Oatman Family Massacre
of 1851

Marker:  
Oatman Family Massacre Site

Location:
Marker is near Sentinel, Arizona, in Maricopa County. 

33.003430, -113.162497

Directions:
Given current road conditions, the Arizona State Society, DAR, cannot provide adequate directions to the site.

Historic Significance:
Royce and Mary Oatman and four of their seven children were killed by Native Americans in March 1851 on the shores of the Gila River, 80 to 90 miles east of Yuma. Olive Oatman (age 14) was taken captive along with her sister, Mary Anne (age 7), by the Indians who had killed their family. Their brother, Lorenzo (age 15), was beaten and presumed dead. Although he was badly injured, he was alive and managed to make it to a settlement. The girls were traded by their captors to the Mojave Indians from whom Olive was eventually returned. The leader’s wife and daughter held a deep affection for the girls who were given traditional tattoos. Mary Anne died of starvation after a harsh drought season, but Olive was eventually returned. Olive Oatman lived to the age of 65 and is buried in Sherman, Texas.

Dedicated:  
1954

Sponsor:  
Arizona State Society, DAR

A studio photographic portrait identified as Olive Oatman, a young woman wearing a mid-nineteenth century dress. She has vertical lines tattooed on her chin.
Portrait of Olive Oatman. Photograph by Benjamin F. Powelson. ca. 1863.
Held by the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Image is in the public domain.
A snapshot of a plaque that reads, “In memory of the Oatman family / Six members of this pioneer family massacred by Indians in March 1851 / Erected by the Arizona Society Daughters of the American Revolution 1954.”
Plaque,
March 2019.
A snapshot of a marker with plaque. A wire fence appears to surround the area.
Oatman Family memorial marker,
March 2019.
A snapshot of the same marker showing it situated in what may be a burial site in a desert scene.
Marker,
March 2019.

  

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Unless otherwise noted, images are courtesy of Arizona State Society, DAR, Daughters.

 

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