The Oatman Massacre: A Tale of Desert Captivity and Survival (review)

2007Book Reviews99 José María dejesús Carvajal, an Americanized liberal who helped create Texas by his efforts as a surveyor, by his work as a legislator during the difficult years before the Texas Revolution, and finally during the manywars in northern Mexico forfederalist liberalism during the 1840s and 1 850s. His Plan de la Loba provides insight into his idealistic and hopeful attempt at reinstituting states-rights governments, although it never succeeded. In between the local batdes, he fought for Mexico against the American invaders from 1846 to 1848, and against the French during the 1860s. His life ended in 1874, after he had spent the last years of his life helping Benito Juárez, the Mexican liberal, find support in the United States. Professor Chance notes that Carvajal, who spoke fluent English, never forgot that he was "a true Mexican" (p. 203), although the author argues that Carvajal's use ofAnglos among his troops and his Protestant faith turned many Mexicans against him for being "agringado," or too much like the Anglos whom he befriended. This association may have cost him the support of many of his Mexican compatriots in northern Mexico, but it also provided him with funds and support for his various military endeavors. Professor Chance covers this complex man in an introduction, ten chapters, and a summary. In the twelve pages ofintroduction, he provides a rapid-fire review of the history of both Carvajal and Mexico from 1800 through 1874, leaving the reader breathless and more than a little confused. Fortunately, the ten chapters clear up many of the complex problems and provide a clear and readable depiction of the border problems between Mexico and the United States, and the many conflicts between the various leaders along the border, most ofwhom Carvajal knew as either enemy or friend. The information is carefully researched and extensively footnoted, and includes much material from Spanish sources translated by others. In his conclusion, Chance once again reviews the history of the period. He argues that Carvajal's skill as a leader was evinced among Mexican troops and that his command of English also enabled him to lead unruly American troops. His Anglo contacts also helped bring in funds and weapons from the United States for BenitoJuárez, which led to the eventual removal of the French from Mexico. Chance concludes that Carvajal spent his life supporting Hispanic causes and suggests that Carvajal should be studied because he was "the taproot ofthe civil rights movement for Hispanics that began to gain sway in the 1960s" (p. 208). Carvajal, he concludes, deserves to be a role model for young Texans ofall races because he shows "the power ofwhat one person can do to effect change"(p. 208). Sam Houston State UniversityCarolina Castillo Crimm The Oatman Massacre: A Tale ofDesert Captivity and Survival. By Brian McGinty. (Norman : University ofOklahoma Press, 2006. Pp. 272. Acknowledgments, illustrations , maps, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 0806137703. $14.95, paper.) Indian captive stories appealed to a wide section ofAmerican society during the nineteenth century and still pique people's interest today. The story ofthe Oatman massacre is no exception. Brian McGinty, an independent scholar and author ? ooSouthwestern Historical QuarterlyJuly ofseveral works on American history and law, produced a much needed revisionist history ofthe attack on a band ofMormons byAmerican Indians and the abduction of two young girls, Olive and Mary Ann, on their way to their promised land, and Olive's eventual reintroduction to white society. Though versions ofthe event have already been published, McGinty wanted to present the full story by presenting an unbiased account of the American Indians involved, the Mormon background of the Oatmans, and aspects of Olive's life that previous authors ignored. On February 18, 1851, a raiding party of unknown American Indians in the northern Mexican state ofSonora attacked a group ofmigrants led by the Oatman family. During the attack all family members were killed except for Mary Ann and Olive, whom the attackers took as captives, and their brother, Lorenzo, who was left for dead after being knocked unconscious. After recovering from his wounds, the brother spent the next five years searching for his sisters. During those five years, the attackers...