Oatman Massacre

[painshill]

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.

[Paleolution]

Very interesting read painshill!  Hits close to home for me for a couple reasons.  My ancestors came from Sheffield, England.  My great great grandfather Henry Roper, was the Church of Latter-Day Saints' president of the Sheffield conference from 1851 to 1854 when he sailed for the new world.  They came up thourgh the Gulf of Mexico, and were stranded for 6 weeks out at sea with no food or water.  They eventually found a fresh water Gulf stream and a dead sea turtle that kept them alive enough to get to New Orleans on June 4, 1854.  They had a rough trail to Utah losing two of their 14 children, and eventually building a small dug out in Scipio, Millard County, UT.  The "indian trouble" forced them to move on and settled an area later to be named "Deseret".  They built a small fort in 18 days, using mainly women and children for labor and it still partially stands today.  They abandoned Deseret in 1868, moving to the townsite of Oak City, where Henry set up a black smith shop, as he was master knife maker.  He died in 1906, but left behind a lot of children and many generations to follow. 
I also really like the story about hostage life within Native American tribes.  The story of Oatman, is a similar occurance with many settlers and tribes during the many years of warfare.  I just finished reading "Troubled Trails" the Meeker massacre (highly suggest reading), about the forceful removal of the Utes from Colorado.  The story tells of the trails the hostages endured after the battle at the White River Agency in which Meeker and the other agents were killed.  They did not violate or mistreat the hostages, and intended to induct them into the tribe, as warriors were constantly fighting over who would marry them.  The same things happened to many of the people in the Ute tribe, some were taken from Arapahoes or Commanches during war or traded with mormons, and eventually became a part of the family.  Even retaining some of the names of their origin, like "Arapaho John".  It is interesting to see these occurances in all parts of the new world, as it was part of their culture.  I guess they thought, a happy slave would be more benefit than a sad one, and they also knew that they would soon adapt to the new way of life and forget about their past.  I really like the photo of Oatman, what a cool story!

[painshill]

Thanks Tyson
Your story is even cooler, given that it relates to your own family. I'll be looking out for that "Troubled Trails" book. I love these old stories - especially when they include first-hand accounts of how things really were, rather than the treatment Hollywood has given them.

[Paleolution]

Thanks painshill, I have been doing our geneology for the family over the last couple years.  I sure wish I had a knife he made, that would be so awesome!  You're right about the Hollywood thing, and the Troubled Trails book also shows how settlers used propoganda and unjustified accussations to get support from Washington to remove them from Colorado, all in the name of minerals.  I also like how the book recounts one of the last major battles during the indian wars, and a lot of the Utes characters lived right here in my area.  Another cool thing I learned was that the first African Americans to be in my county were the Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th Calvary.  They stationed on the same creek I artifact hunt, in the summer of 1878 before aiding in the rescue of several soldiers pinned down in the battle.  It was also during that battle that Sgt. Johnson became the first African American to recieve the Congressional Medal of Honor.

[painshill]

Tyson
I have an archaeological report which maps the main industrial areas of Sheffield and gives the names, adresses and map locations of the traders operating in Henry Roper's time. I couldn't find any mention of a firm named Roper. He may have been outside the area that the report covers or perhaps working as a master craftsman for a larger firm. If you know that he operated his own business or signed his work, let me know. There's probably a better chance of finding one of his knives over here.

[Paleolution]

Very cool painshill, but I may have miss labeled him?  I'm reading a narrative from one of his grand daughters and it mentions he was a "master knife maker", but that may be a play on words and not a professional title.  It mentions he worked with a man named James Wells in UT, "at the trade he had learned in England", so maybe he was just a blacksmith that made a few knives, but not a "master" in a sense of an offcial title.  But no mention of where he may have recieved his training or who he worked for in England.  He was married in Sheeffield to a Mary Ann Grayson in 1843, when mormonism was becoming more popular.  I did find a couple photos of him and Mary Ann, and only one of his one room cabin blacksmith shop in UT, but the photo is so small it's worthless to post. 

Henry and Mary Ann are seated in the center of the photo.