Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne

Quanah Parker

Empire of the Summer Moon traces the history of the Parker family in Texas and Oklahoma: their move west, the Comanche raid on their settlement, the capture of Cynthia Ann Parker and her brother, and the birth and life of Quanah, son of Cynthia Ann and her Comanche husband. To explain the significance of the family's story, the author relates the history of Indians in the west, the pioneers continuing encroachment onto their ancestral hunting grounds, the rise of the Texas Rangers, and the military response to Indian activity.

It's a fascinating story with escapades that read like fiction. Gwynne has a breathless, adverb-rich style that suits his material, but made me doubt his scholarship. Still, I had only gotten to the 65% mark on my Kindle when the book ended and footnotes began. Empire of the Summer Moon is scrupulously researched and meticulously authenticated.

Brutal, graphic and gory, this book features violence on a large scale. The descriptions, while disturbing, don't seem gratuitous; rather they're used to help the reader understand tribal culture and warfare and the settlers' reaction to the carnage.  Native Americans weren't the only ones guilty of what appeared to be whole village massacres, but were probably political statements and their responses to the last act committed by the "enemy."

The Parker family's story has everything-crooked politicians, captive children and pregnant women, dissatisfied recovered captives, and most interesting of all, Quanah Parker, the last chief of the Comanche. Quanah selected wisely from his mixed blood gene pool: handsome, strong, brave, smart and clever, fond of women and they of him.

Incidents in the world around the Parker family are used to illustrate overall relations between the growing, mostly white, United States of America and the earlier inhabitants of this continent.  The Mexican- American War, the Civil War, changes in presidential policies and the development and dissolution of various Indian commissions helped explain the actions and reactions of both the Native Americans and the white settlers.

I recommend this book to everyone who ever sat through history class wondering what the Indians thought about Manifest Destiny. Empire of the Summer Moon gives both sides of the story in an even-handed, interesting way.