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

I can't tell you what tribe the declaration of independence was referring to, but Empire of the Summer Moon does a good job of describing the atrocities of the Comanche.

https://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060

In addition to the many rape stories as well as the killing of children, there were others like how they would cut your eyelids off and tie you down on your back staring into the summer sun until you baked to death.

This guy's story is really interesting. Parker's Fort, where his mother was captured and the rest of his family slaughtered, is a well kept state park. There was a book written about him, Empire of the Summer Moon, that was a Pulitzer finalist and great read. You can't imagine the violence and turbulence in his world as the Comanche fought the Anglos and Spanish/Mexicans.

Cynthia Ann Parker was the daughter of White settlers on the Texas frontier in the early 1800s. Her family had built a fort in Central Texas, where the Comanches had massacred them. I think most of the Whites were killed. She was taken hostage as an eleven year old girl in 1836.

When the Comanches took her in, she was treated with about as much respect as a foreign invading hostage could possibly have. She was raised as a daughter by the couple she was given to, and when she grew up she became the wife of Peta Nocona, one of the more powerful war leaders. She pretty much lost all of her original White culture and very much became assimilated as a Comanche. For years, decades, the Texans were trying to find her.

Eventually after Peta's death in the Battle of Pease River she was recaptured (as an adult) by the Texas Rangers, where she was returned to her birth family, her uncle Isaac Parker. She did not adjust well at all and several times tried to flee back to the wilderness. Eventually she went on a hunger strike and died in the 1870s. Her son Quanah Parker became very well known and has a small town in North Texas named after him (Quanah, TX).

Ninja edit: Empire of the Summer Moon, by S.C. Gwynne goes into much detail about her, as well as the general story of Texas and the Comanches during that time period. Great book, I recommend it.

According to the book Empire of the Summer Moon, during the American Civil War the Western Frontier was actually pushed back quite a bit because the soldiers that had been guarding it were called back East to fight the civil war and the Plains Indians seized the opportunity to take back some of their land. So yes, going West at the time likely would have sent you into a different line of fire.

While the exact same scenario is for obvious reasons unlikely in a hypothetical American Civil War 2, it isn't hard to imagine various warlords and militant groups arising to fill the power vacuum in remote areas. The Taliban and ISIS both pretty much started out that way.

You should check out this book: http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060

I had a customer recommend it to me. I've only gotten a few chapters in, but it's pretty well written and I'm liking it.

"Empire of the Summer Moon" is a great read about her and her son, the last tribal leader of the Comanche

Edit: here's the link, I'm on mobile and can't figure out the high-speed way to rename links... https://www.amazon.com/dp/1416591060/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Mr50xbSRZVZCR

Check this book out. Camanches were gnarly

Most but not all. There are some really interesting stories about the encroachment of settlers on Comancheria in this book which tells of the last great Indian tribe that went up against the white settlers.

I'm reading Gwynne's book Empire of the Summer Moon about Cynthia Ann and Quanah Parker and the Comanche tribes in Texas. Astonishing and captivating read for those interested in early Texas history.

Turns out my community college has a fuckton of books about American Indians.

Empire of the Summer Moon is very engaging and very disturbing. There's a copy of The Great Father I want to dive into when I have a month or so of free time. Plus a bunch of assorted books about assorted peoples (Very little on the Shoshone though.)

I REALLY wish this was the highest comment, because everyone in this thread would love Empire of the Summer Moon. It reads a lot like science fiction. When the colt revolver emerges it feels like something Tony Stark invented.

It. Is. A. Must. Read.

Empire of the Summer Moon

Great book about this sort of thing.

My favorite non-fiction book of all time is Empire of the Summer Moon. Early Texas history and Native American history at its finest.

I've just finished an incredible book of a man I knew nothing of but found fascinating. It was Quanah Parker and focused on his people (the Comanches) who were among the biggest and most violent tribes of all. They constantly fought with almost any other tribe and were among the first to truly master the horse.

https://www.amazon.ca/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060

A great read and exactly what you're asking about, is covered in this book.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_burial_mounds_in_the_United_States

The Mississippian culture built cities, only a few of which survived. These kingdoms covered the area of the midwest and most of the American Southeast. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippian_culture) By the time Europeans came, they were already practically gone, but smallpox did the rest of the job for them.

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One of the problems with discussing pre-Columbian North America is that with South America and Central America, European explorers were largely just hitting the cultures as European diseases were. The explorations into the heart of North America happened after those diseases had already ravaged the area.

The people of the Iroquois confederacy farmed with stone and wood tools (mixing crops to keep the soil from going bad) had a participatory democracy and ideas of freedom that must have been very alien to both Europeans and their southern neighbors.

People like the Comanche don't even show up until the horse is introduced and their quick adoption of it allows them a huge advantage over their neighbors (see Empire of the Summer Moon as a better history, but be prepared - the Wild West was far more brutal than Hollywood has even remotely shown)

Early European accounts are heavily biased and for ages it was assumed as fact. Today historians have to shoulder their way through biased narratives and counter-narratives to try to figure out the truth. As an amateur history buff, I wish them the best of luck.

It's a lot more complex than you might think. I'm not an expert by any means, but it's worth reading some history books to learn more. One I just read that was very interesting was Empire of the Summer Moon

I'm currently reading 'Empire of the Summer Moon' by S.C. Gwynne. Read the blurb here to see what it's about - it's really interesting and I'm loving it.

This is the best book about those times that I've ever read.

Cynthia Ann Parker's son was Quanah Parker. The John Wayne movie The Searchers was either 'loosely based' or 'suggested by' the Parker kidnapping, depending on how you want to view the movie.

I highly recommend two books:

1. Empire of the Summer Moon by SC Gwynne
   
   Amazon
   
   Tells the story of the Comanche, horse nomads and the most proficient mounted warriors North America has ever seen.
   
   
2. Blood and Thunder by Hampton sides
   
   Amazon
   
   Tells the story of the Navajo, as well as the American/Mexican/Spanish expansion into the west. I really took a lot from this for my frontier world.

Empire of the Summer Moon by S.C. Gwynne

amazon

The Comanche were specifically a brutal, rapey, slavery, genociding tribe as they existed in 1775 and were just getting started. It would be a bit like a Mongol Superman, but without all of the effeteness, nicety, and devotion to morality the Mongols were known for.

Source:
http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060

Obviously not a great deal of history of the American Indians or Native Americans(for the PC crowd) before the 1500's but the Comanche Indians fit the bill.

This is a great book about them, vicious as can be.

http://www.amazon.com/Empire-Summer-Moon-Comanches-Powerful/dp/1416591060

The Comanche

Empire of the Summer Moon goes into great detail about it, but basically the Comanche would wreck the shit out of anyone until Texas Rangers learned how to fight them and got their hands on the first commercial revolvers in the 1840s.

The various groups who fought them (Spanish, Mexicans, Texans) with muzzle loading firearms got ripped to pieces by guys on horseback with bows and 14ft lances (that they used to kill Buffalo, so skewering people was easy). They also had shields covered in Buffalo hides that could stop bullets. They were so good at riding that they could lean sideways on their horse and fire their bow over the horse's back or under the horse' neck while on the move (using the horse's body as a shield).

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

and it is absolutely fascinating and well written.

Not many historians have that nice, rolling narrative style of Mr. Foote. It's so easy to read and it tells the story in a compact, but intimate way with a focus on the people and their motives.

To answer your question I would look at histories written by journalists such as Barbara Tuchman - Guns of August. I also like S.C. Gwynne's Empire of the Summer Moon, Hampton Sides Blood and Thunder, and Ghost Soldiers. Lot's of good narrative histories out there - just keep looking and share any new good ones with Reddit! Good luck!

I think that is largely correct. My sense is that the criticisms of Ohler's book also criticized his tone and the potential negative impact his would could have. Polemic doesn't often foster dialogue.

Other common criticisms of popular history are that it often fails to credit the work of academics and that it is often incorrect or not very nuanced. For example, Empire of the Summer Moon is a very popular book about the Comanche nation. Many of the main points had very recently in the extensively researched and truly brilliant book Comanche Empire. Moreover, Empire of the Summer Moon included inaccuracies that would likely have been caught during the editing of an academic book.

There are academics who see the value of popular history writing because it can so effectively share important material to a general readership. Guns, Germs, and Steel is an example of a book some academics admire. I read it and 1491 because a professor I respected recommended them.

Full disclosure, I'm an academic who works in cultural history and literature. I think about these issues a lot. I'm glad to see them discussed in a wide open forum.