Quanah Takes a Bride

 

American Indian on a Pinto (image by Daniel Eskridge)

by Sherry Shindelar 

Quanah Parker, the son of a Comanche war chief and Cynthia Ann Parker (the most famous captive of the 19th century), fell in love with a young Comanche maiden named Weckeah, but his prospects were dim. Weckeah returned his affection, but her father, Old Bear, didn’t favor Quanah. For starters, Quanah only owned one horse, and strike two, he was an orphan (His mother had been recaptured by the whites and died of a broken heart. His war chief father had died, as well—when and how he died is disputed. But by the time Quanah reached adulthood, he had no family connections). Strike three, he was half-white. 

Horses were the currency of choice amongst the Comanche, and Quanah’s rival for the young lady’s hand was the son of a prominent chief, Eckitoacup. The chief’s son, Tannap, offered ten horses.

But Quanah had a gift for leadership. He convinced his friends to give him some of their horses. However, when he led the ten horses to Weckeah’s teepee with expectations of triumph, he discovered that his rival had upped his offer to twenty horses.

Not one to accept defeat, Quanah asked Weckeah if she would elope with him. In Comanche culture, this was a last resort when a parent would not approve a marriage, but it was risky. It brought dishonor to the bride’s family, and a young man could only hope to make amends through many horses, something Quanah didn’t have. With his rival being the son of a powerful chief, it was more likely that Weckeah’s father would send a war party after Quanah.

Palo Duro Canyon, West Texas
A favorite haunt of the Comanche (my photo)

Quanah had a plan. He convinced twenty-one young warriors to accompany him and his bride. They rode for seven hours at a gallop, and then traveled by night, dividing into smaller groups to elude any trackers, reuniting in west Texas at the North Concho River. This would be their new home. From there, they did what Comanches had been doing for centuries in Texas: raid and steal horses.
For over a year, they lived along the river and prospered. Some of the braves traveled back to the tribe’s main encampment to retrieve their wives and sweethearts, convincing other warriors to join in the adventures of riding with Quanah.

Quannah Parker 1890 (Twenty years after this incident)
(Daniel P. Sink, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

At last, Eckitoacup determined to make the upstart rebel pay for his audacious disregard for tribal hierarchy and customs. He gathered a war party and headed south to attack Quanah’s camp. But he was taken aback by the hundreds of Quanah’s warriors who rode out to confront him in battle. The old chief decided it’d be better to negotiate instead of fight. For the price of nineteen ponies, Quanah was allowed to return to the main tribe with his men and his bride in peace and was awarded the honor of becoming the new war chief.

Cynthia Ann Parker and Prairie Flower 1861
(Public Domain)

 

Source: Gwynne, S.C. Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches. Scribner, 2010.

Originally from Tennessee, Sherry loves to take her readers into the past. A romantic at heart, she is an avid student of the Civil War and the Old West. When she isn’t busy writing, she is an English professor, working to pass on her love of writing to her students. Sherry is a multi-award-winning author. She currently resides in Minnesota with her husband of forty years. She has three grown children and three grandchildren.

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