Pease River Battlefield
Crowell, Foard County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(site located 8 miles northeast) In 1860 at the Battle of Pease River, Indian captive Cynthia Ann Parker and her daughter, Prairie Flower, were rescued by Texas Rangers under Capt. L. S. Ross (later Governor of Texas). Cynthia Ann, most celebrated of all Comanche captives, had been taken at age 9 in a raid on Fort Parker, May 19, 1836. Traders who saw her later said she had taken the name "Naduah" and wished to remain among her adopted people. She married Chief Peta Nocona, by whom she had 2 sons, Pecos and Quanah Parker. Although she was returned to her uncle's family, she was never completely happy and tried to escape several times. She died 1864. (1968)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
At the Battle of Pease River in 1860, Texas Rangers under Captain L. S. Ross attacked a Comanche encampment and took a woman they recognized as Cynthia Ann Parker, seized as a nine-year-old in the 1836 raid on Fort Parker. By then she had lived a quarter-century among the Comanche as Naduah, wife of Chief Peta Nocona and mother of the future leader Quanah Parker. Returned to her Anglo relatives with her infant daughter, she never adjusted, tried repeatedly to escape, and died in 1864.
Why it matters
Cynthia Ann Parker's tragic story sits at the heart of the long, painful collision between the Comanche and Texan frontiers, personified in her son Quanah, the last great Comanche chief.
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Related people
- · Cynthia Ann Parker
- · Quanah Parker
- · L. S. Ross
- · Peta Nocona
Related events
- · Battle of Pease River
- · Fort Parker raid
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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