solution for the curious problem of
why some white captives were less
than eager to return to their white
families, and why they were apt to
return to the Indians if given the
chance.
According to Zesch, “the children
responded very positively to the freedom of the Comanche way of life.
Most of them had known nothing but
hard work on frontier farms before
they were captured, and they discovered for the first time that there was
another way to live... . Once they got
back home, I think they felt terribly
confined.”
How could the captives willingly
cooperate with people who killed
their parents and others of their families?
“They didn’t seem to transfer
their hatred of the individuals who
killed their relatives to the Comanche
people as a whole,” Zesch said.
“Former captive Dot Babb put it
best: ‘You wouldn’t want to kill
every white person you saw because
some white person had killed your
mother.”
Young John Parker and his family
lived where an aggressive — to the
Indians invasive — white civilization rubbed against the very grain
of Native American life, particularly
that of the fierce Comanches, who
were a warlike people and hell on
horseback. They were anything but
peaceful. Culture clashes were inevitable, taking captives just part of the
equation.
________________________________
See Part 5 of
“The Disappeared” in next
month’s Parker County Today.
- Heartfelt Thanks: Nikki, Nelly, and rest of the Grote Family
Grote Veterinary CliniC
Serving Parker County for over 35 Years
819 Santa Fe Drive, Weatherford, TX 76086
(817) 594-0216 • Metro: (817) 596-8808 • Hours: Mon-Fri: 8–5:30 • Sat: 8–12
Monday – Saturday: 7 a.m. • Sunday: 8 a.m.
101 W. Church St., Weatherford, TX 76086 • 817-594-8717
www.weatherforddowntowncafe.com
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
Healthy Options Available
We Do Not Use MSG • Gluten-Free Options
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OCTOBER 2015
Sources:
• A Fate Worse Than Death: Indian
Captivities in the West, 1832-1885,
Susan Michno, Caxton Press, June
1, 2007
• Frontier Blood: The Saga of the
Parker Family, Jo Ella Powell Exley,
2001, Texas A&M University
• Handbook of Texas Online,
geneology.com and other websites
• The Captured: A True Story of
Abduction by Indians on the Texas
Frontier, Scott Zesch, St. Martin’s
Press, New York, 2004
My Family is so overwhelmed with joy from all the support and
love we have received during this transitional period. Thank you
Parker County, for truly uplifting my dad and his new wife. We
couldn’t ask for a better community to be a part of.
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