Quanah Parker is thought to have been born around 1850, although his exact date of birth is unrecorded, and he died in 1911. He was the son of Chief Peta Nocona and Cynthia Ann Parker, who was taken captive by the Comanche during the Fort Parker Massacre in 1836 when she was 9 years old. Cynthia lived most of her adult life with the tribe and at the time of her recapture in 1860 had become virtually assimilated into the culture and the tribe. The circumstances of the battle which resulted in her recapture are debated, with Texas Ranger Sul Ross having claimed to have killed Peta Nocona while others claimed that Nocona was not at the battle. However, it is agreed that Cynthia was recaptured at the battle and that Quanah escaped and was captured later, at another location.
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