Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History

Empire of the Summer Moon traces two interconnected historical narratives. The first follows the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second tells the story of Cynthia Ann Parker, a pioneer woman, and her mixed-blood son Quanah Parker, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches. The book examines the forty-year conflict between Comanche Indians and white settlers over control of the American West. Comanche warriors were renowned horsemen and skilled fighters, capable of stopping Spanish colonial expansion from Mexico and French expansion from Louisiana. When white settlers arrived in Texas from the eastern United States, they encountered Comanches defending their tribal lands, a conflict that delayed American westward development. Gwynne's account encompasses Spanish colonialism, the Civil War, the destruction of buffalo herds, and the arrival of railroads, alongside the personal histories of Cynthia Ann Parker and Quanah Parker. The book is a Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, a New York Times Notable Book, and winner of the Texas Book Award and the Oklahoma Book Award.