Henry M. Anderson’s sons, Mitchell and John Henry Anderson, enlisted in the Texas Rangers in December 1860.  Henry’s daughter Mary Anderson’s husband, Phillip S. George, would have joined about the same time.   Stories indicate that William Walter and Albert James Anderson were Rangers also, perhaps after the Civil War.

The first serious challenge to the Comanche rule of the Texas plains were men that belonged to no army, wore no uniforms, made cold camps on the prairie and were intermittently paid. They owed their existence to the Comanche threat; they fought and behaved like the Comanche.  They were called by many different names including “spies, mounted volunteers and gunmen”.  In 1838 they were officially named The Texas Rangers.

Mitchell, John Henry and Phillip would furnish their own horses, equipment and food.  Pay was set at $30. a month “when it arrived at all”.  Each Ranger had a rifle, two pistols and a knife.  A blanket secured behind their saddle and a small container of salt, flour and tobacco.  They moved lightly over the prairie, just as the Indians did, without a tent and using a saddle for a pillow at night.  The Anderson and George boys had to be mighty tough to survive the life of a Texas Ranger.

The Anderson and George families have passed down stories about Rangers Mitchell,  John  Henry Anderson and  Phillip George being involved in the famous raid of a Comanche camp and finding Cynthia Ann Parker, mother of Quanah  Parker. ( Cousin James A. George wrote this version of the raid).

“In 1836 a large party of Comanche and Kiowa warriors attacked Parkers Fort near Groesbeck.  The raiders carried off nine year old Cynthia Ann Parker and adopted her into the tribe.  She was seen by traders over the years and attempts were made to ransom her but her Indian family would not bargain.  The Comanche birth rate was extremely low and young female captives were viewed as essential part of the tribe.

Cynthia Ann  quickly adjusted to Indian life and grew to become wife of Peta Nonona, a noted war chief.  She bore him three children including Quanah, who would later become the noted war chief of the Kwahadi Band of Comanche.

Cousin Archie Anderson , granddaughter of  John Henry Anderson, wrote;  On December 1860, while the Anderson family lived at Fort Belknap, A Comanche expedition was mounted consisting of  forty Rangers, twenty Army soldiers and some seventy local volunteers.   James A. George wrote;  During their period of enlistment in the Rangers, Philipp George, Mitchell and John Henry Anderson participated in the raid on the Comanche camp on the Pease river south of Vernon Texas.  During  the attack the Rangers and U.S. Army regulars captured several squaws.   Archie Anderson wrote it was her grandfather, John Henry  Anderson who found Cynthia Ann Parker with her baby (Prairie Flower) in her arms and he noted the freckles on her arms and knew she was white.

James A. George wrote;  After the Rangers noticed that one of the Indian women had fair skin and blue eyes.  There was a great deal of discussion about her identity and it was eventually suggested that she might be Cynthia Ann Parker.  Though she could barely speak English, Cynthia Ann identified herself as the little girl who had been captured years before. Cynthia Ann Parker was re-united with her Anglo relatives, but she did not adjust well to the life of a white woman.  She grieved herself to death after a short while”.

In the book EMPIRE OF THE SUMMER MOON, there is a different version . The book gives credit to Commander Sul Ross for discovering Cynthia and her baby.  The book goes on to say Ross was a wiry, ambitious young man.  We are not sure which story about who found Cynthia is correct, but we like James A. George and Archie Anderson version the best.

Cynthia’s son Quanah Parker had left the village prior to the attack.  Quanah became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches.

Notes for this story was taken from my blog, whoismygranddaddy.com,   October 8. 2011, THE CIVIL WAR AND THE ANDERSON FAMILY.