; (2) the 1860s through 1870s, the Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the period of the Comanche wars throughout Texas Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe and northern Mexico; and (3) the 1880s through in American History. New York: Scribner, the 1910s, the post-treaty period during which 2010. 9781416591054 (hardback); viii, 371 the Comanche adjusted to reservation life in pages, [8] p. of plates; ill., map, $$27.50. Oklahoma. In representing Comanche responses and n 1836, the Comanche raided the Texas strategies, Gwynne faces the challenge of homestead of the Parker family, a clan working with the existing materials which often of white settlers who had established limits his ability to reconstruct the specifics of I historical incidents and Comanche experiences. themselves in territory just east of present- day Dallas. Reflecting their fierce and brutal Yet, through his narrative, he manages to give reputation, the Comanche warriors murdered the reader a sense of the uncertainties and most of the men, raped the women, and carried foreboding faced by the Comanche in the early off two women and three children as captives. period as they struggled to make sense of diseases Nine year old Cynthia Ann Parker was adopted that ravaged their people, onslaughts faced from by the Penatekas, one of the southern Comanche Texas settlers and military, and the devastating groups renowned for their fierce raids. By the slaughter of the buffalo. Placing the Comanche late 1840s, now a married woman within the within this historic context, Gwynne explains tribe, Cynthia Ann gave birth to a son, Quanah, their adoption of the horse, development of half-white, half Comanche, who would become military guerrilla strategy, and reputed brutality one of the most formidable Comanche foes of and thuggishness as their cultural adaption and the Texan settlers. tribal capacity to develop into a warlike group In this historical narrative, S. G. Gwynne of bands who successfully resisted military presents a rich cultural history of frontier and settle expansion in Texas for many years. expansion in Texas from the 1850s-1880s through Following the Civil War, Gwynne then describes the lens of the life of Quanah Parker, the last and Quanah’s political emergence, from a relatively greatest chief of the Comanches. Drawing on unknown half-breed who lacked the political historical material from other published sources and social status of established tribal leaders and documentary material, Gwynne attempts to to become the most feared Comanche warlord capture the culture, perspectives, and struggles throughout Texas. Gwynne’s vivid writing places of the Comanche, and their leader, Quanah, the reader within the context of the battles and as they responded to the territorial expansion night forays against the U. S. military, marveling by white Texans. Gwynne’s rich and detailed at the guerrilla tactics adopted by the Comanche. cultural history generally covers three major He details the begrudging respect of some U. periods in Quanah Parker’s life, marked by the S. military as they recognized Quanah’s military successive subjugation of the Comanche: (1) strategies and tactics. Yet, at the same time the 1830s and 1840s, during which disease and that the reader admires the sheer audacity of settler encroachment disrupted the stability of Comanche attacks, all readers of Gwynne’s Comanche tribes and devastated indigenous text will share a sense of foreboding, knowing 41 Southern New Mexico Historical Reiew - 2013 the end of this story. Gwynne relates the final Gwynne portrays a brilliant political strategist, slaughter of thirty-nine million buffalo between a man who struggled to defend his people, and, 1868 and 1881 by the buffalo hunters, the final at the same time, a pragmatist who weathered blow that would devastate the Comanche as major disruptions in his people’s lifeways, always hunters and warriors. On June 2, 1875, Quanah trying to make the best of a difficult situation. and four hundred and seven Comanche, from In the end, Gwynne compares Quanah with the Quahadis band, surrendered at Fort Sill, another famous Indian leader, Geronimo. Oklahoma, the “only band of any tribe in North Unlike Quanah, Geronimo finished his days in America that had never signed a treaty with the Fort Sill in quiet seclusion, isolated and alone. white man” (Gwynne 2010:289). In contrast, Quanah was always active, busily In this third and final period of Quanah promoting Quanah route Day at the Texas State Parker’s epic journey, Gwynne details Quanah’s Fair, advocating for the Quanah, Acme, and political acuity in transforming himself from Pacific Railroad, which ran through the town of a warlord into political leader on the Fort Quanah, Texas. In 1911, when Quanah died of Sill reservation. Instead of resigning himself rheumatism-induced heart failure, thousands of to reservation life, Quanah initially used his mourners arrived on horseback and in wagons friendship with army commander Ranald Slidell to honor him at his home. In this vivid story, Mackenzie to secure benefits for himself and Gwynne portrays a man who lived through his people. He developed into a prosperous extreme and brutal hardships, yet a leader who cattleman, overseeing the leasing of reservation always looked forward, seeking opportunities in land and amassing a large cattle herd. If Quanah the face of adversity. could not beat the white man on the plains of Texas, he never quit learning how to resist, how to M. Lois Stanford feint, and how to defend his interests strategically. Associate Professor of Anthropology Following the Dawes Act of 1887, when the New Mexico State University Jerome Commission moved to privatize common lands on the Fort Sill Reservation, Quanah Parker Sweeney, Edwin R. From Cochise to fought the white man at each step, now with Geronimo: The Chiricahua Apaches, 1874- lobbying, investigations of allotments received 1886. Norman: University of Oklahoma by other Indian tribes, and direct questioning of Press, 2010. 9780806141503 (hardcover). viii, commission officials. In 1905 Quanah invited 706 pages: ill., maps; bibliography, index. his new friend, President Teddy Roosevelt to $39.95 participate in a wolf hunt on the reservation and to stay with him at Star Home, Quanah’s house. am writing this book review, not because Ed Sweeney Following his established reputation, Quanah is one of my best friends, but because he has written, by far, the best overall book on the Apache Wars. I used the President’s visit as an opportunity to I like to tell my friends that I have known Ed since 10 B. lobby Roosevelt on Indian issues, arguing for C. (Before Cochise, his first major work) so that would the retention of Indian lands and discussing date his scholarly interest in Apache studies at several unemployment problems. decades. Ed and I were in our early twenties and now we In this cultural history of Quanah Parker, are both grandfathers. In gathering this information, Ed spent much time at the National Archives in Washington, Click for Table of Contents 42 Book Review D. C., and almost every repository throughout the United their battlefield tactics. Much of the information was States containing information on the Apaches. He also gleaned through secondary and primary sources like the took many trips into Mexico to take pictures and to National Archives and other useful depositories scattered gather records that he translated in order to extract the throughout the country. Dr. Watt has immersed himself valuable information within. in the subject and has visited Apache sites that even the Admiring his interest in their people, the Apaches at most avid historians will never see. Mescalero embraced Ed’s efforts and he now has many After he sets the background for his book, Dr. Watt friends among them and has been privileged to attend presents a chronology from 1821 through 1886. He then interesting ceremonies that have helped him understand gives a brief description of Apache culture and their “The People” better. Ed has also walked the ground environment. This is followed by the main part of the where many important events took place. Most are not book consisting of his well-illustrated versions of the easy to find, but his persistence has paid off and has led tactics employed by the Apaches in various encounters. to several important discoveries. Much of what he describes would have been very difficult From Cochise to Geronimo covers the period after to elucidate had he not used military reports and visited Cochise’s death in 1874 to Geronimo’s final surrender the sites. The author, naturally, uses many Victorio War in 1886 in more detail than any other work to date. Ed encounters because, after all, the Warm Springs Apache has been able to fill in much of the void in all previous chief was a superb guerilla fighter and is the subject of treatments on the Apache wars, but this is not to take another of his books in progress. anything away from the great historian, Dan Thrapp, The penultimate chapter, “Other Aspects of the a person deeply admired by Ed. Through his Mexican War,” covers additional tactics related items such as archives efforts and intense study of the Morris Opler horses, mules, weapons and other things that could be Papers, Ed has been able to fill in details that Dan turned to advantage. The final chapter, “The Failure correctly suspected. Dan was one of Ed’s mentors and of Apache Resistance,” summarizes the failure of the would have applauded his achievements. resistance due to the use of other Apaches who were Ed has not only brought out new information on willing to betray their own as well as their lack of the principals, but also much on many on the periphery, numbers and logistics that could no longer stem the tide such as Jelikine, bonito, Chatto, and Zele, all of whom of civilization.