Olive Ann Oatman (September 7, 1837 â€" March 21, 1903) was a woman
born in Illinois. In 1851, while traveling from Illinois to California
with a company of Mormon Brewsterites, the family was attacked by a
small group from a Native American tribe. Though she identified them
as Apache, they were most likely Tolkepayas (Western Yavapai). They
clubbed many to death, left her brother Lorenzo for dead, and enslaved
Olive and her younger sister, Mary Ann. The two were captive for one
year and then traded to the Mohave people.:85 While Lorenzo
exhaustively attempted to recruit governmental help in searching for
them, Mary Ann died from starvation and Olive spent four years with
the Mohave.Five years after the attack, she was repatriated into
American society. The story of the Oatman Massacre began to be retold
with dramatic license in the press, as well as in her own memoir and
speeches. Novels, plays, movies, and poetry were inspired, which
resonated in the media of the time and long afterward. She had become
an oddity in 1860s America, partly owing to the prominent blue
tattooing of her face by the Mohave, making her the first known white
woman with Native tattoo on record. Much of what actually occurred
during her time with the Native Americans remains unknown.:146â€"51The
town of Oatman, Arizona, is named after the Oatman family and the
massacre that occurred therein.Born into the family of Mary Ann (née
Sperry) and Royce Oatman, Olive Oatman was one of seven siblings. She
grew up in the Mormon religion. Olive Oatman Biography, NetWorth, Height, Age, Weight, Family, Married, Son, Daughter