Bales of cotton as similes for captives
Because there were people willing to pay money for the safe return of their captured loved ones, settlers captured by the Comanche were often sold to Comanchero (Spanish) traders, brought to Santa Fe, and then sold "like bales of cotton". Ransoms for captives created an underground economy for captured settlers, and created a perverse incentive for warriors to raid more settlements and capture more people.
Cotton, with its association with the slave trade in the American South, contributes to a narrative tone in which the author, S.C. Gwynne, subtly highlights the captives' slave status. Although the United States was nominally not a country that supported slavery or trade in human beings, the institution was alive and well on the frontier.
Buck as metaphor for Peta Nocona
The trader Victor Rose describes the brilliant tactitian and war chief Peta Nocona as a "great, greasy, lazy buck". Rose visited the campsite of Peta Nocona in an attempt to get his wife Nautdah (formerly known as Cynthia Ann Parker) to return to her family. She refuses, having thoroughly assimilated into the Comanche culture. Rose has no reason to like Peta Nocona, but he acknowledges the man's unusual height and strength.
"Night-eyed" Mexican woman
John Parker, Cynthia Ann's younger brother, was rescued and returned to Lucy Parker but ultimately left for a ranching life in Mexico. The Mexican woman he married, who nursed him when he was ill, is described as being "night-eyed". After his adventures with the Comanche and some subsequent military service not related to the Indian wars, Parker went on to a long, quiet ranching life in Mexico far away from the frontier.
"Comanche" moon or full moon as metaphor for danger
Peta Nocona's raiding parties attacked at night, generally under the light of a full moon. He and his warriors could see, but the settlers, cowboys, and hide men who tended to stare into their overly large campfires could not. In Texas, the full moon came to be known as a "Comanche" moon.
Knife as symbol of utmost effort
Isa-Tai and Quanah Parker propose a "war to the knife" of utter annihilation against the invading settlers. With the Comanche numbers vastly depleted due to disease, low birth rates, and the kind of attrition that is a predictable result of a generations-long insurgent war, the Comanche must either fight or submit, They choose to fight.
The knife is relevant because the primary Comanche weapon is the bow, supplemented with the lance, the spear, or the tomahawk. For battle to get so close that a knife would be a viable weapon represented a willingness to risk everything.
