![]() He hosted military officers and politicians, as well as Geronimo and the Kiowa chief Lone Wolf. Parker’s two-story, eight-bedroom home features large stars on the roof to remind visitors that he was equal in stature and power to American generals. Parker then adapted his experience and leadership skills on the reservation, earning wealth and success for himself and his people. The son of a Comanche chief, Peta Nocona, and a captured white woman, Cynthia Ann Parker, he was a feared warrior during the Comanches’ final years on the Southwest plains. Gwynne’s best-selling 2010 book, “Empire of the Summer Moon,” brought Parker and the Comanche history to a popular audience, and although he is less known by most Americans than Sitting Bull, Geronimo and Crazy Horse, he is a significant presence in Native American history. “There’s an open door now,” said Ardith Parker Leming, great-granddaughter of Quanah Parker. “This will start a conversation about saving it.” “I think the best thing that could have happened is the flood,” said Chenoa Barhydt, director of marketing and economic development for the Comanche Nation, which again hopes to persuade Mr. The owner and tour guide Wayne Gipson, 53, is deeply attached to Star House, and protective of it, yet acknowledges that he lacks the time and money to properly maintain or market it.ĭespite numerous offers, he has also refused to rent or sell the home, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, to anyone, including the Comanche Nation.īut tribal leaders and Parker’s descendants now see that spring deluge, which damaged or ruined original rugs, wallpaper and furniture, as the potential wellspring of the house’s salvation. It has been deteriorating for years, especially because large sections of the roof are missing, allowing the elements to damage the upper floors. Open only briefly each day, the crumbling house sits on the back lot of a long-shuttered amusement park. Star House, built on Fort Sill around 1890 by Quanah Parker, the renowned last chief of the Comanche Nation, already felt like the loneliest tourist attraction in America. But the most devastating damage may have been to a house that has stood empty for nearly 60 years. (population 2,906), in late May, flooding homes and forcing residents onto their roofs to await rescue. ![]() His numerous books on American Indian subjects include The Sac and Fox Indians United States–Comanche Relations Quanah Parker, Comanche Chief and Theodore Roosevelt and Six Friends of the Indian, all published by the University of Oklahoma Press.A torrential storm lashed tiny Cache, Okla. ![]() Hagan is retired Professor of History at the University of Oklahoma. ![]() In this crisp and readable biography, William T Hagan presents a well-balanced portrait of Quanah Parker, the chief, and Quanah, the man torn between two worlds. He maintained a remarkable blend of progressive and traditional beliefs, and contrary to government policy, he practiced polygamy and the peyote religion. The son of white captive Cynthia Ann Parker, Quanah Parker rose from able warrior to tribal leader on the Comanche reservation.īetween 1875 and his death in 1911, Quanah dealt with local Indian agents and with presidents and other high officials in Washington, facing the classic dilemma of a leader caught between the dictates of an occupying power and the wrenching physical and spiritual needs of his people. ![]()
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