Peta Wanderer Peautachnoconne NOCONA Pecos PARKER Quanah PARKER Cynthia Ann Naduah PARKER Mini tree diagram
Prairie Flower Topsannah PARKER

Prairie Flower Topsannah PARKER1,3,4,1,2

18581,1,2 - about 18631,1,2

Life History

1858

Born in Staked Plains, Texas.1,1,2

about 1863

Died in Anderson County, Texas.1,1,2

Most likely influenza

about 1863

Buried in Fosterville Cemetery, Anderson County, Texas.1

Notes

  • ---------------------
    PARKER, CYNTHIA ANN (ca. 1825-ca. 1871)

    Cynthia Ann Parker, a captive of the Comanches, was born to Lucy (Duty) and Silas M. Parker in Crawford County, Illinois. According to the 1870 census of Anderson County she would have been born between June 2, 1824, and May 31, 1825. When she was nine or ten her family moved to Central Texas and built Fort Parker on the headwaters of the Navasota River in what is now Limestone County. On May 19, 1836, a large force of Comanche warriors accompanied by Kiowa and Kichai allies attacked the fort and killed several of its inhabitants.

    During the raid the Comanches seized five captives, including Cynthia Ann. The other four were eventually released, but Cynthia remained with the Indians for almost twenty-five years. ... She had married Peta Nocona and eventually had two sons, Quanah Parker and Pecos, and a daughter, Topsannah [Toh-Tsee-Ah, or Prairie Flower].

    --  Margaret Schmidt Hacker, "PARKER, CYNTHIA ANN," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fpa18), accessed March 02, 2014. Uploaded on June 15, 2010. Modified on November 3, 2011. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
    ---------------------

    Topsanna Parker (born Nocona)
    Birth 1858
    Death 1863
    --  Geni World Family Tree, https://www.myheritage.com/FP/search-plans.php?colId=40000&itemId=96311209

    Toh-Tsee-Ah Parker
    Birth 1858 - Staked Plains, Texas, United States
    [Probably in the Lubbock County area; this county was created in 1876]
    Death 1863 - Anderson County, Texas, United States
    Parents Peta Nocona Nocona, Cynthia Ann Parker
    --  WikiTree FREE, https://www.myheritage.com/research/record-10109-1403503/toh-tsee-ah-parker-in-wikitree

    ---------------------
    Prairie Flower
    Birth 1858
    Death 1863

    Folk Figure. Sister of Quanah Parker. Her Comanche name was Toh-Tsee-Ah [Most sources give her Comanche name in the form of Topsannah] and she was one of three children born to Cynthia Ann Parker and a daring Comanche chief named Peta Nocona. Her mother was a white woman captured by the Comanche people when she was 9 or 10 years old. She was given to a family who raised her as their very own. She completely accepted the Comanche life style and refused to return to her white family.

    One of Prairie Flower's brothers grew up to be the great Comanche war chief, Quanah Parker. The other, Pecos, died in 1863 from the dreaded small pox. In December of 1860, the Texas Rangers "rescued" Cynthia and Prairie Flower and released them to the Parker family. Neither of them could adjust, nor wanted to adjust, to the white man's life style. Many attempts were made to escape and return to the Comanche people, but each time they were caught. She pined for her former life and her health deteriorated.

    In late 1863 or early 1864 she died, most likely of influenza. She was buried in the Fosterville Cemetery in Henderson County, Texas. [Note:  Fosterville is n Anderson County, Texas.  Historical sources say Anderson Co for death and burial of both Prairie Flower and her mother Cynthia Ann.  But there is a grave in Van Zandt County for Prairie Flower.]  She was soon to be joined by her mother and they lay side-by-side for forty-six years. Her brother, Quanah, had their bodies moved in 1910 to the Post Oak Cemetery in Oklahoma. In 1911, Quanah was buried next to his mother as was his wish. In 1957, all three bodies were reinterred on Chief's Knoll in the Fort Sill Post Cemetery. There they lay with many of the famous chiefs of the Indian Territory. (bio by Tom Todd)

    [Though the bio above and other similar sources indicate that Prairie Flower's body was moved to Ft Sill  in 1957, a Houston Chronicle story with photo in October 1965 reports that the body had just been disinterred from the Van Zandt grave and was being transferred to Ft Sill at that time.  Surely this story was not bogus.  However, the story did erroneously report that Prairie Flower's body had been in the Van Zandt grave for 55 years, that is, since 1910.  This is probably a confusion with the date of removal of Cynthia Ann's body to Post Oak Cemetery in Comanche County, Oklahoma, by Quanah in 1910.]

    Parents:
    Peta Nocona (1820 - 1864)
    Cynthia Ann Parker (1827 - 1870)

    Burial Fort Sill Post Cemetery, Fort Sill, Comanche County, Oklahoma

    Maintained by Find A Grave Jul 09, 1998
    --  Find A Grave Memorial #3141, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=3141
    -------------------

    A photo story in the Houston Chronicle in 1865 reports that Prairie Flower's body had been disinterred from her grave in Van Zandt County, Texas, where it says she was buried 55 years before (1910).  She was being moved to Ft Sill.  This story is confusing since it clashes with information reported in several other sources.  The biography above on Find a Grave states that Prairie Flower was buried in Fosterville Cemetery, which is in Anderson County, Texas, near Palestine, while Van Zandt County is two counties north of there.  Other sources agree.

    However, one genealogy has provided a photo of her footstone from the burial in Van Zandt County.  This would seem to mean the biography posted on Find a Grave and other sources reporting that Prairie Flower was buried in Fosterville like her mother are wrong.  But then why does the Houston Chronicle report that Prairie Flower was buried in Van Zandt in 1910, the year that Cynthia's body was moved to Post Oak Cemetery in Comanche County, Oklahoma?  This must be due to confusion with the move of Cynthia Ann's burial to Post Oak Cemetery in 1910.

    Some sources report or leave the impression that Prairie Flower was moved by Quanah when he moved Cynthia Ann's body to Post Oak Cemetery in 1910.  The Houston  Chronicle story reports that Prairie Flower was moved in 1865, while other sources report or leave the impression that Prairie Flower was moved to Ft Sill at the same time as her mother, first in 1910, then finally to Ft Sill in 1957.  The Houston Chronicle story of removal from Van Zandt County to Ft Sill in 1965 must be correct.

Sources

Page created using GEDmill 1.11.0