Chris Derrick is like me a Brit who writes westerns. He tells me
a favourite of his own works is WAGON
MOUND TO SANTA FE - THE SEARCH FOR SARAH (The Wagon Mound Series Book 1.)
Although
this novel features Jake Base, prominent in Chris’s two previous novels,
the main character here is Alex Sawicki. After Alex’s parents are killed by
Apaches and his sister, Sarah, is taken captive, he goes in pursuit, aided
by an old Comanche nicknamed Fingers.
Many
Native American tribes had a tradition of carrying off white children as
captives and raising them as their own. Initial treatment of captives was often
brutal. They might suffer physical abuse and they were frequently used as
slaves or beasts of burden. After a time, though, a captive might earn the
respect of their captors and be adopted into a family. As such they were
accepted as just another member of the band. They were then free to leave if
they wished, but many chose to stay. In ‘Comanches’
T.R. Fehrenbach writes: ‘There is no question that many captives… came to have
affection for their captors. The feeling was mutual.’
Noted
white captives of Indians included CYNTHIA ANN PARKER. She was captured in
1836, during one of the earliest clashes between Comanches and American
settlers in Texas. After 24 years with the Indians, during which time she
married a war chief, she was rescued when Texas Rangers (including future
ranching legend CHARLES GOODNIGHT) attacked a Comanche camp.
Cynthia Ann and
her baby daughter were returned to her white family, but attempts to assimilate
her into white society failed. Cynthia had ‘turned Indian.’ She begged to be
returned to her Comanche family on the High Plains. When her baby daughter
died, she mourned the loss like a Comanche woman, cutting her hair and her
arms. She then ‘sank into deep apathy and starved herself to death.’
CYNTHIA
ANN PARKER and baby daughter
As for
her Comanche family, they mourned her loss and her husband never took another
wife. Her eldest son, QUANAH went on to be arguably the greatest Comanche
chief, holding out until 1875 when he finally surrendered. After which he was
as resolute in defending his people in times of peace as he had been in war,
and became known as QUANAH PARKER.
Other
captives of Native Americans include SANTIAGO (or JIMMY) McKINN, a
Mexican-Irish boy held by Geronimo’s band of Apaches until 1886.
OLIVE
OATMAN was travelling with her family across Arizona in 1851 when she was
captured by Yavapais. She was later traded to the Mohaves who gave her their
distinctive tribal tattoos, and brought back into white society after 5 years.
HERMAN LEHMANN was almost 11 when
he was captured by Lipan Apaches in Texas in 1870. After 5 years with the
Lipans, during which time he rose to the rank of minor chief, he joined a band
of Comanches who refused to surrender and go on the reservation. After several
years with these hold-outs he and they were persuaded to surrender by some
reservation Comanches led – ironically – by QUANAH PARKER.
Native
American captives have often featured in western movies and TV. The prime
example is, of course, ‘The Searchers’
although
John Ford also dealt with the subject in ‘Two
Rode West.’
Paul Newman in ‘Hombre’
and
Charlton Heston in ‘The Savage’
played white men partly raised by Indians.
The
short-lived TV series ‘The Quest’ was
about the search by two brothers for their sister, held captive by the
Cheyenne.
Kurt
Russell and Tim Matheson in ‘The Quest’
Also on
TV Michael Landon turned up as a white boy raised by Indians in the ‘Cheyenne’ episode ‘White Warrior.’
A white
girl held captive by Apaches is also the subject of ‘The High Chaparral’ episode ‘Ride the Savage Land’ – which I would
argue is perhaps the greatest TV Western episode ever made.
Claire
Wilcox held captive by Apaches in ‘Ride the Savage Land’
Reviews
for THE SEARCH FOR SARAH:
‘Having
previously read Derrick's other westerns 'The Tainted Dollar' and 'The
Sheriff's Sister' I couldn't help but to read his third… Derrick didn't let us
down… Can't wait for the next if this author continues along this line.’
‘Awesome.’
‘A gripping story
with plenty of intrigue…’
‘An enjoyable book from cover to cover.'
and
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