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Cynthia Ann Parker Abduction - Texas Treasury Warrant. Cynthia Ann Parker lived with her family in Fort Parker on the Navasota River until an Indian raiding party attacked the fort in 1836 killing five men and capturing two women and Cynthia Ann, her brother John and James Pratt Plummer (son of her first cousin). Only nine years old at the time, Cynthia Ann was forced to join a tribe of Comanche Indians. Although she was beaten and abused at first, she was soon integrated into the tribe and later became the respected wife of Comanche chief Peta Nocona. They had two sons, Quanah and Pecos, and a daughter Topsannah. In 1845 the Texas legislature appropriated $300 for the rescue of John Parker and his sister Cynthia Ann. This is a 7" x 3" partially printed Republic of Texas Treasury Warrant, June 28, 1845, signed by Charles Mason, auditor, and James B. Shaw, controller"...the Treasurer of the Republic of Texas will pay to the order of Isaac Parker Three Hundred...Dollars, out of any money appropriated by Act of February 1st, 1845 for Indian Purposes, this amount being for Redemption of John Parker, Treasury Dept...." It has been endorsed on the reverse: "Treasurer will pay one half of this warrant...in xchequer bills. W. B. Ochiltree." Isaac Parker signs under Ochittree's endorsement. The lower portion of the left corner is missing. In 1860, Cynthia Ann and Topsannah were captured by U.S. soldiers at the battle of Pease River. She was 34 years old and, except for her blue eyes and fair complexion, she looked like a typical Comanche woman. Isaac Parker identified Cynthia Ann as his niece and took her to live with him at his home in Birdville, Texas. Cynthia Ann never adapted to her new life among the whites and attempted to escape on several occasions. In 1863, Cynthia received word that her son Pecos had died of smallpox. Topsannah's death from fever in 1863 devastated Cynthia Ann. Often refusing to speak or eat, she died in 1870 of influenza at the age of 43. John Parker, who had been captured with Cynthia Ann, grew to manhood among the Indians, who ultimately abandoned him when he became sick with smallpox.
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