Fort Parker massacre

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The Fort Parker massacre was an event in 1836 in which members of the pioneer Parker family were killed in a raid by Native Americans.[1]

Contents

[edit] History

Fort Parker was founded about two miles (3 km) west of present-day Groesbeck, Limestone County, Texas, USA by Elder[2] John Parker (1758–1836), his sons, Benjamin, Silas and James, plus other members of the Pilgrim Predestinarian Baptist Church of Crawford County, Illinois. Led by John and Daniel Parker, they came to Texas in 1833.[3] Daniel's party first settled in Grimes County, then later moved to Anderson County near present-day Elkhart. Elder John Parker's group settled near the headwaters of the Navasota River, and built a fort for protection against Native Americans. It was completed in March of 1834. Fort Parker's 12 foot (4 m) high log walls enclosed four acres (16,000 m²). Blockhouses were placed on two corners for lookouts, and six cabins were attached to the inside walls. The fort had two entrances, a large double gate facing south, and a small gate for easy access to the spring.[4] Most of the residents of the fort were part of the extended family of John and Sarah (Duty) Parker.

Soon, the settlers were making their homes and farming the land. Several had built cabins on their farms, and used the fort for protection. Peace treaties were made with surrounding Native American chiefs. Perhaps, the Fort Parker inhabitants expected that other tribes would honor the treaties as well.

On May 19, 1836, a large party of Native Americans, including Comanches, Kiowas, Caddos, and Wichitas,[5] attacked the inhabitants of Fort Parker. Around mid-morning, riders appeared under a white flag, and Benjamin Parker went out to talk to them. He was killed, and before the fort's gates could be closed, the raiders rushed inside. Five were killed, some were left for dead, two women and three children were captured, and the rest escaped into the wilderness.[6] One of the captives was a nine-year-old girl, Cynthia Ann Parker, daughter of Silas and Lucinda (Duty) Parker. Cynthia Ann lived with the Comanches for nearly 25 years. She married Comanche chief Peta Nocona and was the mother of three children, including Quanah Parker. In 1860, she was among a Native American party captured by Texas Rangers. She was identified by her uncle, Isaac Parker, and returned to her family. Cynthia Ann never readjusted to the Anglo society, and died at the age of 43 in 1870. Quanah Parker became a leader among the Quahadi Comanches. After most of the Comanches and other tribes on the Staked Plains were defeated, Quanah Parker and his group surrendered to authorities and was forced to an Indian reservation in Oklahoma Territory. He was made chief of all the Comanche tribes on the reservation.

[edit] Fort Parker inhabitants on May 19, 1836

  • Elder John Parker and 2nd wife, Sarah Duty ("Granny" Parker)
    • Benjamin Parker
    • James W. Parker and wife, Martha (Patsey) Duty
      • Rachel Parker and husband, L. T. M. Plummer
        • James Pratt Plummer
      • Sarah Parker and husband, Lorenzo Dow Nixon
      • James Wilson Parker
      • another son of James & Martha
    • Silas Parker and wife, Lucinda Duty
  • Elisha Anglin
    • Abram Anglin
  • Seth Bates
    • Silas Bates
  • G. E. Dwight and wife
    • Dwight children
  • David Faulkenberry
    • Evan Faulkenberry
  • Samuel Frost and wife
    • Robert Frost
    • other Frost children
  • Elizabeth Duty Kellogg (dau. of Sarah Duty Parker)
  • Oliver Lund

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  • Frontier Blood: The Saga of the Parker Family, by Jo Ella Powell Exley
  • Ray Miller's Texas Forts, by Ray Miller

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Today these peoples are variously denominated Native Americans, First Americans, First Nation, and American Indians. On the Texas frontier in 1836, they would have simply been designated Indians.
  2. ^ Elder - an ordained Baptist minister
  3. ^ "The descendants of Elder John Parker were a strange and often brilliant family who may have changed the course of Texas and western history. Their obsession with religion and their desire for land took them from Virginia to Georgia, Tennessee, Illinois and finally Texas...From their line...came...Quanah Parker, last of the great Comanche war chiefs - and first of their great peace leaders." - Jo Ann Powell Exley
  4. ^ Fort Parker State Park was created in 1935, and a replica of the fort was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1936
  5. ^ various stories relate differences in the size of the raiding party and the makeup of the tribes
  6. ^ killed were Samuel Frost, Robert Frost, Benjamin Parker, John Parker, and Silas Parker; captured were Elizabeth Kellogg, Cynthia Ann Parker, John R. Parker, Rachel Plummer, and James Pratt Plummer
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