The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction - Linda Gordon

A story tied to the orphan trains of the early 1900s, this book revealed to me a slice of Arizona history I'd never known.  A group of Irish orphans from New York were taken by Catholic nuns to pre-chosen adoptive parents in Morenci and Clifton.  The towns were Arizona copper mine centers.  The children were to be adopted by Mexican families arranged by the local Catholic French priest.  When they arrived, the white locals kidnapped them, objecting to their placement with Mexican families. The resulting dispute between the kidnappers and the Catholic guardians went to the US Supreme Court.

This is a dense volume of historical accuracy with many details of the people, copper mining industry, Arizona territory settlement and the prejudices of the 1900s.  For those who have lived in Arizona, there are many familiar names that will resonate.  

Quotes/Notes:

p. 16 after 1880 the Catholic church had a faction with assimilationist tendency that promoted Catholic expansion westward

"Nortenos" were Northern Mexicans and they were anti-clerical 

p. 99 - "Race is a pigment of the imagination" - sociologist Ruben Rumbaut

p. 207-list of names of families and the children they adopted [saved image]

p. 257 - Vigilantism 

p. 284 - William Henry Brophy, mgr of the Phelps Dodge company store in Bisbee -founded Brophy Prep

[note: I gave book to speaker at WVGS conference in 2024]

Published: 1999  Read: 2023  Genre: History

Captivity of the Oatman Girls - R B Stratton

In 1851, a family of west bound Mormon settlers were attacked by Indians in the desert of  the Mexican territory, about 80 miles from Fort Yuma, which was just across the Colorado River from present day Yuma, Arizona.  Most of the family was murdered, though the 15 year old son, Lorenzo, left for dead, survived, and two daughters, Ann, 8 and Olive, 14, were taken prisoners.  Ann died of starvation after a year in captivity and Olive was ransomed after four years, returning to society to re-join her brother.

This book is a re-publication of the third edition of the original text that was published in 1859.  The story was a sensationalizing of the attack and her captivity.  The often displayed image of a young woman with tattooed stripes along her chin is of Olive.  The writing is in the flowery, pious style of the mid-19th century.  There's little insight into the life of the tribe as Olive tells her story to the writer, the emphasis being on her survival and reunion. 

I found controversy in more modern accounts, some claiming she had children while in captivity, others denying that story.  Maybe some targeted DNA testing amongst the Yavapai and Mohave tribes would reveal something!

Published: 1857 (original)  Read: March 2018  Genre: historical biography