our history: THE PARKER FAMILY
disappeared
the
Part 1
1836: Indians raid Old Fort Parker
and abduct five, among them nineyear-old Cynthia Ann Parker
STORY & PHOTOS BY MEL W RHODES
Cynthia Ann Parker
JULY 2015
PA R K E R C O U N T Y T O D AY
H
istory’s mysteries tickle our fancy,
whet our almost insatiable appetite for all things yesteryear, when we
think life made more sense, or at least
was more straightforward. Whether
those who lived those days now steeped
in myth and endearing legend thought
they were living in sensible times is
another matter. For example, what must
have gone through the minds of white
children swept away by the painted and
feathered “demons” of the Texas frontier, the Comanches, who to the white
settlers could seem as alien as any being
from another planet? How does a young
mind make sense of such a watershed
event? How did families endure such
catastrophe?
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