Cynthia Ann Parker

Cynthia Ann Parker may be the most famous of all of the people taken captive by Indians. Her story was loosely told in the John Wayne movie, "The Searchers," and has been retold in numerous books. She was raised and lived among the Comanche, was married to a chief of the tribe and her son, Quanah Parker, was the most famous of all of the Comanche leaders. Her story is one of the saddest from the Texas frontier. She was taken captive as a young girl and torn from her family. Then after she became acclimated to the Indian way of life and has her own family, she is once again torn from her family. Part of the Stories For Young Americans from Eakin Press, young readers can learn one of the most iconic stories involving Native Americans and the settlement of American West.