LITR 4326 Early American Literature Research Posts 2016 (research post assignment) Research Post 2

 Andrea Esquivel

Unbreakable: A Glimpse Into the Life of Rachel Plummer

Life on the plains was arduous and grueling for settlers west of the original colonies. It was made that much harder by the neighboring Native Americans who would raid the homes and villages of settlers in order to take revenge on the white man overrunning their lands. This does not mean to say that all Native Americans tribes were bloodthirsty and vicious, but in the case of Rachel Plummer, bloodthirsty and vicious were niceties compared to her reality with the Comanche tribe of modern-day Philadelphia. Hers is not a story with a happy ending, but it is one with heart and gives people today a very real glimpse into life among the Comanche tribe.

Rachel Plummer was born on March 22, 1819 to Martha and James Parker in Illinois (“PLUMMER, RACHEL PARKER”). Between the years of 1822 and 1823, the Plummer family moved to Texas in order to better their lives (“PLUMMER, RACHEL PARKER”). On May 19, 1836, Fort Parker was attacked by Native Americans and the Parker family was raped, tortured, slaughtered, and scalped on their own land (Exley). The only family members left alive for the moment were Rachel, her son James Pratt, her cousin Cynthia Ann and another cousin named John Richard Parker (Exley). One of the most chilling and disturbing parts of the narrative was when Rachel identified the scalps that were being cleaned as that of her grandfather’s and her two uncles’ scalps as well (“The White Squaw”).

Although Mary Jemison’s fate was impeccably fortunate—despite her whole family being slaughtered before her—seeing as how she was able to live a somewhat happy life with the Seneca, Rachel Plummer’s was overwhelmingly heart-wrenching. The Comanche were a ruthless tribe and were not interested in replacing a loved one with a stolen loved one. When she was taken, she was pregnant, and a few months later gave birth to a son, Luther. About six weeks after Luther was born, the Comanche warriors believed that caring for her newborn was time-consuming and that it was “interfering with her work” and threw him to the ground (“PLUMMER, RACHEL PARKER”). When his mother revived him, the warriors “tied him to a rope…and dragged [the infant] through cactuses”, effectively butchering the tiny body (Exley). Following her infant’s cruel demises, Rachel was put to work and had to fend for herself against the other Comanche women—at this time she was considered a Comanche woman herself, not a slave (Fehrenbach). This was when she realized that the Comanche take violence very seriously, and if a Comanche has to fight for their life, death of their opponent is not just a likely possibility, it was expected (Fehrenbach).

After some time had passed after her fights with the Comanche women, Rachel couldn’t help but wonder if her baby Luther could have lived if she had realized that bravery and fighting were valued highly among the Comanche (Fehrenbach). The loss of her son Luther and her stolen son James Pratt haunted her for the rest of her life. Her release from the Comanche was enacted on June 19, 1837 by some Mexican traders hired by Col. and Mrs. William Donaho ("PLUMMER, RACHEL PARKER"). She was later escorted back to Texas by her brother-in-law Lorenzo D. Nixon, where she was reunited with her husband Luther Plummer on February 19, 1838 (“PLUMMER, RACHEL PARKER”). She became pregnant soon after her arrival home and on January 4, 1939 she had another son named Luther II (Exley). Rachel died on March 19, 1939, and her newborn Luther II died just days after his mother passed away (“PLUMMER, RACHEL PARKER”). Her father James Plummer believed that she died of heartbreak, not knowing what had become of James Pratt, her long lost son, and because of what her body had been through in the years before (Gwynne). Between the years of 1842-1843, James Pratt was ransomed and reunited with his grandfather James Plummer, who refused to let his father Luther see him because he failed to find and or rescue Rachel and James Pratt (Exley).

Rachel’s life during and after captivity was not much of a life at all—in a human sense. She was forced to fight to survive and willed herself mentally, and physically to move forward and refused to die in captivity. Hers is a narrative filled with angst and grief that is almost unbearable to read. She fought until she could make it home and die among family, she was impossible to break.

Exley, Jo Ella Powell. Frontier Blood: The Saga of the Parker Family. College Station: Texas A & M UP, 2001. Print.

Fehrenbach, T. R. Comanches: The Destruction of a People. New York: Knopf;, 1974. Print.

Gwynne, S. C. Gwynne of the Summer Moon. London: Constable, 2011. Print.

"PLUMMER, RACHEL PARKER." EXLEY, JO ELLA POWELL. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.

"The White Squaw." The White Squaw. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.