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The Oatman massacre is among the most famous and dramatic captivity stories in the history of the Southwest. In this riveting account, Brian McGinty explores the background, development, and aftermath of the tragedy.Roys Oatman, a dissident Mormon, led his family of nine and a few other families from their homes in Illinois on a journey west, believing a prophecy that they would find the fertile “Land of Bashan” at the confluence of the Gila and Colorado Rivers. On February 18, 1851, a band of southwestern Indians attacked the family on a cliff overlooking the Gila River in present-day Arizona. All but three members of the family were killed. The attackers took thirteen-year-old Olive and eight-year-old Mary Ann captive and left their wounded fourteen-year-old brother Lorenzo for dead.Although Mary Ann did not survive, Olive lived to be rescued and reunited with her brother at Fort Yuma.On Olive’s return to white society in 1857, Royal B. Stratton published a book that sensationalized the story, and Olive herself went on lecture tours, telling of her experiences and thrilling audiences with her Mohave chin tattoos.Ridding the legendary tale of its anti-Indian bias and questioning the historic notion that the Oatmans’ attackers were Apaches, McGinty explores the extent to which Mary Ann and Olive may have adapted to life among the Mohaves and charts Olive’s eight years of touring and talking about her ordeal.
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THE OATMAN MASSACRE This page intentionally left blank The Oatman Massacre A TALE OF DESERT CAPTIVITY AND SURVIVAL BRIAN MCGINTY University of Oklahoma Press : Norman Also by Brian McGinty Strong Wine: The Life and Legend of Agoston Haraszthy (Palo Alto, Calif., 1998) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data McGinty, Brian. The Oatman massacre : a tale of desert captivity and survival / Brian McGinty. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8061-3667-7 (alk. paper) 1. Oatman, Olive Anne—Captivity, 1851. 2. Oatman, Mary Ann, d. 1852—Captivity, 1851. 3. Indian captivities—Southwest, New. 4. Apache Indians—History. 5. Mohave Indians—History. I. Title. E87.O63M34 2004 979.004'9725—dc22 2004058018 This book is published with the generous assistance of the Wallace C. Thompson Endowment Fund, University of Oklahoma Foundation. The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources, Inc. ∞ Copyright © 2005 by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Publishing Division of the University. All rights reserved. Manufactured in the U.S.A. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 To Jim Barnett Without his help this book would not be what it is, or half as good. This page intentionally left blank “Much of that dreadful period is unwritten, and will remain forever unwritten.” ROYAL B. STRATTON Captivity of the Oatman Girls (1857) “We met as friends giving the left hand in friendship, which is held as a sacred pledge, among some tribes. I conversed with him in his own language, making many enquiries about the tribe.” OLIVE OATMAN “A Narative [sic]” (1864) “She said: ‘This is the last I shall see of you. I will tell all about the Mohave and how I lived with them. Good bye.’ We shook hands and I saw her go off.” TOKWATHA (“MUSK MELON”) to Alfred L. Kroeber (1903) This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction 1. The Family 2. The Vision 3. The Quest 4. The Captives 5. The Tattoos 6. The Return 7. The Book 8. The Legacy Notes Bibliography Index xi xiii 3 13 30 54 77 98 142 160 180 205 229 249 This page intentionally le