The story of Cynthia Ann Parker, the mother of Quanah Parker, is a tragic story of two captures -- the first in 1836 at Fort Parker near present-day Groesbeck, Texas, and the second in 1860 on Mule Creek near present-day Crowell, Texas.
An 1861 photograph of Cynthia Ann Parker shows her after her recapture into Anglo society. The hand-colored tintype is part of the Lawrence T. Jones III Texas photography collection, Southern Methodist University, Central University Libraries, DeGolyer Library.
The small star on the map marks the site of the capture of Cynthia Ann Parker in 1860 from Quahadi Comanche. In Anglo tradition, the event is known as the Battle of Pease River. The Comanche categorize the event as a massacre. Captured along with Cynthia Ann was her baby daughter Topsannah. Neither her husband, Peta Nocona, nor her two sons, Quanah and Pecos, were in the camp when Texas Rangers and U. S. Calvary attacked. Cynthia Ann would never see her husband or her sons again.
The waters of Mule Creek still flow into the Pease River. Nearby, close to present-day Margaret, a 1936 Texas Centennial Marker tells the story of the Battle of Pease River and the capture of Cynthia Ann Parker.
Crowell
Crowell, Texas
QUANAH PARKER TRAIL
Learn more about the history
of the area at the
Fire Hall Museum
116 N. Main Street (State Highway 6)
Hours: Monday - Thursday, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Fridays & Saturdays by appointment
Closed Sunday
Phone: (940) 684 1350
For more information about Crowell,
visit the Crowell Chamber of Commerce website:
OKLAHOMA
Trail
Arrow stands near
Main Street, a few blocks north of
the courthouse square.
© 2011
HANABA WELCH
