Killing Cynthia Ann

2 Camp Cooper

II Camp Cooper "I'llbet she's Cynthia Ann Parker," said Captain Nathan Evans, commanding at Camp Cooper on the Clear Fork of the Brazos River. "It all fits when you down to it. She's about the right age. Quahada band. And last time we heard anything, they said she was married to a chief. It fits. I'll bet she's our long-lost captive." "She's our captive, that's for sure," said his interpreter, Horace Jones, in his patient drawl. "You have to watch her ever single instant, or she'll try to get away." Evans looked out the window of his headquarters building. The rest of the camp, except for the two-story mess hall and supply room, consisted of two short rows of wood and canvas barracks. The wooden floors and partial walls of other rows had been abandoned and the canvas roofs removed a year ago after Robert Neighbors, the Indian agent, escorted the Comanches to a reservation at Cache Creek Valley in Indian Territory. "Where's she now?" Evans asked, turning back to Horace. "Over by the corral," Jones replied, gesturing with a gloved hand. A two-inch leather fringe dangled from the gauntlet of his glove and along the yoke and sleeves of his buckskin hunting shirt. 16 "Mr. Ross and Captain Palmer are trying to get her to talk to Ben Kiggins." "Does Kiggins know enough Comanche to make anything of it?" "Well, he was a captive as a kid. He has a kid's understanding of the lingo. And Martinez knows enough Comanche to understand, but he don't know enough English to tell us what he knows." Captain Evans took his seat at his desk, his blue uniform slightly rumpled from an early morning patrol. "Well, take the woman over to our quarters and tell my wife to give her a bath. And see if she can't find some decent clothes. We'll try to talk to her later." His tone of voice said make haste. Horace Jones turned to go out. "Oh. Horace, have you tried to talk with the woman yet?" "Not yet," admitted Jones. "I was out on patrol and just heard about her when we got back." When Captain Innis Palmer returned to headquarters, he reported to Evans, "She's awful emotional. We can't hardly get her to quit shaking and blubbering. And all she can do is cry about her boys." Like many men of his time, he wore bushy side-whiskers but kept his chin and neck clean-shaven. ''Any luck?" asked Evans. "Not much more than we already knew. She still says she's the wife of Peta Nocona. She keeps asking about her two boys. We told her again and again there weren't any boys among the killed, so they must have been out somewhere else. That calmed her down a little. Mrs. Evans has her now." "Well, I guess we'll see soon enough," said Evans. "Take her to the mess hall when she's ready." When Mrs. Evans brought the woman and her child to the mess hall, the captive was quiet and subdued. Captain Evans sat at a table, twirling a pencil. His company clerk took notes. Captain Innis and the other officers stood impatiently around the tables. Sergeants and other non-commissioned officers had crowded into the area not reserved for officers. Toh-Tsee-Ah wore a Little Bo Peep cotton print dress with puffy sleeves and a billowy skirt. Naudah wore one of Mrs. Evans' cotton print shirtwaists but was barefooted. "I swan, I thought we was never gain' to get all the grime off of l7 her," said Mrs. Evans. ~ BU( we finally did a pretty good job. don't you think! She insisted on cutting her own hair. I have to say I was pretty glad. I didn't cOtton to the idea of washing all that greasy mess." "Cutting the hair is a Comanche sign of mourning," said Horace jones. He felt a deep sympathy for the woman, an understanding of the pain behind the gesture. '1\nd she won't let go of that grimy liule purse she wears on a thong under her dress. Nastiest ching I ever saw." "That's probably her medicine bag," said Horace. "Where she keeps linie tokens of her most sacred experiences." The woman was of medium height, blue-eyed...