Quanah Parker: Warrior for Freedom, Ambassador for Peace [Paperback]

Len Hilts (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Great Episodes

Quanah Parker, the son of a Comanche chief and a white woman, became a great chief who valiantly led his people in an attempt to save their homeland. He was the symbol of the Comanches, a man first feared then respected by the people he fought.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8 Hilts' biography is a readable but problematic account of the life of Comanche chief Quanah Parker. Quanah was the last major hold-out in the long and bitter fight to prevent the Comanches from being placed on a reservation, but after his surrender in 1875, he lead his people in the assimilation of a new way of life. Fictionalizing is used extensively; this produces neither a good biography nor a good story. The requirements of the one genre (accuracy, careful distinction between speculation and fact) conflict with those of the other (creativity, imagination), resulting in an uneven and sometimes misleading story. Dialogue at the beginning of the book is obviously made up (``Hey, at least I'm joining the hunt''), while in the last few chapters, Hilts uses direct (but undocumented) quotes. Most of the book deals with Quanah's youth and fight against the government, while the last 35 years of his life, during which time he became a rancher, a judge, and a friend of Theodore Roosevelt, are too briefly summarized. The book contains an extensive bibliography of mostly adult titles, but includes Julian May's Quannah: Leader of the Comanches (Creative Educational Soc., 1973; o.p.). For good historical fiction based on the lives of real people, turn to Scott O'Dell. For information on Quanah suitable for a school report, use Russell Freedman's Indian Chiefs (Holiday, 1987). Allen Meyer, Vernon Area Public Library District, Prairie View, Ill.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Len Hilts is a contributor for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt titles including Quanah Parker.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Sandpiper (February 28, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152644474
• ISBN-13: 978-0152644475
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,943,840 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Last Chief of the Comanches, July 29, 2005

By 

Orville B. Jenkins "Research Guy" (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Quanah Parker (Hardcover)

I was particularly interested in this book about Quanah Parker, because I grew up in the town named after him, Quanah, Texas. I found this book in the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center in Marlow, Oklahoma. Hilts gives us a story-form report of the key events in the life of Quanah Parker, last chief of the Comanches.

He has written up this narrative from eye-witness accounts of participants. Hilts has gathered original documents and spoken with descendants to put this story-picture together.

Parker led his people from war to peace in a settlement of ongoing disputes with Texas and the United States, successfully transitioning from the traditional plains migratory living to settled farming and business, becoming an able advocate for his people against the further cultural and geographic hegemony of the US.

Parker became the first Native American to invest in a railroad, being one of the founder owners of the Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railway, still operating in our town in my childhood. This book is written up from eye-witness accounts of participants in the events recorded.

I also suggest another good book about Quanah Parker:
Dugan, Bill. Quanah Parker. NY: HarperPaperbacks (HarperCollins), 1993. 309p. This is a book in the War Chiefs series, good easy historical and biographical approach to great personages.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story, June 26, 2009

By 

J. Weber "Walletless" (ND, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Quanah Parker: Warrior for Freedom, Ambassador for Peace (Paperback)

This book was out of print and I found this one for my 15 yo daughter on Amazon. She consumed the story and said it was one of the best ones ever.