Captured by Indians!

The Captured – a true story of abduction by Indians on the Texas frontier, by Scott Zesch

Imagine being violently snatched from your family as a young child (say, 6 or 10 years old) and adopted into a new family with a completely different culture, language and way of life.  How long would it take you to forget how to speak English, and to embrace your new way of life?  Less than six months, probably, if the children featured in this book are any indication.  One of the surprising things I learned from this book was how adaptable children are, and how quickly the captured children became “Indianized” despite, in some cases, witnessing the brutal murder of their family members.  Scott Zesch profiles nine children who were captured by the Indians and later returned to their families, including his ancestor Adolph Korn.  Profoundly changed by the experience, many of these children had trouble readjusting to white society.  Some were never able to do so.  For adolescent boys in particular, the life of an Indian warrior - spending your days hunting, horseback riding, shooting arrows, and going on raids - was a lot more appealing than the life of grueling farm work and poverty on the great plains.  This was a fascinating read - a history book more exciting than most adventure novels.

For a more academic take on the captured-by-Indians phenomenon, try Women’s Indian Captivity Narratives, by various and Kathryn Zabelle Derounian-Stodola.