A Girl Kidnapped And Tattooed By Native Americans

Olive Oatman was captured by the Native Americans. They counted her as one of them. And inked a tattoo on her face.

Olive was born in 1837, in Illinois. Her family followed a splinter sect led by James C. Brewster. He stated that he had received a revelation and led Mormons to California. The Oatmans joined the group and took the road. They headed to California through Tucson.

At the resting point, the group was warned that the Native Americans were hostile there. The group decided to stay but the Oatmans continued the trip on their own. That night they encountered the Yavapai tribe who were bargaining for tobacco and food. When the Oatmans rejected them, they killed the family. Only children were left alive.

Olive and her sister Mary were captured and taken to the village. The tribe treated them as slaves. They foraged food and carried firewood, They were often beaten and mistreated.

A year later the girls were sold to the Mohave tribe for two horses. There they were treated as members of the tribe. They were given land to farm and traditional Mohave clothes to wear. The girls’ chins and arms were tattooed with religious symbols.

In 1855, the Mohaves suffered from drought. Mary died from starvation and Olive was left alone with the tribe. Olive became accustomed to the tribe’s way of life and traditions. She was given a clan name Oach.

When Olive was 19, the Mohaves received a message from Fort Yuma. The military men had heard of a white girl living in the tribe and wanted her back. The Mohaves decided to set Olive free and escorted her to the fort. There Olive found out that her brother had survived the attack on their family. He had been looking for his sisters all these years.

Though at the age of 28 she married a cattle rancher and they adopted a child. Olive's adult life wasn’t happy. She suffered from headaches and depression. In 1864, Olive met with a Mohave leader in New York. The two recalled the good times they had in the village. Olive died at the age of 65 of a heart attack. Today in Arizona there is a city of Oatman named in her honor.

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