The Last Comanche Chief: The Life and Times of Quanah Parker

Quanah Parker (1850-1911) was among the last of the free-ranging Comanche warriors who once terrorized the high plains. Parker ascended to the rank of war chief through brave acts in almost constant warfare (Comanche is a Ute word that means "wants to fight me all the time") with Anglos and other Indian nations alike. But Parker was more than a warrior, Neeley observes. A great political leader, he negotiated a peace treaty with the United States that spared his people the indignities heaped on other nations that fought back. Parker and others among Neeley's cast of characters will be familiar to fans of Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove. Among them are such important figures as legendary rancher Charles Goodnight and Texas Ranger Sul Ross, once Parker's enemies, later his good friends.