Among the most enduring tales of the Old West is the story
of John Parker and his sister, Cynthia Ann Parker, who were
kidnapped by the Comanches in 1836 from Texas. Raised
by their captors, they later became Comanches. Cynthia married
Peta Nocona, chief of the Qwahadi Band, and had several children,
including Quanah Parker, chief of the Comanches. Of John Parker,
though, nothing further is known with certainty.
However, legends of him still ride the wind. The most often heard
relates how John Parker became a great warrior and traveled to
Mexico with the Comanches on their yearly raids. These raids
caused horrific and widespread damage and loss of life, from the
Rio Grande, south, all the way to Queretaro and Guadalajara, deep
in Mexico-an incredible distance of more than a thousand miles
from the Comanche homeland. Even Mexico City lay in dread of
being attacked. Hundreds of thousands of horses and cattle were
taken as well as numerous hostages.
During one such raid, John Parker took seriously ill and was left
in the Chisos Mountains, just across the border in south Texas, to
recuperate, along with a young Mexican woman, who the Comanches
had taken hostage. They fell in love, married, and returned to
Mexico, living happily there for many years. But there's so much
more to this story that yet rides the wind.
