21 Months a Captive: Rachel Plummer and the Fort Parker Massacre (Annotated)

By James W. Parker and Rachel Plummer

This 2020 edition contains newly unearthed information about the participants.

On May 19, 1836, the frontier settlement of Fort Parker, Texas, was attacked by a large Comanche war party. In the bloody massacre that followed, settlers were killed, and several women and children were carried away into captivity. Among them was eleven-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker, destined to live two decades with the Comanche and become the mother of the great Chief Quanah Parker. Another was seventeen-year-old Rachel Plummer, already a wife and mother, and pregnant with her second child.

Rachel endured one of the most harrowing experiences in early American history. Her first child was torn from her arms and never seen again. She was forced to witness the brutal killing of her newborn. For twenty-one months, Rachel lived in Comanche captivity, enduring cruelty, violence, and dehumanization. Yet her spirit refused to be broken. She resisted, fought back, and ultimately survived long enough to be ransomed and restored to her family.

This historic narrative-told in part by Rachel herself and in part by her father-offers an unflinching firsthand account of life on the Texas frontier, the Comanche wars, captivity, survival, and resilience. More than just a family tragedy, it is one of the earliest and most powerful Indian captivity narratives of the 19th century, a vital document in understanding America's westward expansion and frontier struggles.

Features of this edition:

Complete, carefully annotated text

Historical context about the Fort Parker massacre and Comanche raids

Insight into the life of Cynthia Ann Parker and the Comanche's role in Texas history

For readers of American frontier history, Native American studies, Texas history, survival narratives, and classic captivity stories, this book remains one of the most compelling and unforgettable testimonies of the era.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1519039182
• ISBN13: 9781519039187
• Release Date: November 2016
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 92 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"