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Olive
Oatman
Olive
Oatman was part
of the nine member
Royce Oatman family
who left the relative
safety of a westbound
wagontrain in 1851
and headed out
alone on the Gila
Trail. The Gila
Trail was one of
the many routes
used by settlers
and gold-hungry
miners to get to
the west. Westerly
routes from Santa
Fe and El Paso
joined in Apache
country to form
the Gila Trail.
Crossing the desert to the southwestern
frontier, it took a course that
was determined by sources of water
and passages through the mountains.
Beginning in the 1840s soldiers,
immigrants, miners, mail carriers,
freighters and outlaws all traveled
this trail. In time, trains, automobiles
and airplanes followed their lead. 
West of Gila Bend, Arizona their
wagon was attacked by Yavapai Indians.
All were killed except for one
son who escaped and two sisters
who were captured. After a year
the girls were traded to the Mohave
Indian tribe. The Mohave's of the
lower Colorado River were unique
in many ways. They were one of
the few tribes of this area who
relied on farming and were very
warlike. As with most North American
Indians, they were fond of personal
adornment. Two of their favorites
were tattooing and body painting.
Men and women would tattoo their
chins and sometimes their foreheads.
Both sexes would also paint striking
designs on their faces, hair and
body. There was no special guild
of tattooists and most tattooing
was done on people between the
ages of 20 and 30. Part of the
Mohave belief is that any man or
woman without a tattoo on the face
would be refused entrance to Sil'aid,
the land of the dead. Their belief
was so strong that black paint
would be rubbed on the tattoo marks
of the dead so they were more visible
on judgment day. Because of this
belief, many old folks who had
not been tattooed in their youth
were tattooed on their deathbeds.
The younger of the sisters died,
but Olive survived until she was
ransomed in 1856 by the United
States Government at Ft. Yuma.
The Oatman massacre and the telling
of the story thereafter, did little
to stem the tide of westbound immigrants,
and to this day, the place whethe
Oatman's
wagon was attacked is known as
Oatman Flats. Below is a map showing
the Gila Trail with Oatman Flat
clearly indicated.
Photos shortly after her ransom
showed her in a cabinet style photo
wearing a black dress with her
hair pulled back and Mohave style
tattooing on her chin; five vertical
lines, with two triangles set at
right angles to the two outer lines.
Published accounts of Olive's
capture and torture were quickly
publicized, and for a while, she
displayed her tattooing on a cross
country lecture tour.
Throughout tattoo history attractions
have used fanciful tales to make
their shows more interesting. Dreaming
up stories about being captured
by "Red Indians" and forcibly tattooed
was very common. Although she objected,
even the famous Betty Broadbent
worked in Australia behind a painted
banner which showed her being tattooed
against her will. Years after she
retired, Betty would become upset
when talking about it. Her case
was probably the exception to the
rule, because it seems that many
attractions used these tales to
add to their box office. The Olive
Oatman story is one of the few
along these lines that can be substantiated
by hard fact.
Chin designs with the Mohaves were
chosen by the tattooists and were
based on the shape of the face.
Narrow faced people usually wore
designs of narrow lines or dots
to accentuate the length of the
face. Patterns for broad faces
tended to have wider lines and
cover more of the chin, making
the face look even broader.  The
upper lip was not tattooed. Forehead
designs were chosen by the wearer
and there were different patterns
for men and women. They would be
placed in the middle of the forehead
just above the eyebrows and generally
consisted of simple lines, dots
and circles. There were a few variations
for the tattoo locations. Warriors
may have had circles tattooed on
their chests, with line radiating
tower the shoulder, and important
men sometimes would have "T" shaped
designs tattooed on both sides
of the face just below the cheekbone.
Tattoo Archive © 2003
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