Read the West Book Club: The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman

In 1851 Olive Oatman was a 13-year-old pioneer traveling west, with her Mormon family. Within a decade, she was a white Indian with a chin tattoo, caught between cultures. The Blue Tattoo tells the harrowing story of this forgotten heroine of frontier America. Oatman’s story has become legend, inspiring artworks, fiction, film and radio plays. Based on historical records including letters and diaries of Oatman’s friends and relatives, The Blue Tattoo is the first book to examine her life from her childhood — including the massacre, her captivity and her return to white society — to her later years as a wealthy banker’s wife in Texas. Oatman’s blue tattoo was a cultural symbol that evoked both the imprint of her Mohave past and the lingering scars of westward expansion.

Read the West Book Club meets in January, February and March; attend one or all three. Select books available for purchase in The Museum Store (15% discount for Museum members). Refreshments provided. $9, $6 for Museum members. Register by January 14.  Click Here to Register.