Quanah Parker (c.1853-1911) was one of the Comanche’s greatest leaders.
Born in about 1853, he first made his mark as a warrior in the Comanche’s campaigns against the U.S. Army, which wanted to confine his people to a reservation. Outnumbered, Parker and his followers surrendered in 1875.
On the reservation, Parker emerged as a shrewd negotiator. He brought money into his tribe by leasing their lands to Texas cattlemen and often outsmarted U.S. officials who were trying to reduce the size of the reservation.
Parker was also a passionate supporter of peyoteism (later known as the Native American Church), an Indian religion that developed on the Plains in the late nineteenth century.
