'Experience Fort Parker' by Brennann Peele.Temple Daily Telegram:

Experience Fort Parker

BRENNAN K. PEEL

Temple Daily Telegram - November 15, 2010

Many native Texans know the story of Cynthia Ann Parker, the white settler captured by

Comanche Indians in 1836, and her son, Quanah Parker, who later would lead the Comanche

Nation into a peaceful relationship with white settlers. Far fewer people have visited

the place where the tale began.

Old Fort Parker, four miles north of Groesbeck, was built in 1833 by eight or nine

families from Illinois. On May 19 of 1836 — the year Texas became a state, Darwin

returned from his journeys on the H.M.S. Beagle and Samuel Colt invented the revolver

pistol — about 500 Comanche and Kiowa Indians attacked the fort while most of the men

were away working in nearby fields.

Benjamin Parker, still at the fort, approached the band in friendship, but he and four

other men were killed. The raid left most of the settlers dead, and Comanches captured

two women and three children. Of those, three were quickly ransomed and returned to

their surviving families.The two children who remained with the Comanche both were

Parkers.

John Parker, 6, grew up to be a Comanche warrior. He later married a Mexican woman

captured during a raid and eventually settled on a ranch in Mexico.

His sister, Cynthia Ann, 9, lived with a separate Comanche band. She resisted several

ransom attempts, preferring her new way of life with the Comanche over the white

settler lifestyle. She ultimately married a Comanche chief, Peta Nocona.

In 1860 she was recaptured by white settlers at the Battle of the Pease River, near

Magaret. She had three children, one of whom was captured with her. Yet neither could

adjust to the settler’s ways, and soon Parker’s daughter died. A few years later,

Cynthia Ann Parker died.

Her son, Quanah, grew up to be a Comanche chief. He led successful war campaigns for

much of his life. Later, he became an astute businessman and judge, and fostered

peaceful relationships between the Comanche Nation and the U.S.government.

That well-known story is on

display in a tangible way at the fort today. Visitors may climb the blockhouses, which

were the defensive strong-holds of the fort and get a first-person view of what an

1830s cabin really looked like inside. Several cabins have been reconstructed, complete

with dining room tables and bedding circa the fort’s original building.

While the wooden structures date back to the late 1960s, the time the fort was last

refurbished, the layout remains the same since the first board was erected more than

170 years ago.

bpeel@tdtnews.com

If you go:

Admission: A suggested donation of $2 for adults, $1 for youth ages 6-11.

Activities: Camping and trail rides are available for a fee.

Directions: Old Fort Parker is located between Mexia and Groesbeck about one mile off

Highway 14 and Park Road 35. The fort is about 40 miles east of Waco.

Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday (closed Christmas Day and New Year’s

Day)

Information: Call 254-729-5253 or go to the website at www.oldfortparker.org

All articles from the Temple Daily Telegram are published with the permission of the
Temple Daily Telegram.
All credit for this article goes to
Brennan K. Peel and the Temple Daily Telegram

Old Fort Parker, north of Groesbeck, was built in the 1830s and last refurbished in 1967. The Fort housed white settlers from Illinois, who moved to the site when Texas was still part of Mexico.

Photo by Brennan K. Peel

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