In the spring of 1851, nine members of the Oatman family set out for California on the old Santa Fe Trail. Seventy miles from the California border they were attacked by Indians, who massacred the entire family, except a boy, Lorenzo (mistakenly left for dead), and two girls, Ann and Olive. The girls were taken into captivity, soon to be sold to other Indians farther west. Lorenzo, though badly wounded, found his way back to civilization. As soon as he was able, he began to search for his sisters.

R. B. Stratton's narrative is based upon interviews with the Oatmans themselves. It vividly...

The incredible story of the girl with the face tattoo
The story of the Oatman girls, Olive and Mary Ann, is one of the most famous accounts of the abduction of white women by indigenous Indians in the annals of the history of the American western frontier. The Oatman's, led by their patriarch Royce, were a family of nine. Members of the Mormon faith, they had become dissenters of Brigham Young's leadership and allying themselves with James Brewster and his 'Brewsterites' resolved to move to California in 1850. The original substantial wagon-train they had formed for security split as a...

The incredible story of the girl with the face tattoo
The story of the Oatman girls, Olive and Mary Ann, is one of the most famous accounts of the abduction of white women by indigenous Indians in the annals of the history of the American western frontier. The Oatman's, led by their patriarch Royce, were a family of nine. Members of the Mormon faith, they had become dissenters of Brigham Young's leadership and allying themselves with James Brewster and his 'Brewsterites' resolved to move to California in 1850. The original substantial wagon-train they had formed for security split as a...