And, much like the real life case of Cynthia Ann Parker, the returned captives are unable to adjust to their new/old way of life, which leads inexorably to tragedy. Once they arrive, they broker the release of only a handful of captives - the others ask to be left behind, either out of shame or because they’ve grown accustomed to Comanche life. Two Rode Together gives us a scoundrel (played by Jimmy Stewart) and a pragmatic Army officer (Richard Widmark) who set out on a rescue mission not out of a sense of moral obligation, but for money. The Searchers is ultimately the more optimistic of the two, giving us a hero who is driven purely by race hatred until familial bonds compel him to welcome his niece back into the fold after growing up amongst the Comanche.
In both films the question is raised of whether or not they can ever return to white society after having been “spoiled” by living with savages. The two films are similar in the broad strokes of the plot: two men must ride into Comanche territory and seek out white captives in the hopes of returning them to civilization. The complicated interplay of history, myth, fact and legend is explored throughout Ford’s body of work, and The Searchers and Two Rode Together are no exception. The story of Cynthia Ann and Quanah Parker relates to Two Rode Together in a number of intriguing ways.
#TWO RODE TOGETHER FREE#
One of her sons, Quanah Parker, became the last of the free Comanche chiefs, putting his mixed heritage to use in making deals (however tenuous) with white men in order to improve his people’s fortunes. Heartbroken at the separation, she died ten years after being rescued. Unlike the ending of Ford’s film, Cynthia was not happy to be returned to civilization, yearning for “her people” out on the plains.
She had completely acclimated to their way of life, even marrying a Comanche chief and bearing him three children. Cynthia Ann Parker was snatched from her home by a party of Comanche Indians in 1836, living as one of them for twenty four years before being freed by a group of Texas Rangers. The Searchers is certainly mythic, but it attempts in its halting, sometimes clumsy way to demythologize a foundational element of the Western genre.Īs it turns out the book that The Searchers is based on, written by Alan LeMay, is based on a true story from Texas history. For all of that film’s sweep and splendor, it also wrestled with issues of racial prejudice in a way that made for a sobering look at the violence and devastation cowboys and Native Americans wreaked upon each other in the Old West. In talking about what makes Two Rode Together a notable entry in John Ford’s prodigious career, it’s necessary to examine it in the shadow of its cinematic cousin, Ford’s towering epic The Searchers.
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