Captive Arizona, 1851-1900

Victoria Smith

Description

Captivity was endemic in Arizona from the end of the Mexican-American War through its statehood in 1912. The practice crossed cultures: Native Americans, Mexican Americans, Mexicans, and whites kidnapped and held one another captive. Victoria Smith''s narrative history of the practice of taking captives in early Arizona shows how this phenomenon held Arizonans of all races in uneasy bondage that chafed social relations during the era. It also maps the social complex that accompanied captivity, a complex that included orphans, childlessness, acculturation, racial constructions, redemption, reintegration, intermarriage, and issues of heredity and environment.

 

This in-depth work offers an absorbing account of decades of seizure and kidnapping and of the different “captivity systems” operating within Arizona. By focusing on the stories of those taken captive—young women, children, the elderly, and the disabled, all of whom are often missing from southwestern history—Captive Arizona, 1851–1900 complicates and enriches the early social history of Arizona and of the American West.

Sujets

• Histoire
• USA
• United States of America
• México
• History of the Americas
• États-Unis
• Mexico
• Arizona

Informations

• Publié par: Nebraska
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780803226524
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 5 Mo

Extrait

Captive Arizona, 1851–1900

Captive Arizona 1851 – 1900

V I C T O R I A S M I T H

University of Nebraska Press  Lincoln & London

©2009by Victoria Smith All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in- Publication Data

Smith, Victoria,1953– Captive Arizona,1851–1900/ Victoria Smith.  p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn978-0-8032-1090-5(cloth: alk. paper) 1. Arizona—Race relations—History—19th century.2. Arizona—History, Military— 19th century.3. Captivity—Arizona— History—19th century.4. Indian captivi- ties—Arizona—History—19th century. 5. Frontier and pioneer life—Arizona. 6. Indians of North America—Arizona— History—19th century.7. Mexicans— Arizona—History—19th century. 8. Whites—Arizona—History—19th century. 9. Imperialism—Social aspects—Southwest, New—History—19th century.10. Anti- imperialist movements—Southwest, New— History—19th century. I. Title. f820.a1s65 2009 305.8009791’09034—dc22 2009009853

Set in Trump Mediaeval by Bob Reitz.

Some images have been masked due to copyright limitations.

For my grandchildren, my precious: Jesse, Justin, Charlotte, Georgie, Hailey, Leo, Annabelle, Artemisa, Adam, Ali, Elias, Noellie Rose, and Amber Lee

C O N T E N T S

List of Illustrations. . . . viii Acknowledgments . . . . . ix Introduction . . . . . . . . . xiii

1. 1851–1856. . . . . . . . . . . 1 2. 1855–1861. . . . . . . . . . 36 3. 1869–1871. . . . . . . . . . 70 4. 1872–1882. . . . . . . . . 104 5. 1883–1886. . . . . . . . . 135 6. 1896–1900. . . . . . . . . 166

Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203 Bibliography . . . . . . . . .233 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .249

I L L U S T R AT I O N S

m a p

Captive Arizona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxvi

p h o t og r a p h s

Following page104  1. Olive Oatman  2. Lorenzo Oatman  3. Larcena Pennington Page  4. Mercedes Sais Shibell  5. William “Boss” Head and Mickey Free  6. Bessie Brooks and other students  7. Eskiminzin and his children  8. Charley McComas  9. Santiago McKinn 10. Geronimo 11. Octaviano Gastelum 12. Apache Kid 13. Apache May 14. John Slaughter 15. Cora Viola Slaughter and Apache May

A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S

Numerous people helped guide this book, or in some other manner made significant contributions both tangible and intangible during the years of its creation. Most of these were listed at length in my dissertation,White Eyes, Red Heart, Blue Coat: The Life and Times of Mickey Free. For the sake of space, I will simply add to that list here. My gratitude to Mr. Al Bates of Prescott, who shared his files on Bessie Brooks; to Doug Hamilton, who shared my interest in the Penningtons, and made sure the geog- raphy was covered to his satisfaction; to Jim Turner, who shares my interest in Arizona’s “back-row” characters; to my former student Efran Carmona, who found Olive Oatman as interesting as I did; to Dave Goodman, for the law; to Ben Rader, ever helpful; to anthropologist Robert Kilts, for the excellent map; and to my efficient graduate research assistant, Dave Everson, the best. My editors—Elisabeth Chretien, Ann Baker, Colleen Clark, Gary Dunham, and Matt Bokovoy—deserve much of the credit, as do the anonymous reviewers who demanded the book be what it has become. The University of Nebraska Research Council, the University of Nebraska James Raw- ley Foundation, the University of Nebraska Harold and Esther Edgerton Fellowship, the University of Nebraska History Department, the University of Nebraska Ethnic