Comanche Moon Songtext
von Red Steagall

We gathered at Brown′s cabin in the Brazos River Breaks
We was all stirred up about an Injun raid
It was early in December, the Comanche moon was full
And the Parker County settlers were afraid
The raiders were Nocona and his fierce Quahadi band
And out near the Palo Pinto County line
They killed a Mrs. Sherman and run off a lot of stock
They took a dandy iron-gray horse of mine

That gelding was a good one, the best I've ever known
Kentucky-bred and faster than the wind
Pa brought him here to Texas when we come from Tennessee
And I′d ride through hell to get him back again


We wasn't very organized, just rough-hewn volunteers
But we was used to livin' in the wild
And ol′ Goodnight was a seasoned hand, he had just turned twenty-four
And barely fifteen, I was still a child
And I′d never faced an Injun, but my blood was fairly up
And all the boys was spoilin' for a fight
But I think down deep I was wishin′ that them varmints would escape
I sure weren't keen on fightin′ 'em at night

We cut their sign next mornin′ just beyond Ione Creek
The band split up to throw us off the track
And we took the trail that headed west, but I kept on the watch
Afraid the other bunch had doubled back

Now Goodnight was a ranger, he knew the country well
He took the point and rode on up ahead
And in seven days he found their camp where Mule Creek hits the Ps
Them Injuns was just gettin' out of bed

We hit the camp a-runnin', Captain Ross was in the lead
They scattered like a coyote in the brush
And we rode through fires and tepees, shootin′ everything that moved
Creating mass confusion in the rush

I saw some riders headed for a stand of cottonwoods
A woman was aboard my good iron-gray
And she was ridin′ like a demon and was carryin' a child
I caught her just before she got away


We had them Injuns sittin′ in a circle on the ground
All squaws and children 'cept for one or two
I seen the one that I had caught and did a double take
When she looked up, I seen her eyes was blue

And we was lookin′ for white captives
'Cause they always take a few
I pointed to the one that I had found
And we talked to her in English, but she didn′t understand
Just sat there moanin', starin' at the ground

Then Sul Ross turned to me and said, "Might be that Parker girl"
We took her to Camp Cooper in a van
We sent for Colonel Parker, and when he called out her name
She stood straight up and said, "Me Cincy Ann"

Well, they took her then to Birdville, where her Uncle Isaac lived
She never readjusted to the life
They say she died of grievin′ for her husband and her boys
That woman was ol′ Chief Nocona's wife

And her first son, Quanah Parker, was the terror of the plains
A savage, brutal warrior in his day
He′s up in Oklahoma now and walks the white man's road
And me, I′m workin' cattle on my gray

But I can′t help but wonder if we done that woman wrong
But we were certain we were right back then
No way could we imagine she was better off out there
To us they were barbaric, heathen men

We settled in this county just before the Civil War
Hard-workin' people, full of hopes and dreams
We saw the brutal massacres, we buried young and old
We still remember fiendish, hellish screams

And in that stand of live oak trees are ghostly, charred remains
A family lived in constant fear and dread
A solitary chimney built by hardy pioneers
Is a solemn, silent sentinel of the dead

The north wind's gettin′ nippy, leaves are turnin′ gold
White snow geese signal winter's comin′ soon
Now we no longer live in fear
And I look forward to the autumn and its bright Comanche moon