In 1851 Olive Oatman was a thirteen-year old pioneer traveling west toward Zion, with her Mormon family. Within a decade, she was a white Indian with a chin tattoo, caught between cultures. “The Blue Tattoo” tells the harrowing story of this forgotten heroine of frontier America. Orphaned when her family was brutally killed by Yavapai Indians, Oatman lived as a slave to her captors for a year … before being traded to the Mohave, who tattooed her face and raised her as their own. She was fully assimilated and perfectly happy when, at nineteen, she was ransomed back to white society. She became an instant celebrity, but the price of fame was high and the pain of her ruptured childhood lasted a lifetime.
Based on historical records, including letters and diaries of Oatman’s friends and relatives, “The Blue Tattoo” is the first book to examine her life from her childhood in Illinois–including the massacre, her captivity, and her return to white society–to her later years as a wealthy banker’s wife in Texas.
Oatman’s story has since become legend, inspiring artworks, fiction, film, radio plays, and even an episode of “Death Valley Days” starring Ronald Reagan. Its themes, from the perils of religious utopianism to the permeable border between civilization and savagery, are deeply rooted in the American psyche. Oatman’s blue tattoo was a cultural symbol that evoked both the imprint of her Mohave past and the lingering scars of westward expansion. It also served as a reminder of her deepest secret, fully explored here for the first time: she never wanted to go home.
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I stumbled on the story of Olive Oatman doing research for something else. I have no idea now what it was and how it related to a woman being kidnapped by Native Americans, but I was intrigued by Olive’s story and so bought this book. I am very glad I did. Mifflin does a wonderful job sifting through the prejudices of the era and digging down to the probable truth of Olive’s experience. Olive’s life–and how her story was told during her lifetime and after–offers quite an interesting commentary on the misogyny and bigotry that are still prevalent in the US today.
I agree with Elmore Leonard, this book was a winner.
The main point behind this particular book (because there have been many about the Oatman massacre) was to try and dispel the sensationalistic story that surrounded this (poor) woman once she was returned back to the “whites” from the Mohaves. When she left, her “adoptive mother” Topeka, cried. There is speculation, that similar to Cynthia Parker, Olive Oatman (OO) didn’t want to come back to white society. There is good evidence that OO had assimilated, and was, to the best of her ability in her circumstances, happy. One way Mifflin suggests this possibility is the tattoo on OO’s chin. This is done for members of the tribe (Mohave) and for no other reason. When getting the tattoo, one has to not move the mouth so as to not smudge or mar the markings for a certain period and one has to lie very still, etc. I.e. it takes cooperation, and OO’s tattoo was perfect signaling she had been willing.
Also, while the nickname wasn’t very flattering, OO was given one. Another example of OO’s probable happiness, was one particular opportunity to escape that came about and OO did nothing. Mifflin did a great job dissecting the various facts around this event in which OO didn’t show herself. This approach taken by Mifflin is one I really enjoyed, scrubbing facts against rumors.
Another of my favorite things in the story was the carefully extracted facts from articles, diaries, letters, even some of OO’s own writings. Then, Mifflin would expertly weigh in, and reason whether various accounts or statements were true by using Yavapais (the tribe that murdered her family) and Mohave customs to determine what might have been true or embellished.
Bottom line, the most factual account of what probably occurred in 1851 and the following years, and a truly fascinating read.
I really love reading up on history in general, but most specifically this era of history. The sort of Olive Oatman was told in such a way that was very intriguing and descriptive. I found her story to be very interesting compared to others who experienced the same things as she did. I flew through this book very fast because it was just so good. I would recommend this book for many reasons.
A must read. So glad I did. Olive Oatman was a lovely human being who, along with her family, endured what no person should ever have to experience. The author tries to get Olive’s story as historically correct as possible, which is a tribute to Olive who is someone to be respected and loved.