Olive A Oatman Her Captivity With The Apache Indians And Her Later Life 1908

"Sharlot Hall...a noted historian of Arizona, had informed him that Olive had two children while among her captors." - The Oatman Massacre: A Tale of Desert Captivity and Survival (2014) "Sharlot Hall moved to Arizona...in 1882...traveled through the territory to collect oral histories from old settlers...served as territorial historian." - Derzipilski, Arizona (2004) "In 1906 Joseph Fish claimed that Arizona historian Sharlot Hall had told him Olive had two children, one of whom still visited Fort Yuma."- Captive Arizona, 1851-1900 (2009) "Sharlot Mabridth Hall was an unusual woman for her time: a largely self-educated but highly literate child of the frontier...Her earliest memories were of Comanche raids." -sharlothallmuseum.org Perhaps no single person is more qualified to tell the famous story of the Oatman captivity by Apaches than Arizona territorial historian Sharlot Hall (1870 -1943), who herself had memories of Apache raids and interviewed the early pioneers of Arizona. In 1908, Hall would write a short, but historically important and frequently cited, 20-page account of the Oatman captivity, titled, "Olive A. Oatman: Her Captivity with the Apache Indians and Her Later Life." In introducing her work, Hall writes: "Stories of the captivity of white women with various Indian tribes have been part of the romance and tragedy of the frontier from New England westward; but the Apaches of the Southwest seldom burdened themselves for any length of time with white captives of either sex, and Olive A. Oatman is the only white woman who survived the hardships of an extended captivity among them."

"Sharlot Hall...a noted historian of Arizona, had informed him that Olive had two children while among her captors." - The Oatman Massacre: A Tale of Desert Captivity and Survival (2014) "Sharlot Hall moved to Arizona...in 1882...traveled through the territory to collect oral histories from old settlers...served as territorial historian." - Derzipilski, Arizona (2004) "In 1906 Joseph Fish claimed that Arizona historian Sharlot Hall had told him Olive had two children, one of whom still visited Fort Yuma."- Captive Arizona, 1851-1900 (2009) "Sharlot Mabridth Hall was an unusual woman for her time: a largely self-educated but highly literate child of the frontier...Her earliest memories were of Comanche raids." -sharlothallmuseum.org Perhaps no single person is more qualified to tell the famous story of the Oatman captivity by Apaches than Arizona territorial historian Sharlot Hall (1870 -1943), who herself had memories of Apache raids and interviewed the early pioneers of Arizona. In 1908, Hall would write a short, but historically important and frequently cited, 20-page account of the Oatman captivity, titled, "Olive A. Oatman: Her Captivity with the Apache Indians and Her Later Life." In introducing her work, Hall writes: "Stories of the captivity of white women with various Indian tribes have been part of the romance and tragedy of the frontier from New England westward; but the Apaches of the Southwest seldom burdened themselves for any length of time with white captives of either sex, and Olive A. Oatman is the only white woman who survived the hardships of an extended captivity among them."

Olive Oatman was fourteen years old when her Mormon family was attacked by a Native American tribe in present-day Arizona. Her parents and four siblings were killed, while Olive and a younger sister were captured and later sold to a Mohave tribe. Her sister would later die of hunger, but Olive survived and spent several years among the Mohave people. She was returned to mainstream American society, however, at the age of nineteen when rumors of a white girl living among the Mohave began to circulate. Her re-introduction caused something of a sensation, partly because of the prominent blue face tattoos she received during her time among the Mohave. She would later speak of her time with the Mohave very fondly, and her transition to a very different culture and then back again were no doubt quite complicated. This story was originally published in 1857 under the title "Captivity of the Oatman Girls Being an Interesting Narrative of Life Among the Apache and Mohave Indians" by Royal B. Stratton. It is re-published here in its entirety.

Riveting true-life story of two sisters taken by Indians, their life in captivity, and their brother's search for them.

Recounts the capture of Olive Oatman and her sister by the Apaches, and her 5-year captivity among the Indians.

In 1851, on route to California in a covered wagon, the Oatman family was brutally attacked by Apache Indians. Six family members were murdered on sight, one boy was left for dead, who escaped afterward, and two young girls, Mary Ann and Olive, were taken captive. Mary Ann, the younger of the two girls, died of starvation in 1852. Olive, however, spent five years in captivity before an incredible rescue. In 1856, she was discovered living among the Mohave tribe, and a ransom was offered in exchange for her release. After years of slavery and bearing a prominent blue tattoo traditional to the Mohave people on her face, Olive was restored to her only living family member, Lorenzo Oatman, the brother who survived. This book was commissioned by Lorenzo Oatman as a factual record of his sisters' fates, based on true events. The story is one of tragedy and loss, at times fascinating and also horrifying. The dramatic yet somber words of Lorenzo and Olive, as recorded by Royal B. Stratton, bring readers into the thrilling immediacy of the Apache attack, Lorenzo's escape, the tragic moment when Olive watches Mary Ann die, and most importantly into the final, happy rescue as Olive is reunited with her brother.