Empire of the Summer Moon

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S. C. Gwynne, Scribner, 2010. 

Comanches

The Comanche Indians were buffalo (bison) hunters on horseback in the southern United States during the nineteenth century. The Comanche dominated the other Indians in the Southwest: Apaches, Arapahoes, Cheyennes, Kiowas, Shawnees, Sioux, Tonkawas, Wichitas. Most of the early history of the indigenous tribes has been obtained from Spanish and Mexican sources. The American settlers invaded areas where Comanches lived and hunted. This happened both during the years of the independence of the Lone Star State (Texas), and during the years following the Mexican-American war. 

Sedentarization of Indigenous Hunters

The United States wanted all the Indians to give up their buffalo hunting lifestyle and become sedentary farmers. The author discusses the origin of the Texas Rangers, who were more effective fighting the Indians than was the United States Army. The tide turned against the Comanche when the whites developed more advanced firearms that did not need to be reloaded after each firing. Revolvers and rifles replaced muskets.

Quanah Parker

Much of the book is about a particular man, Quanah Parker, whose mother was a captured white woman.