Come home soon to your own chick-a-biddy!” 1 The date was October 3, 1871. ExcerptĬAVALRYMEN REMEMBER SUCH moments: dust swirling behind the pack mules, regimental bugles shattering the air, horses snorting and riders’ tack creaking through the ranks, their old company song rising on the wind: “Come home, John! Don’t stay long. Empire of the Summer Moon announces him as a major new writer of American history. Gwynne’s account of these events is meticulously researched, intellectually provocative, and, above all, thrillingly told. Gwynne’s exhilarating account delivers a sweeping narrative that encompasses Spanish colonialism, the Civil War, the destruction of the buffalo herds, and the arrival of the railroads, and the amazing story of Cynthia Ann Parker and her son Quanah-a historical feast for anyone interested in how the United States came into being. The war with the Comanches lasted four decades, in effect holding up the development of the new American nation. White settlers arriving in Texas from the eastern United States were surprised to find the frontier being rolled backward by Comanches incensed by the invasion of their tribal lands. They were so masterful at war and so skillful with their arrows and lances that they stopped the northern drive of colonial Spain from Mexico and halted the French expansion westward from Louisiana. Comanche boys became adept bareback riders by age six full Comanche braves were considered the best horsemen who ever rode. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches.Īlthough readers may be more familiar with the tribal names Apache and Sioux, it was in fact the legendary fighting ability of the Comanches that determined when the American West opened up. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history.

This stunning historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West “is nothing short of a revelation…will leave dust and blood on your jeans” ( The New York Times Book Review).Įmpire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award

Empire of the summer moon by sc gwynne