Fanny Kelly (1845–1904)

These things are always difficult to review. From a literary standpoint it is no masterpiece but the narrative content itself is so compelling we forgive the awkwardness of the author, so I tend to look at these primarily in a historical context and then look at how effective the narrator is at getting the feel of the experience across. The general caveat here is that there is little corroborating evidence for what Kelly says her day to day life was like in captivity other than other accounts of different captivities. The very sameness of many of these accounts should caution a reader to question what was the motivation of the author in writing the book and what was the character of the writer.

Outside the general plan of the tribe's movement Kelly notes two types of incidents, every day type things, and exceptional occurrences. The special occurrences stand out more vividly and would appear to be less capable of exaggeration because they were seen by many and are easily corroborated or oppositely, not easily hid. However, for Kelly's day to day treatment which ranged from gentle and kind to torture and threat, we don't have any way of knowing what is true from what is livened up to make the narrative more compelling. It may all be true, but we know that Kelly had an iron in the fire as far as restitution from the Indian Annuities, as they are called, and making her story more compelling would do much in a direction to get Congress to see her grievance more favorably.

Now I'm not discounting that being taken hostage by a hostile native people and being used as a slave, having your child murdered, and being abused daily in numerous ways isn't enough, I'm just looking at the more spectacular claims.

Kelly's book makes for lively reading. She clearly has insight and sympathy for the Indians' motivation and condition but she comes across as a staunch Manifest Destinyer: "this is gonna happen so just get used to it." She sees no moral dilemma in taking Indian lands that are clearly left wasted and fallow by the nomads. This probably is what the majority of white Americans felt. The Indians weren't putting the land to good use, so what was the problem? Cultural sensitivity wasn't even thought about at this time.

In the end, the eye for an eye mentality leaves everyone savage and claims that the Indians previously were a gentler race or just learned barbarity from the white man when accounts of Indian on Indian depredation from this and earlier times are taken into account just shows how beastly we are to each other without provocation. We don't need any training.

A good first hand look into another ugly chapter of US history.… (más)

This book was originally published in 1873, and what I think I loved most about it was knowing the history and depictions of the time were accurate because it was written by the person who had actually lived through the ordeal.

There are a lot of other captivity stories out there, but usually they're written by another person, who gathers historical notes, uses letters and diaries to tell that person's story. An example would be The Woman With the Blue Tattoo, by Margot Mifflin. That was another book I really enjoyed, but this one, IMO, because it is written by Fanny Kelly herself, is a standout.

Of course, Fanny Kelly was also a person of her time. This means that the writing, which was exceptional throughout, was also florid and maudlin at times. Even so, she does not spare the reader when she speaks of the atrocities that took place.

All in all, quite the intriguing story. It made me look Fanny Kelly up so I could read a bit more about her.… (más)

Another story of a woman pioneer who found herself on the wrong side of conflict with Native Americans. In 1864, Fanny Kelly and family were on their way from Kansas to Idaho when a band of Sioux met up with them in what is now Wyoming. Initially friendly, the Sioux attacked suddenly, killing most of the men in the wagon train (two, including Fanny’s husband, escaped) and capturing Fanny and her daughter Mary. Mrs. Kelly was able to secretly drop her daughter off and told her to make her way back to the wagon track. Mrs. Kelly ended up being passed around various native encampments, enduring the shock of seeing a warrior with her daughter’s scalp, until she was eventually transferred to a Blackfoot band, taken to Fort Sully and released.

This wasn’t the end of Mrs. Kelly’s troubles; although reunited with her husband he promptly died of cholera, and her manuscript was stolen and published by a family she was staying with.

Mrs. Kemble’s account is, understandably, not very flattering to the natives – although she allowed there were some who treated her reasonably well, most were “savages”. She seems to have picked up considerable fluency in native languages during her six months of captivity – at least, she narrates conversations as if she and the natives understood each other. No notes, maps, or third-party commentary; I note that a little web searching suggests Mrs. Kelly was not entirely correct in her account. For more on captivity among the natives, see Captivity of the Oatman Girls.… (más)