Empire of the Summer Moon

[A-con]

Empire of the Summer Moon
by S.C. Gwynne

The story of Comanche Indians and the Indian wars of the nineteenth century.

This book is fascinating, a well researched and detailed account of all the plains Indians, the Comanches and the story of the last great war chiefs. It includes lots of first hand accounts from the memoirs of the Indians as well as soldiers, Texas Rangers and settlers.

It can be a bit tedious of a read, but well worth the effort.

From what we all learned from History books and Hollywood, most people believe the Indian wars were more of an Indian slaughter. According to this book, it was the other way around until after the Civil war, the Comanches were slaughtering the white settlers.

 

[tarheel]

Sounds like a good read; my wife is part Comanche so she'll be keen to read it too. Another good one is "The First Hundred Years of Nino Cochise" by the grandson of old Chief Cochise. It was copyrighted in 1972, but you might still be able to find it on internet sites.

 

[upper deck]

Great book about half way through it.

 

[Dinkshooter]

It's been on my list for some time, just can't find anyone to read it to me.

 

[mdhunter]

I read it as well...fantastic!

 

[Hem]

So the Comanches were slaughtered because they had been slaughtering whites? I hope the book is more intuitive than you are implying.Most history books are one-sided interpretations by whites.Not saying I wouldn't read it.After reading some Native American interpretations of the Indian wars,its hard to not agree Custer deserved his tescticles cut off and shoved in his mouth.

 

[A-con]

Hem, I have no idea what your talking about.

This book actually comes the Comanche point of view, and details the lives of Cynthia Parker, from the time she was taken by Comanches at age 9, and her son Quanah Parker, who became the last great Comanche war Chief.
According to the book, Custer was a girl scout compared to Ross and Mackenzie.
That doesn't change the facts, if your interested in facts it's a good read.

 

[Hem]

No offense intended.I really like these types of books but tend to be a little suspicious sometimes of the text.I will add this to my list of must reads.If you are in to such things, James Welch has two books written from native point of view,one about the Battle of Bighorn and another about Crazy Horse.I consider them important reads for enthusiasts and especially those of us who live in Montana and South Dakota.Tomorrow I embark on my annual turkey hunt to South Dakota, its a great trip and one where I always reflect on the peoples who made this home for thousands of years before whites showed up.