*Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award* *A New York Times Notable Book* *Winner of the Texas Book Award and the Oklahoma Book Award* This New York Times bestseller and stunning historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West “is nothing short of a revelation…will leave dust and blood on your jeans” (The New York Times Book Review). 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 entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: 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. Although readers may be more familiar with the tribal names Apache and Sioux, it was in fact the legendary fighting ability of the Comanches that determined when the American West opened up. Comanche boys became adept bareback riders by age six; full Comanche braves were considered the best horsemen who ever rode. They were so masterful at war and so skillful with their arrows and lances that they stopped the northern drive of colonial Spain from Mexico and halted the French expansion westward from Louisiana. White settlers arriving in Texas from the eastern United States were surprised to find the frontier being rolled backward by Comanches incensed by the invasion of their tribal lands. The war with the Comanches lasted four decades, in effect holding up the development of the new American nation. Gwynne’s exhilarating account delivers a sweeping narrative that encompasses Spanish colonialism, the Civil War, the destruction of the buffalo herds, and the arrival of the railroads, and the amazing story of Cynthia Ann Parker and her son Quanah—a historical feast for anyone interested in how the United States came into being. Hailed by critics, S. C. Gwynne’s account of these events is meticulously researched, intellectually provocative, and, above all, thrillingly told. Empire of the Summer Moon announces him as a major new writer of American history.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, the numerous tribes of mounted Comanche warriors were the "Lords of the Southern Plains". For more than 150 years, these ferocious raiders struck terror into the hearts of other plain tribes, Mexican villagers and Anglo settlers in frontier Texas. Their dominion stretched from southern Colorado and Kansas into northern Mexico. This book documents the life and experiences of a Comanche warrior at the peak of their dominance. Following a hypothetical figure through a lifetime, it covers key social and cultural aspects as well as documenting the methods and equipment that they used to wage war.

"Engaging images accompany information about Comanche warriors. The combination of high-interest subject matter and light text is intended for students in grades 3 through 7"--Provided by publisher.

Edge super high interest, low reading level books about great warriors in history.

The Life of Ten Bears is a remarkable collection of nineteenth-century Comanche oral histories given by Francis Joseph "Joe A" Attocknie. Although various elements of Ten Bears's life (ca. 1790-1872) are widely known, including several versions of how the toddler Ten Bears survived the massacre of his family, other parts have not been as widely publicized, remaining instead in the collective memory of his descendants. Other narratives in this collection reference lesser-known family members. These narratives are about the historical episodes that Attocknie's family thought were worth remembering and add a unique perspective on Comanche society and tradition as experienced through several generations of his family. Kavanagh's introduction adds context to the personal narratives by discussing the process of transmission. These narratives serve multiple purposes for Comanche families and communities. Some autobiographical accounts, "recounting" brave deeds and war honors, function as validation of status claims, while others illustrate the giving of names; still others recall humorous situations, song-ridicules, slapstick, and tragedies. Such family oral histories quickly transcend specific people and events by restoring key voices to the larger historical narrative of the American West.

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.

A study that uncovers the lost history of the Comanches shows in detail how the Comanches built their unique empire and resisted European colonization, and why they were defeated in 1875.

Traces the life of the American Indian chief who led the Comanches in the battle and remained their leader on the reservation where he guided the people in accepting their new life.

Authoritative and immediate, this is a brilliant account of the most powerful of the American Indian tribes. T. R. Fehrenbach traces the Comanches' rise to power, from their prehistoric origins to their domination of the high plains for more than a century until their demise in the face of Anglo-American expansion. Master horseback riders who lived in teepees and hunted bison, the Comanches were stunning orators, disciplined warriors, and the finest makers of arrows. They lived by a strict legal code and worshipped within a cosmology of magic. As he portrays the Comanche lifestyle, Fehrenbach re-creates their doomed battle against European encroachment. While they destroyed the Spanish dream of colonizing North America and blocked the French advance into the Southwest, the Comanches ultimately fell before the Texas Rangers and the U. S. Army in the great raids and battles of the mid-nineteenth century. This is a classic American story, vividly and poignantly told.

Here is the oral history of the Apache warrior Chevato, who captured eleven-year-old Herman Lehmann from his Texas homestead in May 1870. Lehmann called him ?Bill Chiwat? and referred to him as both his captor and his friend. Chevato provides a Native American point of view on both the Apache and Comanche capture of children and specifics regarding the captivity of Lehmann known only to the Apache participants. Yet the capture of Lehmann was only one episode in Chevato?s life. ø Born in Mexico, Chevato was a Lipan Apache whose parents had been killed in a massacre by Mexican troops. He and his siblings fled across the Rio Grande and were taken in by the Mescalero Apaches of New Mexico. Chevato became a shaman and was responsible for introducing the Lipan form of the peyote ritual to both the Mescalero Apaches and later to the Comanches and the Kiowas. He went on to become one of the founders of the Native American Church in Oklahoma. ø The story of Chevato reveals important details regarding Lipan Apache shamanism and the origin and spread of the type of peyote rituals practiced today in the Native American community. This book also provides a rare glimpse into Lipan and Mescalero Apache life in the late nineteenth century, when the Lipans faced annihilation and the Mescaleros faced the reservation.