Ride the Wind

This novel by Lucia St. Clair Robson is based on the life of Cynthia Ann Parker, who in 1836 at the age of nine, was kidnapped by Comanche Indians. She grew up in their care, married a war chief and had three children. Her eldest child was Quanah Parker, one of last great warriors of the Comanche nation.

I consider this to be a masterpiece of historical fiction. Well-researched, totally accurate with her historical dates, places and people, yet, still a fantastic story that sweeps you away to another time and place. The life of Cynthia Ann Parker was an extraordinary one and Lucia St. Clair Robson, fills in the blanks in a totally convincing and realistic way. The details of Comanche daily life, their beliefs, their love of nature and show more the land, their loving family ways and humor is all shown but she doesn’t flinch from also showing the brutal and savage side as well. The book opens with the massacre at Parker’s fort and the capture of Cynthia Ann along with other members of her family. She and her younger brother are the lucky ones, because of their young age they are adopted as full family members. Unfortunately the other women that were taken were abused repeatedly, tortured and treated like animals. Of course, the brutality is not all on the side of the Indian, we are also shown how the white people lied repeatedly to them, introduced them to disease, killed off their food source and systematically wiped out a nation.

Beautifully written and totally absorbing, I highly recommend this unforgettable book. show less

The fictionalized story of Cynthia Ann Parker's abduction and life among the Comanche. Very little detail is known about Cynthia Ann's life, other than that she was abducted at age 9, adopted and brought up by a Tenowish Comanche family, married Chief Peta Nocona (for whom the fearsome Noconi band was named), had three children (one of which was Quanah Parker, the last of the Comanche Chiefs to surrender and enter a reservation), and was recaptured and returned to her birth family at age 34 where she tried and failed to escape and where she, after her daughter's death, was so unhappy that she starved herself to death.

Obviously, the descriptions of Cynthia Ann's day-to-day tribal life are purely fictional - she never described any of the show more events - but because of the author's great knowledge of Native American life, every little detail rings true. It may not be an exact description of what Cynthia Ann experienced, but it is a great description of a collective experience - if you want to know how the Comanche (and other tribes) lived without resorting to straight history books, this is perfect. Details (and there are loads of them) of how they trained and rode horses, how they made camp, raided, cooked, celebrated, worshipped, courted, gave birth, hosted friends, raised children, and (ferociously) fought their enemies, are all integrated into the overall narrative.

Robson isn't a sentimental writer, so the descriptions of the hardships - on all sides - are described in quite gruesome details. Life on the prairie may be romanticized by Wild West movies, but it was harsher than harsh and most of us wouldn't have lasted a season. A few parts of the book do tend toward the romantic (and the book cover is beyond BAD), but not too much - they read more like a tribute to how happy Cynthia Ann and Peta Nocona's marriage was, made evident by the fact that he never took another wife, which would have been traditional for a great chieftain. Overall, it's a well-researched story about the end of traditional Native American life, with all the proverbial good, bad and ugly inherent in its history. show less

A Must-Read Western Saga

The author, Lucia St. Clair Robson, has created a masterpiece of historical fiction. There is great storytelling and a remarkable amount of research in this heartbreaking novelization of the life of Cynthia Ann Parker (Naduah), abducted as a child by the Comanches.

Although nothing much is known about Naduah during the period covered in Ride the Wind, Robson creates strong characters that spring to life and are long remembered after you've put the book down. I learned a lot about the day to day life of the Comanches, their warfare, customs, family relationships and nomadic lifestyle.

Be warned the book is very graphic and not recommended for the faint hearted. The cruelty is sickening, but to balance, there are show more many acts of love and kindness as well. The author strikes a note of fairness in her writing which elevates the novel beyond the usual finger-pointing and knee-jerk, bleeding heart narratives contained in much of this genre. This is not your typical good guys vs bad guys Western.

Knowing Naduah’s unhappy outcome beforehand, I approached the ending of the book with dread. After a weeks’ long gap, I came to the final sections of the book to find it was all wrapped up rather quickly and neatly with limited sentimentality. After my long journey reading Ride the Wind, the author let the previous chapters speak out instead of inserting over-the-top melodrama into the ending. I admire Ms. Robson for this as it made for a much stronger finish to the story.

There are a few other fictionalized accounts of Parker's life story available and I will likely seek these out. However, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to find another book to rival Ride the Wind's sheer emotional intensity. Highly recommended to anyone interested in the Old West. show less

Nacona, Wanderer, my brother, I wish the these white people would come west so we could raid them all the time. They have such wonderful things, and they're soft like newborn pups. I may spend ore time here in the east".

Ride the Wind by Lucia St. Clair Robson

As someone with an interest in Native American History I liked reading this story about Cynthia Anne Parker. It made me angry though and not at Native Americans, at OUR government. I felt almost embarrassed on her behalf.

This was a really long book and there's alot of violence in it, you have been warned. I did have to skim over some parts of it. But the book taught me alot..which is what great books do. I looked up Cynthia's story after reading this book. Then I got mad all over show more again.

SPOILERS:

This is really just a comment but.. I wish her story had had a happier ending. It was painful.

A few years ago, I had the opportunity to see the "trail of tears" which also made me outraged. I can remember, as a child, loving Native American History and wanting to live free as they did. This book really is superb and like many others have wondered I do not get why it has not been turned into a movie(although with Hollywood being involved, who knows how it would turn out?)

But this was a great story and my hat's off to the author as I read the story of how she came to write this as well. Highly recommended. show less

One of my favorite books on the life of Cynthia Ann Parker. Having read it no less than 5 times, I am delighted each time. Lucia St Clair Robson has masterfully captured the dynamic lifestyle of the American Indian, both the good and the bad, depending on your frame of reference. How wonderful to write with such passion about the historically significant young child and her possible trials and tribulations among a tribe of Indians so foreign to her yet so loving and compasionate. Naduah will capture your heart, make you smile at times, cry at times and above all give you an appreciation of the Indian perspective as they were being exterminated from the American West in ways you have yet to imagine. Such detail to the feelings and show more possible effect of such an epic dealing with the removal of the American Indian, a noble people, by the soldiers and the settlers has never been shown to compare with this awesome book. The birth of Quannah Parker is depicted within the pages as well as the birth of baby Topsannah, probably the best know picture of Cynthia Ann Parker. show less

What a great read this book turned out to be! It's the historical fiction retelling of the story of Cynthia Ann Parker, kidnapped at the age of nine by a Comanche war band who massacred her family’s settlement in Texas. She was adopted by the Comanche and lived with them for 24 years, eventually marrying a Comanche chieftain and having three children with him, including the last free Comanche chief Quanah Parker. When she was 34, she was finally "rescued" by the Texas Rangers and returned to her white family. She spent the remaining years of her life in lonely misery, refusing to adjust to life in white society. The author appears to have thoroughly researched the conflict between the Comanche tribe and the Texans. I appreciated the show more way she told both sides of the story and the way Cynthia Ann Parker (Naduah in Comanche) is portrayed. In reality she never told anyone about her life among the Comanche but based on the stories from her son, Quanah Parker, I would like to think that the author's version was how it happened.

I enjoyed this book very much but it is very difficult to read in places. It's often violent, very shocking reading, and is not for the faint of heart. Some of the atrocities were very difficult to read through especially the deaths of the children and babies. They die from disease and from the elements but many of them are brutally tortured and murdered.

This is a wonderfully written and readable book. The author does a great job of describing the culture and time period. In many ways it is a heartbreaking book that documents a time and way of life that is gone forever. I highly recommend this book. show less

Wow, this book was so harsh and gritty and amazingly fantastic that I could not put it down, even when I was wiping tears on my shoulder. Even knowing the outcome from American History in high school, I still sobbed at the end. Just as compelling, too, was Rachel Parker Plummer's side story; she was one tough woman. Her memoir is also an incredible read, though much more dry since it IS a piece of non-fic. This, however, is a stunning glimpse into the last days of a noble and unforgettable people.