{"product_id":"the-blue-tattoo-margot-mifflin-9780803235175","title":"The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e2019 Tucson Weekly \"40 Essential Arizona Books\" pick\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e2014 One Book Yuma selection \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e2010 Best of the Best from the University Presses (ALA) selection\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e2010 Caroline Bancroft History Prize Finalist\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e2009 Southwest Book of the Year\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"The Blue Tattoo is well written and well researched; it re-opens the story of white women and men going West and Native people trying to survive these travels.\"\u003c\/b\u003e--June Namias, \u003ci\u003ePacific Historical Review \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1851 Olive Oatman was a thirteen-year old pioneer traveling west toward Zion, with her Mormon family. Within a decade, she was a white Indian with a chin tattoo, caught between cultures. \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Blue Tattoo\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e tells the harrowing story of this forgotten heroine of frontier America. Orphaned when her family was brutally killed by Yavapai Indians, Oatman lived as a slave to her captors for a year before being traded to the Mohave, who tattooed her face and raised her as their own. She was fully assimilated and perfectly happy when, at nineteen, she was ransomed back to white society. She became an instant celebrity, but the price of fame was high and the pain of her ruptured childhood lasted a lifetime. Based on historical records, including letters and diaries of Oatman's friends and relatives, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Blue Tattoo\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e is the first book to examine her life from her childhood in Illinois--including the massacre, her captivity, and her return to white society--to her later years as a wealthy banker's wife in Texas. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOatman's story has since become legend, inspiring artworks, fiction, film, radio plays, and even an episode of \u003ci\u003eDeath Valley Days\u003c\/i\u003e starring Ronald Reagan. Its themes, from the perils of religious utopianism to the permeable border between civilization and savagery, are deeply rooted in the American psyche. Oatman's blue tattoo was a cultural symbol that evoked both the imprint of her Mohave past and the lingering scars of westward expansion. It also served as a reminder of her deepest secret, fully explored here for the first time: she never wanted to go home. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Margot Mifflin\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0803235178\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780803235175\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bison Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/01\/2011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.76lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.80h x 5.56w x 0.79d","brand":"Margot Mifflin","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":44053534376191,"sku":"9780803235175","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_ab64c810-fdc1-48ad-b1ab-822b7c006ff2.jpg?v=1685024880","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-blue-tattoo-margot-mifflin-9780803235175","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}