JO ELLA POWELL EXLEY is a fifth-generation descendant of Texas pioneers. She is a longtime schoolteacher in the Houston area and editor of Texas Tears and Texas Sunshine: Voices of Frontier Women, also published by Texas A&M University Press.

".... only now do we have the whole fascinating story of the Parker Clan, from their westward migration on to Texas and Cynthia's Commanche captivity, to Quanah's role as the last great war chief (and eventual peacemaker) of that tribe. Along the way in this well-told narrative, we meet Sul Ross, Ranald Mackenzie, even Custer, as well as the brave buffalo hunters of Adobe Walls." - True West "Vivid, unsparing accounts, much insight into the pioneer experience and the details of early interracial relations will make this book popular among devotees of the history of the American West." - Publisher's Weekly"