26 Facts About Olive Oatman

Olive Ann Oatman was a White American woman who was enslaved and later released by Native Americans in the Mojave Desert region when she was a teenager.

The story of the Olive Oatman Massacre began to be retold with dramatic license in the press, as well as in her own memoir and speeches.

Olive Oatman had become an oddity in 1860s America, partly because of the prominent blue tattooing of her chin by the Mohave, making her the first known White woman with Native tattoo on record.

The Olive Oatman family, traveling alone, was nearly annihilated in what became known as the "Olive Oatman Massacre" on the banks of the Gila River 84 miles east of modern-day Yuma, Arizona.

The seven Olive Oatman children ranged in age from one to 17 years old, the eldest being Lucy Olive Oatman.

Olive Oatman eventually reached a settlement, where his wounds were treated.

Lorenzo Olive Oatman became determined to never give up the search for his only surviving siblings.

Olive Oatman expressed her deep affection for these two women numerous times over the years after her captivity.

For example, Olive Oatman did not attempt to contact a large group of whites that visited the Mohaves during her period with them, and years later she went to meet with a Mohave leader, Irataba, in New York City and spoke with him of old times.

Olive Oatman later claimed that she was tattooed to mark her as a slave, but this is not consistent with the Mohave tradition, where such marks were given only to their own people to ensure that they would enter the land of the dead and be recognized there by their ancestors as members of the Mohave tribe.

Olive Oatman later spoke with fondness of the Mohaves, who she said treated her better than her first captors.

Olive Oatman was given a clan name, Oach, and a nickname, Spantsa, a Mohave word having to do with unquenchable lust or thirst.

Olive Oatman chose not to reveal herself to white railroad surveyors who spent nearly a week in the Mohave Valley trading and socializing with the tribe in February 1854.

When Olive Oatman was 19 years old, Francisco, a Yuma Indian messenger, arrived at the village with a message from the authorities at Fort Yuma.

Olive Oatman's boldly tattooed chin was on display and people came to hear her story and witness the blue tattoo for themselves.

Olive Oatman was the first known tattooed White American woman as well as one of the first female public speakers.

Olive Oatman married John Brant Fairchild on November 9,1865 in Rochester, New York.

Fairchild was a wealthy rancher who had lost his brother to an attack by Native Americans during a cattle drive in Arizona in 1854, the same time Olive Oatman was living among the Mohave.

Stratton did not receive an invitation to the wedding, and Olive Oatman never reached out to him again.

Olive Oatman began wearing a veil to cover her famous tattoo and became involved in charity work.

Olive Oatman was particularly interested in helping a local orphanage.

Olive Oatman's husband went on to track down copies of Stratton's book and burn them.

Olive Oatman Fairchild died of a heart attack on March 20,1903, at the age of 65.

Olive Oatman is buried at the West Hill Cemetery in Sherman, Texas.

The town of Olive Oatman, Arizona, located near her release site, was named in her honor in 1915.

Olive Oatman Flat Station was a stage stop for the Butterfield Overland Mail from 1858 to 1861.