On New Year’s Day in 1870, ten-year-old Adolph Korn was kidnapped by an Apache raiding party. Traded to Comaches, he thrived in the rough, nomadic existence, quickly becoming one of the tribe’s fiercest warriors. Forcibly returned to his parents after three years, Korn never adjusted to life in white society. He spent his last years in a cave, all but forgotten by his family. That is, until Scott … until Scott Zesch stumbled over his own great-great-great uncle’s grave. Determined to understand how such a “good boy” could have become Indianized so completely, Zesch travels across the west, digging through archives, speaking with Comanche elders, and tracking eight other child captives from the region with hauntingly similar experiences. With a historians rigor and a novelists eye, Zesch’s The Captured paints a vivid portrait of life on the Texas frontier, offering a rare account of captivity.
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This book is the first one I found that talked of the subject of abducting children or young people by the Indians. The individual stories were put together very well in one book. Each story was not like any other. Some, when returned to their own family, work out well and others did not. The age of the captives certainly defined their outcome. If someone should ask, I would recommend it. It was written in a manner that said “true story” and I beieved it.
Real
Sometimes it was hard to follow as it jumped around but it was very interesting from a time and perspective that we don’t often get.
excellent book of early pioneers and the hardships they endured.
I very good read…
Wonderful read, full of history, highly recommended
Good
The book was obviously well-researched and showed an unknown aspect of the conflict between the Native-American and the ever-expansion of the white population. It was a revelation that the young men captured and adopted came to accept and admire their Indian captors and their lifestyle to the point they didn’t want to return to their families when found, creating a lifelong internal dilemma for them. It left me feeling sorry for how their life became torn…
Well written, well researched
I love to read about American history. This book is about the Hill Country in Texas. We live in the area. The story about the children who where taken captive by the Indians and what happened to them was very interesting. The story wasn’t just about the children, it was also the story about the Indians and settlers and their struggles. I recommend this book to anyone who loves history the way I do.
An informative, very readable, book about the experiences of child captives of Native American tribes in Texas. This book has more details about various individuals and the dilemmas faced by these children as they transitioned from one cultural to another and then back again when they were rescued or returned.
Great information on white children captured by Indians and the effects it had on them more after their assimilation as “Indians” than during it. Perhaps oddly, many had more trouble assimilating back into white culture than their previous assimilation into Indian culture. Part of their difficulty was caused by the hard life their poor white families lived and the constant work demands to survive as a white family. Males had it much easier in the Indian culture than the poo white one.
A bit too long as it got into the entire lives of those white captives after their return to their families. Got into their roles in Wild West shows and such which was irrelevant to the thrust of the book. I stopped reading after about the 65% mark as the book was no longer about their lives with the Indians or the years immediately after they had been reunited with their white families.
I really loved this account of the lives of the children captured by the Indians. It gives many views of the experience.
If you’re a history buff, you’ll enjoy reading this book. The author’s grand uncle was one of the “white indians” of the Texan Plains and this book is the summary of his extensive research. It’s fascinating to read about the lives of children kidnapped by the Plains Indians. All who were reunited with their Anglo families grieved for their Indian families and communities. It also gave insight into how children adapt whey they are kidnapped and/or introduced into an unfamiliar environment. Parts of the book are dry because the author cites treaties and other historical material, but overall extremely interesting.
I am from that era and this book is so true to that time. I would highly recommend it.
Extremely well-researched, this book sheds light on incidents in the early settlement of Texas often neglected or too hastily summarized.