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Empire of the Summer Moon and the Cusp of Change

Kansas Memory

For me, history depicted in Empire of the Summer Moon is among the saddest in America. Though I didn’t expect a different outcome, the story isn’t easier to accept. Author S.C. Gwynne provides ample background about the geography, sociology, and history of a cultural collision that rocked this region for decades. Even today, we deal with ripple effects Frederick Jackson Turner might attribute to his Frontier thesis, explaining these incidents made our nation what it is.

Initial chapters establish the difficulties of life beyond the 98th meridian where forested land turns to prairie unprotected from searing summer winds and blue northers that dramatically alter landscapes within minutes. Gwynne knows it’s critical for the reader to understand that in any story about the Great Plains, landscape and weather function as antagonists capable of destroying the unprepared.

Add to these natural agents of change a native horse culture that turned buffalo-rich prairies into a land of abundance it didn’t want to share. Instantly, you see elements of tragedy that compare to Shakespeare’s best work. This is Gwynne’s story of the Comanche on the southern plains of the 1800s.

Like many worthy tales, this one is complex with surprising and not-so-surprising political manipulations. To prevent competing European powers from intruding into their New World trade, Spanish authorities who couldn’t defeat these warriors instead encouraged Comanche dominion across what became West Texas. This artificial buffer delayed advancing settlement for decades.

After laying groundwork regarding topography and partisan issues, Gwynne introduces individuals who breathe life into this story. Details about the kidnapping of Rachel Plummer and Cynthia Parker and their contradictory treatments rivet readers. In highly politicized language, Gwynne shares gruesome particulars about Comanche captives and victims tortured or killed outright. It’s understandable why incoming settlers reconsidered relocation based on actions designed to discourage encroachment on tribal territory.

In retaliation against outrages, Texans formed the Rangers, a fighting force that successfully borrowed strategies from the Indians they battled. The author shares heroic and not-so-heroic incidents to humanize men Hollywood later turned into legends. He explains how rangers’ use of the Colt Walker advanced firearm technology prior to and throughout the Civil War. His no-gloss approach helps the reader see that eventual settlement was a two-step forward one-step back dance. Turner’s quote, "The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward" effectively described Texas during those years.

Gwynne counterbalances settlers’ reactions to Indian assaults with descriptions of native responses to ranger and military attacks. Warriors fought guerilla engagements against traditionally trained opponents, with the ultimate goal to drive intruders from their land and/or to protect their elderly, women, and children. Repeatedly, our author depicts Comanche warriors fighting last-ditch efforts to ensure loved ones’ safety. To some readers’ surprise, he reveals that long-time captive Cynthia Parker wasn’t relieved when Sul Ross rescued her. Instead, she unceasingly mourns her dead husband Peta Nocona and vanished sons Quanah and Peanuts. Many don’t realize that not every captive wanted to return to long-lost families.

Few living or traveling on the southern Plains haven’t heard about Cynthia’s son Quanah Parker. If you reside in western Oklahoma or West Texas, this name is as common as Custer is in Kansas. Southwestern State Oklahoma University officials titled Parker Hall after him. Quanah, Texas, was named for this memorable historical figure. Gwynne captures the intrigue surrounding this man born of a white mother and a Comanche chief in the final years of an empire. It didn’t hurt that Quanah was intelligent, brave, charismatic, and handsome. He understood rules he could break and those he couldn’t.

Once military genius Ranald Mackenzie drove this fierce Comanche chief and his people to ground in Palo Duro Canyon, Parker recognized his world had changed and adapted (as long as it suited him). He acquired the skills of a successful cattleman and looked out for his own as well as tribal interests. He had his now friend McKenzie teach him acceptable manners, enough so that Charles Goodnight commented on them after sharing a meal with Quanah. Although he never gave up his plaited hair, he dressed in professional woolen suits. Despite the many white customs he accepted, he refused to give up his multiple wives, saying he couldn’t kick any of them and their children out of their shared home. In addition, he practiced and promoted peyote religion to the end of his life. Survivors remembered him as a generous man who cared for his people.

The interwoven complexities of landscape, politics, and culture engage readers throughout Empire of the Summer Moon. For the most part, S.C. Gwynne successfully explored history that influenced American development.