The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman (Women in the West)

Margot Mifflin’s Blue Tatoo- The Life of Olive Oatman tells the story of Olive’s life as an adolescent whose family embarks on a life-altering trek to California in search of her father’s pursuit of a paradise on earth. The author strives to strip away the myths and fabrications previously published regarding Olive’s captivity following the massacre of her family by a band of Yavapais, and her assimilation into life with the Mojave who raised her. The book provides both insight into Olive’s experience, and that of the Native American’s whose world was forever altered by the wave of pioneers moving west to secure land, and those in pursuit of gold. Mifflin includes the role of the US military at Calvary outposts and that of the severe drought conditions that effected the wagon trains of the settlers and the food sources for the Native Americans. The Blue Tatoo focuses on the life of Olive Oatman before, during and after her time in captivity, but provides a view of life in the mid 1800’s to early 1900’s for young women in America. The book provides insight into Olive’s experiences, and her resilience in living with personal tragedy and ultimately survival.

I happened on the cover picture in a blog recently, and like many people, immediately thought "Hey, that's the tattoo from Hell on Wheels". Apparently the character's tattooing in that series was borrowed explicitly from Olive Oatman's. It's ironic that the TV character was a prostitute, as the Oatman's history as a captive of the Yavapai and Mohave raised questions about her sexuality in her own time.Olive Oatman was a 14-year-old member of a Mormon splinter group. Her family was killed by Yavapai en route between Tucson and Yuma in 1851, and she and her younger sister were first enslaved by the Yavapai, then sold to the Mohave. The Mohave raised them as members of the tribe; her sister died, but Olive was returned to white society after five years with the two Indian tribes.The author has practiced source criticism on the various accounts of Oatman's life, discounting distortions introduced to serve various political and social biases. The resulting narrative is a fascinatingly ambiguous story. Was Olive better off as an Indian or white woman? It's hard to tell, but clearly she had warm feelings for her former "captors" when she met one of them in later life. The sexual, social, and racial norms of the time are called into question by the story of her life.As history goes, the book is an easy and compelling read -- I finished it in a couple of days. It's a thought-provoking contribution to the literature of white captives of American Indians.

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.

The book begins with a fairly good account of the historical narrative; well written and engaging. Unfortunately, halfway through the book, the author starts to descend into feminist ideology preaching, which is tied to her own personal beliefs. From that point forward the story becomes not so much about Olive Oatman’s ordeal of captivity and reintegration into white society, as just one more pulpit for preaching feminism. Too bad.I'd still recommend the book for reading as a minor contribution to the Oatman story, but definitely not as a foundational historical resource.

I had never heard of this woman, and her life story is very interesting. The author did a lot of research on the Indian tribes relating to Olive and her family, in addition to posting maps in the book.

My understanding of the book was an in-depth look into a woman captured by Indians in mid 1850's. However. I found a story that skimmed over the woman's life of five years captive. On the other hand, when she is brought back to mainstream America, the author delves into a convuluded story of the next ten years of her new life. Over all, it was well documented, but truly said very little. A great disappointment. Would not waste time and energy on this tale.

First…I despise the methods that land was taken away from Indigenous peoples. However, history is just that…history.Second…the brutal murders of indigenous people and pioneers alike is HORRIFIC!!!Last…this is an interesting read. A bit slow but what isn’t in this fast-paced world?I think that Olive would have been content living w her initial captors.

A sad but very interesting story chronicling the life of Olive Oatman. Very well written, plenty of facts and compelling throughout.

Fantastic read. As entertaining as a novel, but supported by solid, well researched facts. I know I will be re-reading it over and over.

Just as described, fast post as well.

j'ai découvert ce personnage lors d'un trip Route 66 (en particulier à Oatman : petit village minier qui porte son nom) et j'avais envie de mieux le connaître. Ce livre est le fruit d'études approfondies et est enrichi en annexe de lettres etc... Sa lecture est très agréable : il se lit comme un roman mais appuyé sur des faits historiques. J'ai appris beaucoup sur la culture amérindienne ainsi que sur la vie des pionniers. C'est un anglais facile à comprendre. Le personnage en lui même est très intéressant et mériterait à être connu en France : à quand une traduction en français ?

Storia interessante, a volte un po' noiosa ma nell'insieme leggibile. È la storia di una bella ragazza che a metà '800 è stata rapita dagli indiani. Racconta anche del suo traumatico rientro nella società bianca.