165.     DESHIELDS, James T. Cynthia Ann Parker. The Story of Her Capture at the Massacre of the Inmates of Parker’s Fort; of Her Quarter of a Century Spent among the Comanches, as the Wife of the War Chief, Peta Nocona; and of Her Recapture at the Battle of Pease River, by Captain L.S. Ross, of the Texian Rangers…. ”Truth is Stranger than Fiction.” St. Louis: Printed for the Author, 1886. [i-iv] v-vii [1], [9]-80 pp., 4 plates, including frontispiece (photograph of Cynthia Ann Parker, her hair chopped short to indicate mourning, and her daughter Topsannah at her breast nursing): [1] Cynthia Ann Parker, [2] General L.S. Ross, [3] Lizzie Ross, [4] Quanah Parker. 12mo (18.2 x 13.7 cm), original dark olive green cloth, upper cover with blind-embossed bands, gilt lettering, gilt pictorial illustration of Fort Parker, original pale green floral endpapers. Lower corners of binding lightly stained, front hinge split but strong, usual uniform light browning to text, overall a fine, bright copy.

     First edition. Ayer 63. Dobie, p. 22. Graff 1064. St. Louis Mercantile Library Association, Adventures and Sufferings: The American Indian Captivity Narrative through the Centuries 29: “One of the more unusual captivity stories, Cynthia Ann was the mother of…Comanche chieftain, Quanah Parker. Her name was legendary for generations in the Southwest.” Howes D278. Notable American Women III:15-16. Rader 1126. Raines, p. 67: “A story of painful but absorbing interest.” Tate, The Indians of Texas: An Annotated Research Bibliography 2280.

     Parker (ca. 1825-ca. 1871) is one of the legendary captives in all captivity lore. Kidnapped in 1836, in her twenty-five years with the Comanche, she forgot her Anglo ways. She is the mother of Quanah Parker (see Item 468 herein). See Handbook of Texas Online: Cynthia Ann Parker.

($250-500)

Auction 22 Abstracts