Comanche Captive

By Don Smart & Mary Joe Clendenin

ISBN 0-9701-488-2-8

Clendenin Books

Stephenville, Texas

2003, paper, 156 pages

This book is rooted in the true story of the captivity of Juana Cavasos by the Comanches.   Little information is available about the actual events of Juana's years living with the Native Americans, so the writers carefully researched the parallel history of the area and the involvement of Sam Houston.  The activities of the Native Americans and Juana in the camp where her captors enslaved her appear as authentic as research and imagination can render them.

Juana Cavasos and her twin brother Juan were the youngest of the five children of a wealthy Spaniard.  When Juana was only six years old the family moved to a ranch on the border of Texas and Mexico. Juana was not content to sit in the house and play the lady.  She found a way to learn to ride, and explored the ranch. Her determination and strength of character were obvious even when she was a child.  She grew into a strong, independent young woman and an outstanding equestrian.       

When visiting her cousins in Olnieto Juana is yanked up by her hair and thrown across a horse in front of a member of a Comanche raiding party.  She is swept away into the wilds to be made a slave.  Although she was used to a life of wealth and ease, Juana's courage and fortitude kept her alive and gave her the strength to devise and implement a plan to gain her freedom and return to her family.

Don Smart and Mary Joe Clendenin have produced a finely crafted story that thrills and inspires.  They make Juana and her ordeal real to the reader and demonstrate a fine respect for the Comanche's way of life.

A.H.Holt, editor

WesternFictionReview

June 2004