by Vivi Holt
Every account I read about Parker, seemed to indicate that she was happily married, and well treated. She gave birth to three children, two boys and a girl, and her husband, Peta Naccona was reportedly so pleased with her that he remained monogamous, something a warrior of his stature rarely did.
Unfortunately, as so often happens in real life, her story doesn’t end as happily as Maria’s does in Captivated. Naccona was a warrior engaged in a brutal war with the Anglo-Americans, and in December 1860, a Ranger force attacked Naccona’s village. Naccona was killed, and Parker and her daughter Prairie Flower were captured.
Returned to Anglo society against her will, Parker was taken to her uncle’s farm in Birdville, Texas, where she tried to run away several times. However, with her husband dead she eventually resigned herself to an unhappy life among people she considered to be strangers. Prairie Flower, her beloved child, died of influenza and pneumonia in 1863. Depressed and lonely, Parker struggled on for seven more years but began refusing to eat, or drink. Weakened, she died of influenza in 1870.
One of her sons became the last chief of the Commache: Quanah Parker. He is quite a renowned figure in history. And this book is dedicated to her memory, and his. The dedication written at the beginning of the book is from the inscription on his gravestone.
The second story that inspired me was that of pioneer woman, Mary Draper Ingles. Her story is told in the book, Follow The River, by James Alexander Thom. The account is not for the faint of heart! Once again we find savagery and barbarism that will make your hair stand on end. But it’s a story of hope, resilience and survival that few can match.
Abducted from her home, when heavily pregnant with her third child, she is taken on a ride 500 miles from home to a large Shawnee village with her two small children. She gives birth on the side of the trail on the way there, yet continues on without a break. While there, she learns to pay her way by sewing, but is separated from her eldest children.
At the first opportunity, she escapes from the Shawnee, leaving her baby behind in the care of a native woman. She then treks, during the cold fall and winter months, back the 500 miles, to her home, by following the river. Almost dying of starvation and exposure, she finds her husband there, and they reunite to start a new family.
Lest anyone should wonder if her kind of kidnapping was something that happened only on the odd occasion, the story doesn’t end there. Her eldest son was ransomed back into Anglo society at the age of seventeen, and had to learn to speak English again to fit back into his old way of living. He seemed to adapt, even joining the army and marrying. But then, his wife and three children were all abducted by Indians. He went to rescue them, and his older two children were killed. He managed only to rescue the youngest of his children. It’s heartbreaking to think of all the early pioneers, and indeed the American Indians, went through.
Captivated is my homage to those who lived in such perilous times, where conflict was part of their everyday, and fear and bravery were a way of living. So ends the story of Maria Holloway, at least for now. I hope you feel some satisfaction in knowing what became of her. I know I do.
With love,
Vivi Holt