Here’s an interesting little story, the truth of which I knew little about until I was prompted to look it up following an article about female tattooing published in a UK newspaper today.
[pic copyright Getty Images, from the Daily Mail website.]
The lady is Olive Oatman, born in Illinois in 1837. The Oatman family were Mormons who were one of several groups that joined wagon trains heading to California following a rift with the Church leadership in Salt Lake City. They departed from Independence, Missouri on 9th August 1850 in two parties, with the Oatman group taking a Northern route and arriving in New Mexico in early 1851. They didn’t like it and intended to carry on to the mouth of the Colorado River. When they reached Maricopa Wells, they were warned of “Indian trouble ahead” but the Oatman family proceeded anyway – alone.
Royce and Mary Oatman, accompanied by 7 children between the ages of 1 and 16, were approached on the fourth day by a group of Indians wanting tobacco, food and rifles. The Indians attacked the group and all of them were killed except 15-year old Lorenzo (clubbed and left for dead), 13-year old Olive and 7-year old Mary Ann.
The two girls were taken and held captive by either Tolkepayas or Western Yavapais and made to do menial tasks. Years later, Olive insisted: “to the honor of these savages let it be said, they never offered the least unchaste abuse to me”. A year later, visiting Mojave Indians traded two horses, some vegetables and blankets for the captive girls, taking them to a village near Needles in California where they were taken in by Chief Espanesay and treated as family. There is evidence that Olive later said she had been married to the Chief’s son and gave birth to two boys but that was never verified. Both girls were given bright blue tattoos on their chins and arms in keeping with the tribal custom to ensure their passage to the afterlife.
1858 lithograph – Olive being presented to a Mojave tribal council before being tattooed as part of religious rite. [pic copyright corbis, from the Daily Mail website]
A year later, Mary Ann died of starvation during a drought-induced famine. After 6 or 7 years of captivity, rumours of Olive's existence reached the authorites at Fort Yuma and the post commander negotiated her release by trade. Olive didn’t know her brother had survived the massacre and they were ultimately reunited. In 1865, she married the cattleman John B. Fairchild and moved to Sherman, Texas where they adopted a baby girl. Olive died of a heart attack in 1903, at the age of 65.
[pic copyright Getty Images, from the Daily Mail website.]
The lady is Olive Oatman, born in Illinois in 1837. The Oatman family were Mormons who were one of several groups that joined wagon trains heading to California following a rift with the Church leadership in Salt Lake City. They departed from Independence, Missouri on 9th August 1850 in two parties, with the Oatman group taking a Northern route and arriving in New Mexico in early 1851. They didn’t like it and intended to carry on to the mouth of the Colorado River. When they reached Maricopa Wells, they were warned of “Indian trouble ahead” but the Oatman family proceeded anyway – alone.
Royce and Mary Oatman, accompanied by 7 children between the ages of 1 and 16, were approached on the fourth day by a group of Indians wanting tobacco, food and rifles. The Indians attacked the group and all of them were killed except 15-year old Lorenzo (clubbed and left for dead), 13-year old Olive and 7-year old Mary Ann.
The two girls were taken and held captive by either Tolkepayas or Western Yavapais and made to do menial tasks. Years later, Olive insisted: “to the honor of these savages let it be said, they never offered the least unchaste abuse to me”. A year later, visiting Mojave Indians traded two horses, some vegetables and blankets for the captive girls, taking them to a village near Needles in California where they were taken in by Chief Espanesay and treated as family. There is evidence that Olive later said she had been married to the Chief’s son and gave birth to two boys but that was never verified. Both girls were given bright blue tattoos on their chins and arms in keeping with the tribal custom to ensure their passage to the afterlife.
1858 lithograph – Olive being presented to a Mojave tribal council before being tattooed as part of religious rite. [pic copyright corbis, from the Daily Mail website]
A year later, Mary Ann died of starvation during a drought-induced famine. After 6 or 7 years of captivity, rumours of Olive's existence reached the authorites at Fort Yuma and the post commander negotiated her release by trade. Olive didn’t know her brother had survived the massacre and they were ultimately reunited. In 1865, she married the cattleman John B. Fairchild and moved to Sherman, Texas where they adopted a baby girl. Olive died of a heart attack in 1903, at the age of 65.
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