Betty details the kinship patterns that underlay all social organization and social behavior among the Comanches and uses the insights gained to explain the way Comanches lived and the way they interacted with the Europeans who recorded their encounters."--Jacket.
It's 1867 and eleven-year-old Fish Rawlings and his cousin are headed across Texas on a wagon train. But the trail is full of danger. A Comanche war party is on the prowl, looking for horses and scalps. Among the Indians is eleven year old Hunting Bear, who is riding his first war trail. Before the journey is over, he must prove himself worthy to be a warrior. Fish has been taught to hate Comanches. Hunting Bear has been taught to hate white men. But all of that changes when the two boys come face to face and become friends. Suddenly the lives of their peoples rest on the boys' shoulders. The Comanches have sworn to attack the wagon train. The white men have vowed to fight back and track down the warriors. Soon there will be bloodshed, and only Fish and Hunting Bear have a chance to stop it. But will they find a way?
In this captivating prequel to the New York Times bestsellers The Cowboy and The Texan, Joan Johnston tells the story of a woman kidnapped by Comanches—and the proud warrior who vows to make her love him. Living as a Comanche, the son of a white father and his Indian bride, Long Quiet secretly dreams of making Bayleigh Stewart, daughter of the richest cotton planter in Texas, his wife. When Bay is stolen from her home by marauding Indians, she seems lost to Long Quiet forever . . . until a twist of fate brings her back to him—a gift from the Comanche whose life he saved. Bay has lived among the Indians for three long years when a stranger who looks like a Comanche—but speaks perfect English—awakens a passion that burns hot and true. Bay yearns for home, but Long Quiet is determined to convince Bay that her home is with him. As they soon discover, they must both give up something of themselves while fighting for a love strong enough to bridge two worlds.
The idea of Texas was forged in the crucible of frontier warfare between 1822 and 1865, when Anglo-Americans adapted to mounted combat north of the Rio Grande. This cavalry-centric arena, which had long been the domain of Plains Indians and the Spanish Empire, compelled an adaptive martial tradition that shaped early Lone Star society. Beginning with initial tactical innovation in Spanish Tejas and culminating with massive mobilization for the Civil War, Texas society developed a distinctive way of war defined by armed horsemanship, volunteer militancy, and short-term mobilization as it grappled with both tribal and international opponents. Drawing upon military reports, participants' memoirs, and government documents, cavalry officer Nathan A. Jennings analyzes the evolution of Texan militarism from tribal clashes of colonial Tejas, territorial wars of the Texas Republic, the Mexican-American War, border conflicts of antebellum Texas, and the cataclysmic Civil War. In each conflict Texan volunteers answered the call to arms with marked enthusiasm for mounted combat. Riding for the Lone Star explores this societal passion--with emphasis on the historic rise of the Texas Rangers--through unflinching examination of territorial competition with Comanches, Mexicans, and Unionists. Even as statesmen Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston emerged as influential strategic leaders, captains like Edward Burleson, John Coffee Hays, and John Salmon Ford attained fame for tactical success.
A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the award-winning historian and best-selling author of Gettysburg comes the definitive biography of Robert E. Lee. An intimate look at the Confederate general in all his complexity—his hypocrisy and courage, his inner turmoil and outward calm, his disloyalty and his honor. "An important contribution to reconciling the myths with the facts." —New York Times Book Review Robert E. Lee is one of the most confounding figures in American history. Lee betrayed his nation in order to defend his home state and uphold the slave system he claimed to oppose. He was a traitor to the country he swore to serve as an Army officer, and yet he was admired even by his enemies for his composure and leadership. He considered slavery immoral, but benefited from inherited slaves and fought to defend the institution. And behind his genteel demeanor and perfectionism lurked the insecurities of a man haunted by the legacy of a father who stained the family name by declaring bankruptcy and who disappeared when Robert was just six years old. In Robert E. Lee, the award-winning historian Allen Guelzo has written the definitive biography of the general, following him from his refined upbringing in Virginia high society, to his long career in the U.S. Army, his agonized decision to side with Virginia when it seceded from the Union, and his leadership during the Civil War. Above all, Guelzo captures Robert E. Lee in all his complexity--his hypocrisy and courage, his outward calm and inner turmoil, his honor and his disloyalty.
Established in Waco in 1968, the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum honors the iconic Texas Rangers, a service which has existed, in one form or another, since 1823. They have become legendary symbols of Texas and the American West. Thirty-one Rangers, with lives spanning more than two centuries, have been enshrined in the Hall of Fame. In The Ranger Ideal Volume 1: Texas Rangers in the Hall of Fame, 1823-1861, Darren L. Ivey presents capsule biographies of the seven inductees who served Texas before the Civil War. He begins with Stephen F. Austin, “the Father of Texas,” who laid the foundations of the Ranger service, and then covers John C. Hays, Ben McCulloch, Samuel H. Walker, William A. A. “Bigfoot” Wallace, John S. Ford, and Lawrence Sul Ross. Using primary records and reliable secondary sources, and rejecting apocryphal tales, The Ranger Ideal presents the true stories of these intrepid men who fought to tame a land with gallantry, grit, and guns. This Volume 1 is the first of a planned three-volume series covering all of the Texas Rangers inducted in the Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, Texas.
New York Times bestselling author Catherine Anderson presents the first novel in her Comache series—a powerful historical romance about a man and a woman caught between two worlds… Orphaned seven years ago after witnessing the brutal murder of her parents at the hands of the Comanche people, golden-haired Loretta Simpson still lives in terror that the warriors will return—her fear so powerful, she is no longer able to speak a word. Called the U.S. Army’s most cunning adversary, Hunter of the Wolf believes that Loretta is the “honey-haired woman with no voice” of ancient prophecy—the one he must honor for all eternity. But Loretta can only see Hunter as the enemy who has stolen her, refusing to succumb to his control, or his touch. Despite the hatred intensifying between their peoples, Loretta and Hunter gradually find their prejudices giving way to respect, then flaring into feelings too dangerous to express. In the midst of such conflict, it will take all the force of their extraordinary love to find a safe place...
From New York Times bestselling author Catherine Anderson comes the final novel in the Comanche series—the poignant story of a fallen woman and the man who sees her pure heart... Handsome, strong, and just a little bit dangerous, half-Comanche Chase Wolf is used to getting what he wants. So when he sees Franny—a golden-haired angel with deep green eyes, delicate features and the sweetest smile—he sets out to make her his. But far from the innocent she seems, Franny is the local “unfortunate” who services men above the Lucky Nugget saloon. The shocking truth sends Chase reeling... Long ago, circumstances forced Franny to make a terrible choice in order to provide for those she holds most dear. Now she lives a secret double life, respectable in one world, shunned in another, always fearful of discovery, forever marked by shame. But Chase’s persistnet love for Franny knows no bounds. He offers her a life she longs to claim and he won’t stop trying until her defenses have fallen, her heart is healed, and their love has triumphed.
This is the first in-depth historical study of Comanche social and political groups. Using the ethnohistorical method, Thomas W. Kavanagh traces the changes and continuities in Comanche politics from their earliest interactions with Europeans to their settlement on a reservation in present-day Oklahoma.
From New York Times bestselling author Catherine Anderson comes the second novel in the Comanche series—a stirring story of courage, passion, and unforgettable love... Years ago, Amy Masters escaped the fury of the Texas plains for a new life as a teacher in the golden hills of Oregon, where she found contentment—if not happiness. Then, out of the shadows, comes Swift Antelope, the Comanche warrior to whom she once pledged her heart when she was no more than a girl. Claiming that he’s given up his violent ways as a gunslinger, Swift has arrived to take the woman he feels is rightfully his, the woman who once swore to honor a sacred and unbreakable pact. But Amy’s brutal past has made it impossible for her to trust any man—even if it’s the bold warrior who has haunted her dreams, the only man she ever loved, the Comanche heart she can’t live without.