My Captivity : A Pioneer Woman's Story of Her Life Among the Sioux

The ""Wild" West is full of stories told and retold. The captivity narrative, stories of people captured by usually ""uncivilized" or ""barbaric" enemies, is a curious category of literature, and the American genre more so. These accounts of capture, usually by Native Americans, were quite popular in both Europe and America from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries due to the aspects of religious fortitude, adventure, and sensationalism. Narratives ranged from biographical to completely fictional in order to appeal to the readers of the time. Fanny Kelly's memoir, first published in 187. A pioneer woman recounts her capture by the Sioux at nineteen years old and what life was like in captivity as her husband worked to rescue her. What was life like for an American woman to be captured by people thought of as “uncivilized” or “barbaric” enemies? Captivity narratives were popular in both Europe and America from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries to the extent that many were sensationalized for entertainment purposes. Fanny Kelly’s memoir, first published in 1872, is one of the best of these: an exciting yet intelligent story full of adventure. Fanny was nineteen when her wagon party of emigrants was attacked by a large force of Sioux warriors. Most of the travelers were killed, but Fanny’s husband escaped and spent the next five months attempting to rescue her. A remarkable testament to extraordinary feminine endurance, this narrative is a valuable part of literature not only for its historical importance but also for its depiction of the conflicting images of Native Americans in the nineteenth century: savage aggressors or victims of prejudice and oppression. Fanny Kelly's memoir, first published in 1872, is an intelligent and thoughtful narrative. Kelly spent five months as a prisoner of Ogalalla Sioux in 1864 when she was nineteen years old. A woman of her time, there was no reason she should feel sympathy toward her captors, but the introduction points out examples of expressed favor toward the Sioux, however unconscious. This narrative is a valuable part of literature not only for its historical importance but its depiction of the conflicting images of Native Americans in the nineteenth century: savage aggressors or victims of prejudice and oppression. Certified Copies of my Correspondence With Captain Fisk, Statement of Lieutenant G.A. Hesselberg, Statement of Officers and Members of ohe Sixth Iowa Cavalry,