Peta Nocona chose his wife from among the members of the Nokoni band. He led his tribe during the extensive Indian Wars in Texas, from the late 1840s until the 1860s, as the United States tried to suppress his people. He was the son of the Quahadi Comanche chief Iron Jacket. He became so renowned that a legend said that his band, the Nokoni (or Wanderers, or Travellers) band, were named for him, but they had long antedated him. The city of Nocona, Texas is named after him.