Search Results - Parker, Cynthia

Cynthia Ann Parker

Cynthia Ann Parker, Naduah, Narua, or Preloch (, , ; October 28, 1827 – March 1871), was a woman who had been kidnapped around age nine by a Comanche band during the Fort Parker massacre in 1836, where several of her relatives were killed. She was taken with several of her family members, including her younger brother John Richard Parker. Parker was taken into the tribe, eventually having three children with a chief. Twenty-four years later she was relocated and taken captive by Texas Rangers, aged approximately 33, and unwillingly forced to separate from her sons and conform to European-American society. Her Comanche name means "was found" or "someone found."

Thoroughly assimilated as Comanche, Parker had married Peta Nocona, a chief. They had three children together, including son Quanah Parker, who became the last free Comanche chief.

Parker was captured by the Texas Rangers on December 19, 1860, during the Battle of Pease River (also known as the "Pease River Massacre"). During this raid, the Rangers killed an estimated six to twelve people, mostly women and children. Afterwards, Parker was taken back to her extended biological family against her will. For the remaining 10 years of her life, she mourned for her Comanche family, and refused to adjust to white society. She escaped at least once but was recaptured and brought back. Unable to grasp how thoroughly she identified with the Comanche, the European-American settlers believed that she had been saved or redeemed by being returned to their society.

Heartbroken over her daughter's death from influenza and pneumonia, Parker died within seven years in 1871. Although initially buried in Anderson County, Texas, her remains were moved twice and are now in Fort Sill Cemetery in Oklahoma. Provided by Wikipedia