Steve

@TracesofTexas Interesting. Just northeast of the area where she was held captive is Oatman, Az. Best known for free-range donkeys. I kept waiting for a tie-in to the town in the story.

This is Olive Ann Oatman Fairchild, who was born in Illinois in 1837 and died in Sherman, Texas in 1903. In between, she endured unspeakable tragedy and horror. Olive lived the last 30 years of her life in Sherman, but she was born on September 7, 1837, in La Harpe, Illinois—the second daughter of Roys Oatman (a name I've seen misspelled as Royce) and his wife, Mary Ann (Sperry) Oatman. Around 1839, the Oatman family left the Methodist faith to follow Joseph Smith and the religious movement known as the Mormons. After Smith was killed by a mob in 1844, the Oatmans rejected Brigham Young’s leadership and aligned instead with a dissident faction led by James Colin Brewster. Brewster, who called himself a “seer and revelator,” claimed divine revelations directing the Saints to gather at the confluence of the Gila and Colorado Rivers—land he identified as the biblical “Land of Bashan”—in what is now the Arizona-California border region. In August 1850, the Oatmans joined a wagon train of Brewsterites departing Independence, Missouri, bound for this promised gathering place. Roys Oatman’s difficult and quarrelsome nature caused other members of the party to gradually separate from his family as they traveled the Santa Fe Trail across Kansas and New Mexico, through northern Sonora (then part of Mexico), and into the area that would become southern Arizona after the Gadsden Purchase of 1853. On February 18, 1851, Roys Oatman, his pregnant wife Mary Ann, and their seven children were traveling alone atop a rocky mesa on the south bank of the Gila River when they encountered a band of roughly nineteen Indians on foot. These were almost certainly Western Yavapais (Tolkepayas), not Apaches as often reported. The group was suffering from severe hunger caused by a prolonged drought and famine in the southwestern deserts. After the Oatmans gave them some bread, Roys refused the Indians’ request for more food. Enraged, the warriors attacked the family with clubs, killing Roys, Mary Ann, and five of the children. The only survivors were thirteen-year-old Olive, her eight-year-old sister Mary Ann, and their fourteen-year-old brother Lorenzo. The attackers looted the wagon and bodies, then drove off the oxen. Lorenzo, badly wounded and left for dead, managed to reach other members of the Brewsterite train and report the massacre. Olive and her younger sister were taken captive and led through the mountains to a Tolkepaya village, where they were held for about a year before being traded to the Mojave people, who lived in the valley along the Colorado River northwest of the site. Among the Mojaves, the girls lived in the household of a tribal leader (likely a kohot or festival chief). Convinced their entire family had been killed and that they would never return to white society, they learned the Mojave language, adopted Mojave clothing and customs, and received traditional tattoos on their chins and arms. These tattoos, later often described as “slave marks,” were actually symbols of acceptance into Mojave society; tribal members bore similar markings. In 1855, during a severe drought that struck the Mojave Valley, young Mary Ann died of starvation. Olive lived with the Mojaves for roughly four years; some accounts suggest she may have borne one or more children of mixed Mojave heritage, though the evidence remains inconclusive and is debated by scholars. Meanwhile, Lorenzo Oatman recovered from his injuries and traveled to California, where he persistently searched for his sisters. His efforts succeeded in early 1856 when Olive’s location among the Mojaves was discovered. She was escorted south to Fort Yuma at the Gila-Colorado confluence. Reunited with Lorenzo, she traveled first to California and later to southern Oregon, where they stayed with Oatman relatives. There they met Royal Byron Stratton, a Methodist minister. Stratton authored a highly sensationalized account of the family’s ordeal and Olive’s captivity, originally titled Life Among the Indians and later retitled Captivity of the Oatman Girls. Written in the popular “Indian captivity narrative” style of the era, the book wrongly identified the attackers as Apaches and included lengthy, often fictional anti-Indian passages. First published in San Francisco in 1857, it became an immediate bestseller and was reprinted in both San Francisco and New York. Olive later moved to New York and spent several years on the lecture circuit, speaking about her experiences. She kept the tattoos on her arms hidden beneath long sleeves, but the prominent chin markings drew considerable public fascination. While lecturing in Farmington, Michigan, in 1864, she met John Brant Fairchild, a New York-born cattleman and farmer. The couple married in Rochester, New York, in 1865.After marriage, Olive ended her public lectures. Her husband worked to locate and destroy remaining copies of Stratton’s book. In 1872, the couple relocated to Sherman, Texas, where they purchased a handsome two-story home and adopted a baby girl named Mary Elizabeth, known as Mamie. Although Olive was respected in the community and her husband became one of Sherman’s leading businessmen, she remained deeply troubled for the rest of her life. She rarely ventured from home and, when she did, concealed her chin tattoo with veils and heavy face powder. She periodically left Sherman for medical treatment of physical and nervous ailments, traveling as far as Canada. Letters discovered after her death revealed lasting psychological trauma. While often attributed solely to mistreatment by the Indians, her emotional struggles were likely rooted equally in the violent loss of her family and the complex, bittersweet memories of her years in the Mojave Valley. Olive Ann Oatman Fairchild died in Sherman on March 21, 1903, at age sixty-five. John Brant Fairchild followed her in death on April 25, 1907. Both are buried in an elaborate grave he had prepared in Sherman’s West Hill Cemetery. A Texas historical marker was dedicated at the site in 1969. Traces of Texas reader Tim Sublett kindly sent in the photo of Olive's grave, which is what prompted me to sit down and write this story. Thank you, Tim! RIP Olive Oatman!

@brentlajeunesse @Ravious101 As you pull in there is signage that says “No Commercial Trucks.” A Stuckey’s on steroids, maybe, but not a truck stop.

@Ravious101 Holy fk balls. People in Ohio must have money to burn. A million bucks at a truck stop in one day….

I think we all knew That Buc-ee’s was going to be a huge success. We’re their northern most store at this point and pretty much at the intersection of 70 and 75. What happened opening day was crazy though. Buc-ee’s has told us that the grand opening day numbers were better than any store they had ever opened on day 1! Buc-ee’s sales volume was over $1,000,000 on opening day. All the hotels from Huber to Miller Ln. were sold out over opening day weekend. There’s no true way to understand the overall economic impact this early, but there’s no doubt it’s going to be huge!!

@TracesofTexas Two groups of people I had some of the best conversations with in my early “newspapering” days—old desk editors and linotype operators. The editors had to know everything; from the specifics of a “tool pusher’s” job to the intricacies of Wall Street.

Editors proofread the Dallas Morning News in the wee morning hours before the paper is published, 1943. While not physically demanding, don't you just know that it was a mentally-taxing job? You have to whip through articles at the speed of light, catch mistakes, correct them, and get them turned in so the corrections can be made before the paper "goes to bed." The overhead light is bright but they're all wearing visors to reduce the glare. The man on the far right in the back is smoking a cigar. I'm guessing this place smelled like stale cigars, whisky breath, and ... well, you get the picture. These guys look like pros who knew the tenets of English grammar inside and out. I'll bet they were mortified the next day if, while reading an article they edited, they found a mistake that had gone unnoticed. I know the feeling all too well. Fortunately, I have an army of editors out there to catch my mistakes and let me know about them via DMs. 😄😃 Isn't this just a classic image from John Vachon?

@TracesofTexas Nobody posts regular Texas anecdotes better than you. I appreciate your diligence and desire for accuracy. Your accounts are something I considered pre-internet—especially the posts on early Texas Bohemian (Czech) and German cultures. Maybe someday I’ll get to buy you lunch.

The Texas Quote of the Day is one of the funniest and most entertaining ever. Thomas C. Oatts, who was the first postmaster in Round Rock, went on a cattle drive up the trail in April, 1871. He arrived in Schuyler, Nebraska in time for a big July 4 celebration. Here is the entry in Thomas' diary, verbatim, as he wrote it, with misspellings, odd capitalizing of words, strange word separations etc ... I double checked this to make sure I got it EXACTLY as he wrote it: "People arived in Buges, waggons & vehickels of all kinds and shapes, and in front of a splended Brass Band with ther Base drum and the marshel and Flag Bater on horse Back all dressed up in uneform and the whol presented a veary grand appearance. Thar was about 500 at the speacking ... and at night the 4th close up with a ball ... allso ... a Poney Rase ... and just befour dark the ciizens met and put up a fire works near whare the publick speaking was to be ... about dark the fire works comeanced firing ... and tha got faster and faster and more of them and after a while it got in full blast and the Brass Band Played and the Base drum beat and the boyes whoped and holowed and the shots went high up in the sky and the sparcks of fire fell fast and thick and all was the smel of the Powder. those crackers and rockest cast [cost] about one huderd dollars for the ocation and theare was life in every thing and all went off well and about 2 hours in the night thare came up a rain and it just pord down heavey. And broke up the antisipated Ball the ladeys fled for hom in evey direction and all and every thing culed off." ---- Thomas C. Oatts writes in his journal in April, 1871 as cited in "Land of Good Waters: A Williamson County History" by Clara Stearns Scarborough, 1973. It was Oatts who, in 1851, officially gave the town of Round Rock its name when, as postmaster, he submitted that name to the post office for approval. Prior to that, Round Rock was known as Brushy Creek. Amazingly, a one-story stone building that Thomas constructed between 1851 and 1853 still stands. The structure served as both his mercantile store and the town’s first permanent post office. It is currently the home of Casa Turqesa, a gift shop, and can be seen at the corner of Emmanuel Street and Chisholm Trail Road. Here's a photo of it. I ask y'all: is there anybody else on the internet crazy enough to do this kind of Texas history on a daily basis? I see countless AI accounts out there but there's only one Traces of Texas! 😀

@wesmoss1018 @Jimfrombaseball Maybe a summer vacation in Junction taught him these two principles…

@Jimfrombaseball Bear, like other great coaches, could look in a player’s eyes and knew if he ‘had it’ today. He knew who to pat on the back and who to kick in the butt to motivate them.

"At Texas A&M in 1956, I finally came across a feasible plan for numbering defensive alignments. I must give credit to O.A. Phillips -- a Texas high-school coach -- for helping work out the solution." Paul 'Bear' Bryant. O.A, 'Bum' Phillips invented the numbering system for defensive fronts and the professional version of the 3-4 defense. "He can take his'n and beat your'n and take your'n and beat his'n." "Two kinds of ballplayers aren't worth a darn: One that never does what he's told, and one who does nothin' except what he's told." "You fail all the time, but you aren't a failure until you start blaming someone else." "I don't know if Earl Campbell's in a class by himself, but I do know that when that class gets together, it sure don't take long to call the roll." When it's 1st and a mile, I won't give it to Earl." Coach Bum Phillips after a coach told him Earl Campbell refused to run the mile at practice. There was never a coach who personified the team, city and state like Bum Phillips!!!!! With Wade Phillips and 'Bear' Bryant. The Legend!!!

@ArthurFrDent @TracesofTexas The 4x5 format has a lot to do with the clarity, but in this shot he nailed the lighting, which is the key to true sharpness. Many Speed Graphic shots from the era have sharp shadows that inhibit much of the photo’s detail.

@TracesofTexas Detail, because he was likely using a 4x5 Speed Graphic back then, with flashbulbs... as a guess. Apparently, he used 35mm, too.

A woman behind the counter of a bodega in San Antonio, 1939. An incredible, BEYOND BELIEF photo by Russell Lee. The clarity is exquisite --- it's cutting my eyeballs. How many brands do you see here that still exist? I see Arm and Hammer, Hershey's etc... Being that this was taken 87 years ago it's mind blowing! It makes me want to hang up my camera ---- and cry. 😀

@TexasMichael42 @TracesofTexas Uhhh, all clear like this one…are you Richard Avedon?

@TracesofTexas Things were better when we took our roll of film to the drugstore and came back 3 days later to get our photos, which were all clear, like this one. Phone cameras claim to have better resolution but I don’t see that with my eyes.

@MattBrownEP Yes, sports fans, it’s behind a paywall. A lot of work was put into preparing this report—FOI’s don’t write themselves. Even if he AI’d the article it would take hours to adjust the data…which means he probably wrote. “The workman is worthy of his wages.”

We crunched over 200 softball budgets. If you want to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, your operational budget needs to be in the $2M range. Compete for titles? Closer to $4M. Here's (almost) every single public school softball operatational budget:

@GregSwindell @JeremyBranham Brad Lidge has said similar concerning his career.

@JeremyBranham I signed with the twins in 98 thinking I would be a starter. They turned me into a reliever and prolonged my career 7 more years. Go with it. You might like it.

Ole Rome trying to stir it up.

@igTXSalazar @DrunkPirateRob @kyleumlang @grok Yes—may I suggest, “Commodore Moore and the Texas Navy,” as a background read.

@DrunkPirateRob @kyleumlang @grok did the Texas have its own Navyst one point.

To celebrate #texasindependenceday, here are the top 5 “myths” about the state of Texas: 1) It's the biggest state 2) It's the only flag allowed to fly at the same height as the US flag 3) It can secede from the US whenever it wants 4) It's the only state that was its own country 5) Texas A&M is the flagship university and runs the state

@kyleumlang Longhorn/Mean Green alum, here: Arkansas whiffed on this one. Should have placed a Bevo inside the hawg’s nostril. The septum provides a cool “no” look.

Back in the day, the hot thing to do with your school logo was to make it a grouchy animal head with a sailor/freshman hat. Who did it the best?

@topmanjem @gkovo6 @Hot_Pepper76 Very forgettable film…no surprises since the song was overplayed. Even Kristofferson’s star power couldn’t pull it through.

@gkovo6 @Hot_Pepper76 Film with Kris Kristofferson of the same name

"Convoy" 1975, this one rode the CB radio, trucker craze and hit No. 1 on both the country and Hot 100 charts. The "singer's" name was actually a character created by an ad man, not a typical band frontman. Do you remember that name?

@Hot_Pepper76 That’s Eddie Cochran from the movie La Bamba!

"Stray Cat Strut" (1981) The writer has said a cartoon like "Top Cat" helped inspire the attitude, and the video even uses clips from the old MGM short "Bad Luck Blackie". Do you remember this one or their name?

@PastCoded @TracesofTexas Completely agree. Old photog, here, who relishes B&W as an art form, but also understands its shortcomings in grasping culture. Colorizing can help with perspective by adding true-life to details—especially from the 1930’s to the mid 1960’s when almost all media was B&W.

In color, the same photo that I posted the other of Ike and Mamie Eisenhower on the day of their wedding in Denver on July 1, 1916. This were married at Mamie's family's home. Dwight had proposed to Mamie on Valentine's day earlier that year. Thanks to Traces of Texas reader Myrna Henrick for sharing this in. I'm usually skeptical of colorizing but I think this looks pretty true to life. "Begod they were a handsome pair!" as my Irish grandfather would have said.

@kellytx2 Domino. Hosted the Domino World Championship in 1979.

Nameless, Texas. Name a Texas town literally nobody’s heard of…

@DALLASTXMAGA @kellytx2 Turkey, Texas—home of Bob Wills and the Bob Wills Museum.

@kellytx2 Turkey and Muleshoe. Could not even DREAM those names up…they are REAL!🥰

@TracesofTexas Maybe some of Abraham Zapruder’s early work?

The Texas Orphan Slide of the Day comes from Traces of Texas reader Nuno Sulvera, who sent in this gorgeous slide photo of a parade in Corsicana in what looks to be the 1950s. We don't know who is in the photo or what the parade was for. It looks like the girl in the car has a big white dress on with perhaps a big red ribbon or bow, but that's pretty much all I can say --- except that I love the cars. This slide was part of a cache of slides that Nuno found on the way to the dump. If any of y'all have any idea who this is or what exactly is going on, let me know and I'll edit this. Thank you, Nuno. Really super!

@Hot_Pepper76 Whatever happened to brass? Probably the cost of one bedroom trained, “I’ll do anything for another Red Bull,” keyboard/synth player vs the cost of 3-5 classically trained Juilliard, Berklee, or North Texas musicians. Keyboard/synth player, who can also provide vocals.

Real musicians. Real singers. Real talent. Real brass. We used to have brass. Let’s talk about that, can we bring that back? Name this band.

@PawsNeedClaws @Hot_Pepper76 I hope you are joking, but let Google answer… The Bellamy Brothers have achieved massive success, charting more than 50 hits overall. Known for their blend of country and pop, they have earned 20 number-one hit country singles throughout their career.

@Hot_Pepper76 No clue. Hey, I ran across a song I really liked(way back when) Let Your Love Flow by The Bellamy Bros. Were they one hit or no? Idk. 🤷‍♂️

"More Today Than Yesterday" This catchy 1969 song, reached #12 on the U.S. charts. It became a classic, but the group never had another hit, making them a true one-hit wonder. Short career, big legacy! Do you remember their name or this song?

@_abigaiiiil @DavidSmoak Finally. Just wondering, did Kevin McCarthy get to voice the event?

Dirk Nowitzki, Derek Harper and Rolando Blackman help Mark Aguirre to the podium for his speech addressing the crowd before his jersey is raised to rafters.