Oatman Massacre

Trixie lives close to some interesting historical sites. Last Saturday we packed a lunch and set out to explore one of those interesting places - the Oatman Massacre Site.



The going was pretty rough, and it wasn't too long till our old beat-up pickup got bushwhacked and we lost a mirror. The terrain is pretty desolate, very rocky, but with plenty of saguaros and other cacti.

The Santa Fe trail was also traveled by the Mormon Batallion.

Mark and Shanna pointing out the ruts caused by the wagons going over the trail

Several books have been written on the Oatman Family Massacre - you can also read about this site at http://southwest.library.arizona.edu/hav1/body.1_div.15.html

or

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olive_Oatman

On February 18, 1851, the (Oatman) family (consisting of Roys and Mary Oatman, and children) stopped for dinner after a day on the Santa Fe Trail, on the edge of the bluff overlooking the Gila River. Servings were bread and beans. Yavapai Indians approached them, seemingly to ask for food and tobacco. A massacre ensued, and Roys, his wife, her unborn child as well as their other children Lucy, Roys Jr. and C.A. were killed. The only survivors were Lorenzo Oatman, Olive Oatman and their seven-year-old sister, Mary Ann.
Lorenzo was badly injured with wounds to his head, and left for dead. He recuperated and returned to Casa Grande. Olive and Mary Ann were taken as slaves by the Yavapai.

The bones of the unfortunate emigrants were gathered up in 1854 by Mr. Poston, and buried here. He carved the inscription with his penknife on a piece of board from his wagon.

Grave site as it looks today

After eating our sandwiches, fooling around a bit and playing some games, we headed for home, using a different route, where we saw an interesting old cabin.