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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I was very surprised by the book Captured. It was really interesting to learn how the children who were captured by Indians in the 1800’s were treated by them and how they reacted to that treatment. There was a big difference between the way they were being raised in their birth homes and in their adoptive Indian homes. I learned a lot.
Well written authentic history of a little covered subject.
Well researched. I’ve been telling everyone about this book. Haunting, tragic and a must read for anyone interested in Texas history.
Great book about little known Texas history.
I always wondered how kids abducted by the Indians (mostly the boys) could never re-adjust back to their previous lives. This book showed me why that was so.
Interesting true stories of white settler’s children abducted by Indians during the late 1800’s in Texas. It covers the heartbreak of the white parents, the children’s ability to adapt to the Indian way of life. It includes the impact to some children returning to their settler homes after their release from the Indians.
Very well researched i
A painstaking, exhaustive work of research, “Captured” tells the stories of a number of individuals who were kidnapped by Indians as children in the days when the frontier West was about to decline from its height of “wildness.” Zesch takes his information from newspapers, interviews with descendants of those kidnapped children (most of whom returned or were found years later) and any other historical material he found. It’s an important addition to the history of Indian-white relations, all the more praiseworthy for its dispassionate and generous treatment of both the Indians and the settlers.
The story held me captive. I read till I finished the book. I found myself empathizing with the children I put myself in their shoes and found I fully understood why they did what they needed to do to survive.
This was a fascinating book. If you like history and especially native American history and the impact on frontier life you will like this. I hadn’t really realized how late in our history that people were being captured. I also didn’t know about how the captives quickly adapted to their changed circumstances.
I learned so much about this tragic time for native Americans and Americans
Very well written and researched book about children kidnapped and raised with Indians. Many things I never knew about. Author writes very clearly. Good read.
Great book, important history!
Not as interesting as I thought it would be.
I had difficulty getting into this book with the constant addition of characters and situations.
Great read. Gives you a new perspective on Native Americans
Great objective story about Native American culture clashing with European immigration/invasion. This book provides a perspective on southwestern tribal life that most people have never considered.
Very enlightening…. a study of Stockholms syndrome way before it was called that. I was surprised at how many children did not want to return home and if they did, how unhappy they were. They understood their captor’s better than anyone. I enjoyed it very much and if you love the great outdoors just as it was, you will enjoy it also. Life at it’s hardest and at times at it’s best.
I really enjoyed this book. It really changes your thoughts on what you learned about Native American history.
This book provided some historical clarity and information that has been lacking from my education.