Chief Quanah Parker
~ Nermernuh Tseeta ~
~ Comanche ~
~ 1850 - 1911 ~
The Legend Continues

Quanah was the son of Peta Nacona and Cynthia Ann Parker. Peta Nacona was a chief in the Naconis division. After the Pease River massacre Quanah Parker was renamed Tseeta, Eagle, by his father. Quanah was born circa 1850. Cynthia Ann Parker was captured on December 17, 1860 and returned to her white family, along with her 18 month old daughter, Prairie Flower. A few years later Peta Naconi died of an infected wound. Quanah's brother Pecos died of smallpox in 1863 and a few months later Prairie Flower died of influenza. Cynthia Ann starved herself to death mourning the loss of her two youngest children. Quanah was now an orphan, one of his father's other wives took him in, but she too later died. Quanah was an outcast in his tribe being part white, a fact he did not know until after his mother had been returned to her white family. After his step-mother's death Quanah had to forage and fend for himself. He worked harder at being a proper Comanche warrior then most of the other boys. He excelled at hunting but still could not break the barrier of his mixed blood.

The Chieftainship is not hereditary, one must earn the right to be called chief. There are two qualifications. First, one must have an outstanding war record. Second, the candidate must show concern for his followers. Quanah excelled as a warrior but as a youth he did not prove to be always so generous with his followers. He did keep the best horses and lions share of the stolen booty for himself. He did provide well for his followers on the reservation in later years. Providing for his followers and the guests that came to visit, sometimes unannounced, necessitated Quanah to seek loans in the last years of his life.

Quanah fell in love with Weakeah but her father, Ekitaocup, forbid their marriage. The young couple eloped and spent several years out on the plains with a growing tribe which Quanah was the leader of. He was gaining a reputation as a fierce warrior and capable leader. Eventually Weakeah's father accepted the marriage and they were able to return to the Comanche Nation. Years later Ekitaocup accompanied Quanah to Fort Worth where he died in an accident. This accident almost killed Quanah too. It also almost ended his career.

Quanah joined raiding parties in his father's old band and in his father-in-law's band. During one raid the leader, Bear's Ear, was killed. Usually after the leader was killed the raiders would become disoriented and cease the raid or scatter and loose their booty. Bear's Ear was killed after the raid while they were being pursued. The raiding party had reached the Red River. They had planned to cross the Red River farther west but with the death of Bear's Ear confusion ruled. Quanah shouted to the men to head north to the river where they crossed the river to safety. His actions saved the remainder of the raiding party and their stolen horses. This lead to his being accepted as a true leader. It gained him the right to speak openly in tribal council, something only the most noteworthy obtained.

A young medicine man named Eschiti led an attack on Adobe Walls, a trading post for buffalo hunters, in 1864. This attack was a miserable failure. Eschiti had told the warriors he had medicine to protect them from bullets. Eschiti's medicine proved false and several warriors were wounded. Quanah was among the wounded. Quanah was wounded while rescuing a fallen comrade, Howeah. Howeah later was recommended to replace Quanah as Chief of the Comanches by Quanah's opposition.

Quanah continued to lead and join raiding parties even after the signing of the Treaty of Medicine Lodge in 1867. In 1874, Colonel R. S. Mackenzie found Quanah's hidden encampment at Palo Duro Canyon. Leading a charge that scattered the tribes horses, and people, Mackenzie succeeded in breaking many of the Comanches under the command of Quanah. It was another year before Quanah gave up. The pressures on the People became to much and in 1875 Quanah lead his tribe in for a meeting with Dr. Jacob J. Sturm. Dr. Sturm was sent by Lieutenant Colonel J. W. Davidson to try and bring in Quanah before General Ranald Slidell Mackenzie took over at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Quanah was singled out by Sturm in his journal as "a young man of much influence with his people....who also urged compliance with the colonel's order".

According to oral tradition, Quanah was unsure of taking his tribe to the reservation. He climbed a mesa at Cañon Blanco to meditate. Quanah was meditating on his mother's life. She had been captured as a child and adapted to the Comanche way of life. She later was recaptured by the whites and taken back to her family. While sitting at the top he noticed a wolf below him. The wolf looked up at him, howled and then turned northeastward towards Fort Sill. Quanah then looked up to see an eagle gliding overhead, it too headed northeastward. Quanah took this to be a sign and led his people to Fort Sill and a new way of life.

Sturm then chose Quanah to be one of the messengers to Colonel Mackenzie. Quanah and the other messengers reached Fort Sill the evening of May 13, 1875. Within a few days Quanah had approached Colonel Mackenzie concerning the whereabouts of his mother. Mackenzie sent a letter to the quartermaster of Denison, Texas, asking about Cynthia Ann Parker and her daughter. He received two responses both stating that both mother and child were dead. This interest in his mother proved to be a bonus to Quanah. Mackenzie took an added interest in him and gave him special duties that aided is ascent up the ladder of power at Fort Sill.

Shortly after his arrival at Fort Sill, Mackenzie sent Quanah into the field to retrieve some runaways. Two months after leaving the reservation he returned with 21 runaways. He pleaded the case for the runaways asking for clemency. He made the whites happy by bringing in the runaways and made the runaways happy by keeping them out of prison. Thus started Quanah Parkers career in politics.

Reservation life required a complete societal change for the Comanches. Never before in the history of the Comanche Nation had there been one central leader. Prior to reservation life every clan had their own chief. Actually chiefs, one for peace time and one for war. The white "overlords" were unable to accept this kind of political system and imposed a white political system on the Comanches. Quanah was chosen by the reservation agent to be the primary chief. Quanah proved to be influential not only with the Comanches but also with the Kiowas and Kiowa-Apaches they shared the reservation with.

According to historical records shortly after arriving at the reservation the Comanches began using peyote. Some historians believe the use predates reservation life. Peyote was a central part of some religious practices. Quanah was a recognized leader in the peyote cult. The participants were all male and the ceremony lasted all night. This religion helped to join the natives in a Pan-Indian movement. The Comanches actually supplied peyote to their greatest Native American enemy, the Tonkawas (Hagan Quanah 56). This religion is the bases for the Native American Church, which is a blend of Christian and Native practices. Cultural blending was used to curtail agency investigations.

"Prucha reports that the use of peyote in religious rites was shielded by a cultural innovation in the mid-twentieth century - the creation of the Native American Church. By embedding peyote use in a syncretic Indian-Christian religious institution, practitioners were protected under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution."

In the North Plains the Ghost Dance cult was forming. Quanah scoffed at the Ghost Dance. Some Indians at the reservation did follow the Ghost Dance but most did not. There are several theories as to why Quanah did not follow the Ghost Dance. The Ghost Dancers were told that their shirts made them impervious to bullets, the same thing Eschiti had told the Comanches prior to the battle at Adobe Walls. Others speculate that Quanah would not follow another's teachings because he wanted to be the leader. While still others simply state the ideals of the Plains Indians religious beliefs.

"Every man was his own priest and his own prophet - the individual interpreter of the wills and ways of the spirits...power came in mystic visitations, a dream phenomenon or hallucinatory experience. It's authority was absolute; psychic experiences were socially recognized and regarded as the very cornerstone of Comanche cultural life" Ernest Wallace.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs was to supply the Comanches on the reservation with food, clothing, blankets and other necessities per the Treaty of Medicine Lodge. The Treaty also stated that the natives could hunt to supplement the supplies given by the government. The game was very scarce on the reservation and feelings towards the natives were very tense off of the reservation. The Comanches needed military escorts to go hunting off of the reservation. After one such hunting trip that had ended in failure, Quanah and his hunting party were accused of stealing horses. In defense Quanah pointed to the horses they rode showing their poor condition. If they had stolen horses they would have stolen horses in better shape then those they rode. Considering the Comanches knowledge of horseflesh this would have been true.

The Comanches began ranching. They started raising cattle. But they also had a problem with the ranchers in the area. Many ranchers from Texas would drive their cattle across the reservation to take their stock to market. The reservation consisted of 3, 000,000 acres of land with a population of 3,000 Native Americans. Ranchers used the western section on their way to Dodge City. Because of the ranchers using the land the Bureau of Indian Affairs encouraged the Indians not to use the western section of the reservation.

Quanah saw this as an opportunity to provide for his people. He received a letter from the Indian Agent at the reservation, the letter recognized him as Chief of the Comanches. He would go out into the area where ranchers were seen driving their herds. He would approach the trail boss and show him the letter. He would offer advise as to where the good grass and water was and extract a payment in head of cattle. In this manner he provided extra food for those who followed him.

Quanah also leased out sections of "his" pasture to the Texas ranchers. This was not an actual lease. What he would do is care for the ranchers stock saying it was his own. The rancher would pay a nice sum of money to Quanah for this service. Quanah was paid $50 per month and his four employees were paid $25 per month.

The ranchers approached the Bureau of Indian Affairs with a proposal of leasing the western section of the reservation. At first Quanah was anti-lease. His profitable relationship with the ranchers lead to his conversion to being pro-lease. December 1884 saw the signing of the first lease agreement. The ranchers leased the land at $.06 per acre. The monies received from this lease agreement was referred to as "grass money". The "grass money" was divided up equally amongst the Indians on the reservation, but held in trust by the Federal Government.