Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History

The Comanches quickly learned how degrading life on the reservation could be. They were treated like small children, having to get everything they needed handed to them by the US government. They could no longer hunt and care for themselves. To make things worse, they rarely received what they needed. Quanah Parker, however, preached patience and worked hard to better the circumstances of his people. He became a firm believer in the importance of his people adopting American ways and integrating as an alternative to subjugation on the reservations.

Quanah wanted to be a leader. He made no qualms about that and even earned the ire of some of the other Comanche chiefs. He was friendly with the Indigenous agents. He became friends with Mackenzie and Charles Goodnight, a former Texas Ranger. Quanah learned English and American culture, the latter most especially from Mackenzie.

In 1877, a small band of Comanches left the reservation. The US authorities asked Quanah to bring them back. It is a testament to not only how much Quanah had changed, fully surrendering his hatred and adopting white ways, but also how much other Comanches respected him. He was able to bring all of those who had left back to the reservation without much of a struggle. Afterward, Quanah’s power and influence continued to rise.

In 1880, Quanah was able to convince the authorities to allow his people to go on a buffalo hunt, for old time’s sake. When they reached the plains and their old lands, the Comanches were not able to find a single buffalo. They were shocked. Goodnight owned all the land now and was raising cattle. The Comanches killed his cattle since they couldn’t hunt buffalo. Goodnight rode out to them. Quanah parlayed with Goodnight, and the men made a deal. The Indigenous people would behave themselves, and Goodnight would help supply them until they could find some buffalo. They never found one and returned later to Fort Sill empty-handed.

Quanah himself went into the cattle business, seeing it as a good way to help supply his people with what they needed. Ranchers around the reservation allowed their cattle to graze on reservation lands, which was illegal. Quanah, however, made a deal with the ranchers, legally, with government allowance, to tax the ranchers according to each head of cattle. Those who didn’t comply lost their cattle when the Indigenous people took them or drove them away. 

In 1884, Quanah sat as a judge on the Court of Indian Affairs. His influence helped quell the spread of the Ghost Dance cult among the Comanche, which later led to the massacre at Wounded Knee among the Lakota. In 1890, Quanah received allowance to build a large, ranch-style home on the reservation. It became known as Star House and still stands. His house served as a symbol of his influence and his gratuity. He used his largess to help members of his tribe. By 1890, Quanah’s official title became Principal Chief of the Comanches.

Mackenzie did not prosper in life the way Quanah did. Mackenzie was sent to clean up Custer’s debacle and succeeded where his rival had failed. However, the many wounds he suffered in battle began to catch up to him. He began to have problems with his sanity and mental acuity. On December 29, 1882, Mackenzie was checked into an asylum in New York. He died January 18, 1889, at the age of 48.

In 1889, the US government tried to expand on the Dawes Act of 1887, an underhanded way to get Indigenous lands cheaply. Quanah, however, was shrewd and fought to make sure his people were not swindled: “[Quanah] was unlike any of the other Indian leaders, who tended to be long-winded, delivering rambling, occasionally poetic complaints that did not address significant issues” (309). However, the Dawes Act was already law, and eventually Quanah and others had to sign the Jerome Act, which became law in 1900 and forced the Comanches to sell off much of their land for $2 million; “[thus] began the Comanches’ new lives as owners of property, something they had never wanted and had never really understood” (310). Quanah lost much of his personal wealth in the deal and would never be as wealthy as he had been before. Over the years, he became fascinated with the technological advances of the late 19th- and early 20th centuries. He owned one of the first telephones and purchased a car.

Quanah fostered a friendship with President Teddy Roosevelt. He continued to be a leader among his people and fight for their rights. Quanah was a devotee of the Peyote cult and defended its practice among the Comanches. He said once, in its defense, “The white man goes into his church and talks about Jesus, but the Indian goes into his tipi and talks to Jesus” (314).

Quanah never forgot his mother, and he was eventually reconciled with her side of the family. He had her bones reinterred at the Post Oak Mission on December 10, 1910. He died later that year and was buried next to her. A short poem was inscribed onto his headstone: “Resting here until day breaks / And shadows fall / And darkness disappears / Is Quanah Parker, the last chief of the Comanches” (319).