Cynthia Ann Parker, or Naduah (also sometimes spelled "Nadua" and "Nauta," meaning "someone found"; some research has shown that the name Naduah actually means "Keeps Warm With Us"), (ca 1827–1870) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 woman of old colonial stock of Scots-Irish

Scots-Irish American

Scotch-Irish Americans are an estimated 250,000 Presbyterian and other Protestant dissenters from the Irish province of Ulster who immigrated to North America primarily during the colonial era and their descendants. Some scholars also include the 150,000 Ulster Protestants who immigrated to...

 descent who was captured and kidnapped at the age of nine by a American Indian

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 band which massacred her family and settlement. Cynthia Ann was a member of the large Parker frontier family that settled in east Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 in the 1830s. She was captured in 1836 by Comanche

Comanche

The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...

s during the raid of Fort Parker

Fort Parker massacre

The Fort Parker massacre was an event in May 1836 in which members of the pioneer Parker family were killed in a raid by Native Americans. In this raid, a 9-year old girl, Cynthia Ann Parker, was captured and spent most of the rest of her life with the Comanche, marrying a Chief, Peta Nocona, and...

 near present-day Groesbeck, Texas

Groesbeck, Texas

Groesbeck is a city in and the county seat of Limestone County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,291 at the 2000 census. The community is named after a railroad employee.- History :...

, witnessing the brutal torture and murder of her grandfather, John Parker

John Parker (pioneer)

Elder John Parker was an American Patriot, veteran of the American War of Independence, scout and minor diplomat for the American government, famous frontier Ranger, noted Indian fighter, Texan settler, and Predestinarian Baptist minister...

 and the repeated gang rape of several of her relatives. Parker was abused, sometimes tortured, and heavily discriminated against by the pure Comanche. She was adopted as the wife of Comanche chief Peta Nocona

Peta Nocona

Peta Nocona was a chief of the Comanche band Noconi. He led his tribe during the extensive Indian Wars in Texas from the 1830s to 1860. He was the son of the Comanche chief Iron Jacket and father of chief Quanah Parker. His band Noconis, or Wanderers, or travellers were named after him...

. Cynthia became part of the Comanche band and stayed with them for 24 years. During that time she gave birth to three children before she was "rescued" at age 34, by the Texas Rangers

Texas Ranger Division

The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...

. She spent the remaining 10 years of her life trying to adjust back to civilized life as a Texan. At least once she escaped and tried to return to her Comanche family and children, but was again "rescued" and brought back to Texas. She had difficulty in understanding her iconic status to the nation, which had made her the object of Redemption

Redemption (theology)

Redemption is a concept common to several theologies. It is generally associated with the efforts of people within a faith to overcome their shortcomings and achieve the moral positions exemplified in their faith.- In Buddhism :...

 from the savages. One of her three children was Quanah Parker

Quanah Parker

Quanah Parker was a Comanche chief, a leader in the Native American Church, and the last leader of the powerful Quahadi band before they surrendered their battle of the Great Plains and went to a reservation in Indian Territory...

, the last Comanche chief.

Early life

Cynthia Ann Parker was born to Silas M. Parker and Lucy Parker in Crawford County, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

. There is considerable dispute about her age; according to the 1870 census of Anderson County

Anderson County, Texas

Anderson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population was 55,109. Its county seat is Palestine. Anderson county was organized in 1846, and is named in honor of Kenneth L. Anderson who had been Vice President of the Republic of Texas.-Geography:According to the...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, she would have been born between June 2, 1824, and May 31, 1825. When she was nine years old, her paternal grandfather John Parker was recruited to settle his family in Texas; he was to establish a fortified settlement against Comanche raids which had been devastating to the colonization of Texas and northern Mexico for generations. Upon arriving in Texas, the Parker family moved to north-central Texas and built a log fort -- which soon became known as Fort Parker -- on the headwaters of the Navasota River

Navasota River

The Navasota River is a river in east Texas, USA. It is about 125 miles long, beginning near Mount Calm and flowing south into the Brazos River at a point where Brazos County, Grimes County, and Washington County meet.-Name:...

 in what is now Limestone County

Limestone County, Texas

Limestone County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population was 22,051. Its county seat is Groesbeck.-Geography:According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water....

. Cynthia's brother James was killed on the way from Illinois to Texas when the wagon lost a wheel and he was struck through the chest with a piece of splintered wood.

Fort Parker massacre

Her grandfather, Elder John Parker

John Parker (pioneer)

Elder John Parker was an American Patriot, veteran of the American War of Independence, scout and minor diplomat for the American government, famous frontier Ranger, noted Indian fighter, Texan settler, and Predestinarian Baptist minister...

, the patriarch of the family, had long experience in negotiating with various Indian nations going back to the 18th century when he was a noted Ranger

Ranger

-Law enforcement:* Arizona Rangers* California State Rangers* Colorado Mounted Rangers* Council ranger, a type of officer in Australia* Newfoundland Rangers* New Mexico Rangers* Pakistan Rangers, a Pakistani paramilitary force* Texas Ranger Division...

, Scout

Scout

A scout is a soldier performing reconnaissance and other support duties.Scout may also refer to:-Aircraft:* Scout , pre-1920s terminology for a single-seat fighter...

, Indian fighter, and soldier of the United States. Consequently, when he negotiated treaties with the local non-Comanche Indians, it was supposed by him and higher authorities that a substantial bulwark had been created to protect the rest of Texas, and that at least the local Indians would be useful allies against the Comanche. However, this was a fatal error; the Comancheria

Comancheria

The Comancheria is the name commonly given to the region of New Mexico, west Texas and nearby areas occupied by the Comanche before the 1860s.-Geography:...

 imperium did not recognize treaties signed by subject Indian nations and had such a fearsome reputation that no subject Indians would dare help the white man

White people

White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...

. Nonetheless the Parker family, its extended kin, and surrounding families established fortified bloc houses and a central citadel -- later called Fort Parker -- for falling back to in case of attack. John Parker and the community lacked sufficient knowledge of the Comanches' military prowess, and were unprepared for the ferocity and speed of the Indian warriors in the attack which followed.

On May 19, 1836, a force of Indian warriors -- said by the Texans to be approximately 500 strong -- composed of Comanches accompanied by Kiowa

Kiowa

The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...

 and Kichai allies, attacked the community. They burned alive families in their bloc houses, killed men, women, and children caught in the open and on the roads. John Parker and his men were caught in the open. They managed to fight a rearguard action for some of the escaping women and children, but soon they too retreated into the fort. The Indians attacked the fort and quickly overpowered the outnumbered defenders. They took John Parker, his granddaughter Cynthia Ann Parker, and some others alive. Four of the captives were sufficiently young and/or female that the Comanche did not kill them. Cynthia watched as the other women were raped and eventually killed, the babies were smashed onto rocks, the adolescent boys were murdered, and the men tortured and killed. The last victim was John Parker. He was castrated and his genitals were stuffed into his mouth; he was scalped and at last killed. Cynthia Parker and five captives, after watching the horror, were led away into Comanche territory. Texans quickly mounted a rescue force. During their pursuit of the Indians one of the captives, a young teenage girl, escaped. Three of the other captives were released over the years as the typical ransom

Ransom

Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...

 was paid, but Cynthia remained with the Indians for nearly twenty-five years.

Cynthia Ann Parker and Peta Nocona

Peta Nocona was one of the chiefs present at the Fort Parker massacre

Fort Parker massacre

The Fort Parker massacre was an event in May 1836 in which members of the pioneer Parker family were killed in a raid by Native Americans. In this raid, a 9-year old girl, Cynthia Ann Parker, was captured and spent most of the rest of her life with the Comanche, marrying a Chief, Peta Nocona, and...

, and as a result of both his lineage and skill formed his own band of the Comanche called the Noconi or Nokoni. As the years wore on, Cynthia was alternately brutalized, abused, and openly discriminated against as she worked as a slave for various families. When she became a woman, she caught the attention of Peta who had become the pre-eminent chieftain in the tribe. He forcibly took Cynthia Parker as his concubine. Peta eventually elevated Cynthia Ann Parker to the status of wife. The couple had three children, famed Comanche chief Quanah Parker

Quanah Parker

Quanah Parker was a Comanche chief, a leader in the Native American Church, and the last leader of the powerful Quahadi band before they surrendered their battle of the Great Plains and went to a reservation in Indian Territory...

, another son named Peanuts ( sometimes referred to as Pecos), and a daughter named Topsannah ("Prairie Flower").

Recapture by Texas Rangers at Pease River

In December 1860, after years of searching at the behest of her surviving father and various noteworthy scouts, Texas Rangers

Texas Ranger Division

The Texas Ranger Division, commonly called the Texas Rangers, is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction in Texas, and is based in Austin, Texas...

 deep in the heart of Comancheria, led by Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross

Lawrence Sullivan Ross

Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross was the 19th Governor of Texas , a Confederate States Army general during the American Civil War, and a president of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, now called Texas A&M University.Ross was raised in the Republic of Texas, which was later annexed to...

 discovered a band of Comanche which were rumored to hold American captives. In a surprise raid, the small band of Texas Rangers surprised a force of Comanches in the Battle of Pease River

Battle of Pease River

The Battle of Pease River occurred on December 18, 1860, near the town of Margaret, Texas in Foard County, Texas, United States. The town is located between Crowell and Vernon within sight of the Medicine Mounds just outside present-day Quanah, Texas...

. It was not much of a battle as the majority of the Comanche band was not present in the camp; in the absence of most of the Comanche band's warriors the Rangers killed mostly women and children.

After limited fighting the Comanches realized they were losing and attempted to flee. Ranger Ross and several of his men pursued the man who they had seen giving orders. The chief was fleeing alongside a woman rider. As Ross and his men neared, the other woman held a child over her head; the men did not shoot, but instead surrounded and stopped her. Ross continued to follow the chief, eventually shooting him three times. Although the chief fell from his horse, he was still alive, and refused to surrender. Ross's cook, Antonio Martinez, who had been taken captive and tortured in Mexico after Nocona killed his family, identified the captured chief as Nocona. With Ross's permission, Martinez executed the wounded Comanche.

With this event there was a rush of exhilaration as the Rangers began questioning the woman fleeing with Nocona and other remaining Comanches for signs that this was Cynthia. When Ross arrived back at the campground, he discovered that the woman his men had captured had blue eyes. He assured her that no young boys had been killed in the battle, so her sons, Quanah

Quanah Parker

Quanah Parker was a Comanche chief, a leader in the Native American Church, and the last leader of the powerful Quahadi band before they surrendered their battle of the Great Plains and went to a reservation in Indian Territory...

 and Pecos were safe. At last, clutching her 2-year-old daughter, Topsanna (Anglicization: Topsannah), Cynthia in broken English identified herself and her family name. The details matched what Ross knew of the Fort Parker Massacre

Fort Parker massacre

The Fort Parker massacre was an event in May 1836 in which members of the pioneer Parker family were killed in a raid by Native Americans. In this raid, a 9-year old girl, Cynthia Ann Parker, was captured and spent most of the rest of her life with the Comanche, marrying a Chief, Peta Nocona, and...

 of 1836.

There is some dispute whether the man killed was actually Nocona or someone else. Cynthia Ann is quoted as stating that the man killed was her personal servant, a Mexican slave called José Nakoni. Cynthia Ann's granddaughter, Nelda Parker Birdsong, stated, "Out of respect to the family of General Ross, do not deny that he killed Peta Nakoni. If it is any credit to him to have killed my father, let his people continue to believe that he did so."

Upon looking at the sorry state of Cynthia's existence, and her broken English, some of the Rangers urged Ross to set her free to return to the Comanches, he considered it best to try to return her to her natural American family. Ross knew many settlers had lost children to the Indians, and many of them might feel this was their child or relative. Ross sent the woman and her child to Camp Cooper and sent a message to Colonel Isaac Parker, the uncle of a young girl kidnapped in the raid. When Parker mentioned that his niece's name was Cynthia Ann Parker, the woman slapped her chest and said "Me Cincee Ann." Isaac Parker took her to his home near Birdville, Texas.

Cynthia Ann's rescue had fixed the imagination of the nation. With tens of thousands of Texan families, and many more throughout the U.S. having suffered the loss of family members, especially children in similar manner, Cynthia Ann, especially given her provenance as the granddaughter of a nationally famous American patriot and warrior, born in Baltimore, Maryland, soldier of the wars of the West, only to meet a gruesome end on the banks of far off Texas, had special attention. With her return, there was a literal sigh of relief throughout the country as it gave hope to many and vicariously gave hope to those who had lost it. As a result, in 1861, the Texas legislature granted her a league

League (unit)

A league is a unit of length . It was long common in Europe and Latin America, but it is no longer an official unit in any nation. The league originally referred to the distance a person or a horse could walk in an hour...

 (about 4,400 acres) of land, a pension of $100 per year for the next five years, and made her cousins, Isaac Duke Parker and Benjamin F. Parker, her legal guardians.

However, as many other accounts testify throughout American history, the state of children so long held in brutal captivity among the Indians, once recovered was not often successful. Cynthia Ann never adapted well to her new life among the Americans, and although white and physically integrated into the community, was ill at ease with the structure, and most importantly at the attention given her. Her brother, Silas Jr., was appointed her guardian in 1862, and took her to his home in Van Zandt County

Van Zandt County, Texas

As of the census of 2000, there were 48,140 people, 18,195 households, and 13,664 families residing in the county. The population density was 57 people per square mile . There were 20,896 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile...

. When Silas was mustered into the Confederate

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 Army, Cynthia Ann went to live with her sister, Orlena. According to some accounts, The chief cause of Cynthia Ann's unhappiness was that she missed her sons and never knew what had happened to them.

Death

In 1864, her daughter, Prairie Flower, caught influenza

Influenza

Influenza, commonly referred to as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by RNA viruses of the family Orthomyxoviridae , that affects birds and mammals...

 and died of pneumonia

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

 causing extreme grief to Cynthia who now also had lost contact with her sons. When her favorite relative died in the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

, Cynthia never fully recovered. She became sick and died in 1870. She was buried in Foster Cemetery on An County Road 478 in Anderson County

Anderson County, Texas

Anderson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of 2000, the population was 55,109. Its county seat is Palestine. Anderson county was organized in 1846, and is named in honor of Kenneth L. Anderson who had been Vice President of the Republic of Texas.-Geography:According to the...

 near Poynor, Texas

Poynor, Texas

Poynor is a city located in Henderson County, Texas, United States. The population was 314 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Poynor is located at ....

. Her son, Quanah Parker

Quanah Parker

Quanah Parker was a Comanche chief, a leader in the Native American Church, and the last leader of the powerful Quahadi band before they surrendered their battle of the Great Plains and went to a reservation in Indian Territory...

, moved her body in 1910 to Post Oak Mission Cemetery near Cache, Oklahoma

Cache, Oklahoma

Cache is a city in Comanche County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 2,796 at the 2010 census. It is an exurb included in the Lawton, Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area...

. He was buried there in February of 1911. Cynthia and Quanah were moved in 1957 to the Fort Sill

Fort Sill

Fort Sill is a United States Army post near Lawton, Oklahoma, about 85 miles southwest of Oklahoma City.Today, Fort Sill remains the only active Army installation of all the forts on the South Plains built during the Indian Wars...

 Post Cemetery at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

Foster Cemetery Anderson County, Texas 32.03750°N 95.59720°W

Post Oak Mission Cemetery Comanche County, Oklahoma 34.62310°N 98.75970°W

Fort Sill Post Cemetery 34.669466°N 98.395341°W

Aftermath

The city of Crowell

Crowell, Texas

Crowell is a city in Foard County, Texas, United States. It serves as the county seat, and the population was 1,141 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Crowell is located at ....

, Texas, has held a Cynthia Ann Parker Festival to honor the memory of Cynthia Ann Parker. The town of Groesbeck

Groesbeck, Texas

Groesbeck is a city in and the county seat of Limestone County, Texas, United States. The population was 4,291 at the 2000 census. The community is named after a railroad employee.- History :...

, Texas, holds an annual Christmas Festival at the site of old Fort Parker every December. The original fort has been re-built on the original site to exact specifications. Several revisionist histories have grown to discuss the story in a different light. In 2010, the historian Paul H. Carlson

Paul H. Carlson

Paul Howard Carlson , an historian of Texas, the American West, and Native Americans, is a professor emeritus at Texas Tech University in Lubbock....

, professor emeritus at Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University

Texas Tech University, often referred to as Texas Tech or TTU, is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and originally known as Texas Technological College, it is the leading institution of the Texas Tech University System and has the...

, published Myth, Memory, and Massacre: The Pease River Capture of Cynthia Ann Parker.

Adaptations

The 1956 movie The Searchers

The Searchers (film)

The Searchers is a 1956 American Western film directed by John Ford, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May, and set during the Texas–Indian Wars...

, which was based on an Alan Le May

Alan Le May

Alan Brown Le May was an American novelist and screenplay writer.He is most remembered for two classic Western novels, The Searchers and The Unforgiven...

 novel, directed by John Ford

John Ford

John Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...

, and featured John Wayne

John Wayne

Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...

 as an obsessed frontiersman searching for years for his kidnapped niece, is widely believed to have been principally based on Cynthia Ann Parker's story; Natalie Wood

Natalie Wood

Natalie Wood, born Natalia Nikolaevna Zacharenko was an American film and television actress. After first working in films as a child, Wood became a successful Hollywood star as a young adult, receiving three Academy Award nominations before she was 25 years old.Wood began acting in movies at the...

 and her younger sister Lana Wood

Lana Wood

Lana Wood is an American actress and producer. She was born to Russian émigré parents, Nikolai and Maria Zakharenko, and is the younger sister of the late actress Natalie Wood. Her first major role was at age 9 in the John Wayne western The Searchers. She was a regular on the soap opera Peyton Place...

 portray the kidnapped woman at different ages.

Cynthia Parker is a one-act opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 composed by Julia Smith

Julia Smith (composer)

Julia Frances Smith, PhD , was an American composer, pianist, and author on musicology.-Life and career:...

.

The Dutch writer Arthur Japin

Arthur Japin

Arthur Valentijn Japin is a renowned Dutch novelist.-Biography:His parents were Bert Japin, a teacher and writer of detective novels, and Annie Japin-van Arnhem. After a difficult childhood - his father killed himself when Arthur was twelve years old - Japin entered the Kleinkunstacademie in...

 also wrote a book, "De Overgave" (The Surrender), about the life of the Parker family and the loss of Cynthia Ann.

The character Stands With A Fist in the 1990 movie Dances With Wolves

Dances with Wolves

Dances with Wolves is a 1990 epic western film directed by and starring Kevin Costner. It is a film adaptation of the 1988 book of the same name by Michael Blake and tells the story of a Union Army Lieutenant who travels to the American frontier to find a military post, and his dealings with a...

 is based on Cynthia Ann Parker.

"Season of Yellow Leaf" by Douglas C. Jones is the fictionalized story of Cynthia Parker's life.

"Gone the Dreams and Dancing", also by Jones, is the fictionalized story of Quanah Parker, Cynthia's son, after he surrendered at Ft. Sill Oklahoma and "walked the white man's road".

"Ride the Wind

Ride the Wind

Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson is the story of Cynthia Ann Parker's life after she was captured during the Comanche raid on her family's fort. In 1836, when she was nine years old, Cynthia was kidnapped by Comanche Indians. This is the story of how she grew up with them, mastered their...

" by Lucia St. Clair Robson, a fictionalized account of Cynthia Ann's capture and life among the Comanches.

Footnotes

1. There is some confusion about the correct birth and death dates for Cynthia Ann Parker. Different sources place her birth from 1825 to 1827 in Coles, Clark or Crawford counties of Illinois, and her death from 1864 to 1871 in Anderson County, Texas. However, her presence in the 1870 Anderson County census makes an earlier death date unlikely.
2. Writing in the Crowell Index on October 8, 1909, Tom Champion opined, "...I am convinced that the white people did more harm by keeping her away from them than the Indians did by taking her at first."

Further reading

• Selden, Jack (2006). RETURN: The Parker Story. Hardcover: 328 pages, ISBN 0-9659898-2-8
• Gwynne, S.C. (2010). "Empire of the Summer Moon". Hardcover:439 pages, ISBN 978-1-4165-9105-4

External links

• Cynthia Ann Parker - from Handbook of Texas online
• Account of the 1836 attack Parker's Fort from Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas by John Henry Brown
  John Henry Brown
  John Henry Brown was an American historian, journalist, author, military leader, and a politician who served as a state legislator and as mayor of both Dallas and Galveston, Texas. Brown was among the first to publish scholarly histories of the state of Texas and the city of Dallas...
  
   published 1880, hosted by The Portal to Texas History
• Cynthia Parker program notes
• Cynthia Ann Parker - Comanche (By Adoption)