Cynthia Ann Parker

Cynthia Ann Parker was kidnapped from her home at Fort Parker in 1836. She was only nine years old when the Comanches took her.

She spent more than twenty-five years living with her Native American captors. She was happy in her new life and adjusted to their ways.

She married Chief Peta Nocona and had three children. Cynthia Ann was so content in the Comanche way of life that she did not want to return to Fort Parker. She instead wanted to continue living the life she had known for so long.

When she was thirty-four, the Texas Rangers raided her camp, killing her husband. The Rangers took her back to her family at Fort Parker. Cynthia Ann was very unhappy and tried several times to return to her Indian home before she died.

One of her three sons, Quanah Parker (pictured) became the last war chief of his tribe. He led the resistance to keep whites from settling on Comanche land. When he knew that his people could no longer fight, Quanah Parker helped the Indians to adjust to reservation life.

A lot of people say he learned a lot about the white's way of life from his mother, which helped him to quickly and successfully adapt. Quanah Parker was a deputy sheriff, a wealthy rancher, and an influential man in politics. Theodore Roosevelt considered him a close friend.