CAPTIVITY OF THE OATMAN GIRLS

New York: Printed For The Author. This book is the story of the Qatman family massacre by Native Americans in 1851 near Yuma, Arizona; and the subsequent captivity of Olive and Mary Ann, the Oatman family's 14 and 7-year-old daughters. The youngest, Mary Ann, eventually died of starvation while Olive was sold as a slave from one group of Native Americans to another before finally escaping. This is the story as told to Royce B. Stratton by the girls' brother, Lorenzo, who escaped death in the attack by pretending to be dead. About 5 x 7 1/2 inches, 290 pages plus two pages of "Notices of the Press," the 19th century equivalent of reviews praising the book.This copy is from the 3rd edition, "fourteenth thousand," according to the copyright page, bound in decorative blindstamped green hardcover boards with lettering and graphic design on spine in gold. Also included are a frontispiece portrait print of Olive, showing her the tatooes on her mouth and chin, a map of California and New Mexico, and fourteen other illustrations. This is not an attractive copy; 150+ years have left multiple marks on it. The covers are heavily worn at the corners, chipped at the spine ends, with damp stains on inside covers and end pages. The text block, while complete and legible, with a relatively firm binding, shows shows staining on nearly every page. The front hinge is entirely cracked. A small news clipping, probably used as a place mark, was found between pages 218 and 219 where over the years it had created a "shadow" on both pages. The front end pages show signatures of previous owners. All that said, this copy is totally readable and if not a particularly collectable copy, is certainly fit for reading and/or study. . Good. Decorative Cloth. 3rd Edition. 1858.