BLUE NORTHER is a fictionalised account of the life of Quanah Parker, a seminal figure in the history of the American Far West. A chance encounter with one of his descendants, an active representative of the Comanche nation, gave me the licence to research and tell this story.

A ‘Blue Norther’ is an Arctic weather front that sweeps across the Texas prairies during the autumn.

For indigenous nations living on the plains in the latter half of the nineteenth century, Blue Northers arrive in the form of US cavalry regiments sent to subdue them and drive them on to land designated by the federal government. Many go quietly. Others strenuously resist. Quanah, leader of the Quahada band of Comanches, is one such.

Quanah straddles two cultures. Son of a war chief, and a captive white mother, he struggles to reconcile the conflicting influences on his character. He becomes a formidable fighter on the battlefield but has to learn new skills when starvation forces him to abandon the nomadic life. Playing the white man at his own game, he leases grazing rights to Comanche land, achieving wealth and status sufficient to be elected to the powerful Texas Cattlemen’s Association. This gives him leverage to promote Comanche rights and earns him celebrity status in both communities.

An event in his childhood changes the course of his life. In an attack on his village, Texas Rangers abduct his mother and baby sister and return them to her white family. Not knowing whether they’re dead or alive, Quanah is devastated. When his father charges him with reuniting the family, he is given a sacred mission he feels honour-bound to fulfil.

Fifty years later, and three months before his own death, he discovers the location of their bodies. With their reburial in a family grave, he completes his quest.