2001 Summerfield G. Roberts Award, presented by the Sons of the Republic of Texas

Drawing on a wealth of contemporary accounts, including several first-person stories, Jo Ella Powell Exley follows Cynthia Ann-Parker-a descendant of Elder John Parker-last of the great Comanche war chiefs- through her life in the Indian camp and eventually her recapture by her birth family. She also tells the dramatic story of Quanah Parker through childhood, battle, surrender, and reservation life.

This narrative sets straight a story that has sometimes been distorted, offering new insight of Cynthia Ann Parker's last years, providing a complex picture of the "white" years of a woman who had matured among the Comanches since the age of nine.

Among the documents from which Exley draws are a short autobiography of Daniel Parker, Rachel Parker Plummer's two narratives of her Indian captivity, James Parker's account of his search for Rachel and the other captives and several autobiographical accounts Quanah dictated to his friends.

First published in 2001, Frontier Blood received the Summerfield G. Roberts award and the Rupert Richardson award.

JO ELLA POWELL EXLEY is a fifth-generation descendant of Texas pioneers. She is a longtime schoolteacher in the Houston area and editor of Texas Tears and Texas Sunshine: Voices of Frontier Women, also published by Texas A&M University Press.
What Readers Are Saying:

" . . . . only now do we have the whole fascinating story of the Parker Clan, from their westward migration on to Texas and Cynthia's Commanche captivity, to Quanah's role as the last great war chief (and eventual peacemaker) of that tribe. Along the way in this well-told narrative, we meet Sul Ross, Ranald Mackenzie, even Custer, as well as the brave buffalo hunters of Adobe Walls. " --True West

"Vivid, unsparing accounts, much insight into the pioneer experience and the details of early interracial relations will make this book popular among devotees of the history of the American West." --Publisher's Weekly

"This narrative provides a stunning portrayal of frontier life in Texas, the dangers of Indian-white conflict, the Comanche tradition of kidnapping young children, and the shortsighted Indian policies of the Texas Republic and the United States government. This book will interest religious historians because of the Baptist influence among the Parkers, frontier scholars because of the chronological period and geographic setting, and those who favor smooth biographies of pioneering Texans." --Journal of the West

"Entertaining as well as informative, Frontier Blood brings a fresh perspective to a familiar Texas story." --Texas Parks & Wildlife

" . . . . only now do we have the whole fascinating story of the Parker clan, from their westward migration to Texas and Cynthia's Comanche captivity, to Quanah's role as the last great war chief." --True West