Reality of Indian Captivity
If you are like me and find the history of what really happened when European settlers decided to immigrate to a land already occupied by Native Americans, then you will find these 4, real, first-person accounts of two men and two women fascinating, despite the brutal, cruelty and murder that occurred when these two conflicting civilizations clashed.
Personal Accounts
In this, long-forgotten or overlooked masterpiece, originally edited by Horace Kephart, Col. James Smith, captured during a Indian raid when he was 18 years old, Father Bressani, a priest held captive after his settlement was attacked, a young mother Mary Rowlandson, who watched helplessly as her friends and family members were slaughtered in a raid and finally, Mary Harbison, who witnessed the death of her own infant, who was later scalped, all tell their stories in their own words.
You Are There
While their point of view as captives is not wholly objective, their accounts are troubling in that they show the inhumanity and cruelty humankind often commit on their fellow homo sapiens. While at least one who was captured was adopted into the tribe and treated like a blood relation. The other three suffered much torment, torture and pure hatred from their captures.
To be sure, the Europeans returned the favor many times over, and they were, indeed, invading and conquering an already inhabited land. But two wrongs don't make a right. Still, the redeeming quality of this book is that it cuts through the myths of movies and dime novels and instead gives you the cold, brutal truth of what it was like for those held captive by Indians.
