Captives of the Southwest Quotes

“Each of the three cultures in New Mexico during the mid-1800s (Caucasian, Hispanic, and Native American) were actively involved in kidnapping each other. As competition and fighting occurred between the three races, cruelty and violence were rampant on all sides. Yet, some captives found kindness among their captors.”
― Noel Marie Fletcher, Captives of the Southwest

“More often than not, though, no further mention was made about the fate of the prisoners. I wondered to myself what happened to these people? After months of digging, I learned the ugly truth, which is also addressed in this book.”
― Noel Marie Fletcher, Captives of the Southwest

“As Rachel ran with her 18-month-old son James Pratt, she was knocked down to the ground by a hoe, dragged by her hair, and separated from her child. She found herself taken to the area where her uncle Benjamin had been mutilated; arrows had been stuck in his body, and passing warriors thrust spears into it.”
― Noel Marie Fletcher, Captives of the Southwest

“One time, a 16-year-old member of Vicente’s group risked his safety trying to save a captive Texas girl, who had been seized by Comanches while taking clothes to wash at a stream near her house.”
― Noel Marie Fletcher, Captives of the Southwest

“Carleton took issue with Steck’s advocacy on behalf of Natives and embarked on a campaign with military leaders on Capitol Hill that eventually forced Steck out of his job.”
― Noel Marie Fletcher, Captives of the Southwest

“She worked there for several months as a slave in a Mexican family until they sold her to a wealthy Hispanic man from Santa Fe, N.M. He also purchased another young captive Apache woman from New Mexico to accompany them. Both women were loaded onto an oxcart bound for Santa Fe in a journey that could take at least three months.”
― Noel Marie Fletcher, Captives of the Southwest

“A common thread that weaves the stories of all the captives together is race—one racial group attacking another. Many innocent people were simply trying to live their ordinary lives when another group decided it was justifiable to use violence to rob, beat, murder, kidnap, sometimes mutilate, and enslave others and their loved ones.”
― Noel Marie Fletcher, Captives of the Southwest

“Despite it all, there were heroes who rose above their circumstances. Those who reached out to people of another race with compassion and even love.”
― Noel Marie Fletcher, Captives of the Southwest