Download Nine Years Among the Indians 18701879 The Story of the Captivity and Life of a Texan Among the Indians Herman Lehmann J Marvin Hunter Dale F Giese 8601401153788 Books

Product details Paperback 262 pages Publisher University of New Mexico Press; Reprint edition (May 1, 1993) Language English ISBN-10 0826314171

Nine Years Among the Indians 18701879 The Story of the Captivity and Life of a Texan Among the Indians Herman Lehmann J Marvin Hunter Dale F Giese 8601401153788 Books Reviews

• A great book. Usually unless I really like a book, I don't leave a review. This one deserves a review. Even though the author has gone to glory, his book lives after him. Kidnapped by the Apache at age 12 and held for 9 years among other tribes, namely the Comanche, Hermann grew up to be tough, and completely forgot his home language, both English and German, and lived and thought like his Indian captors. When given the chance to go back home when the tribes were mostly reservationed, he chose not to do so. Without the love and patience of his mother and broth and sisters, he would have not made it back into the English speaking world. In spots its a hard book to read as he tells it like it was, with lots of killing of white people and the children that were slain like so many worthless animals, or so the Tribes thought of them. Great read.
• I could never have imagined how violent, savage, and how little respect for human and animal life the Apache tribe in particular had. They killed every adversary and horse they could not use. If one had to say what American Indians did in few words it would be "steal horses" from anyone and everyone! And so many perfectly good horses were buried below their owner's funeral pire in the tree above... to be used in the hereafter. This is a very honest account of a white boy who was kidnapped and grew into manhood with the Indians. It also depicts a segment of the Indian population that were sadly pushed onto reservations due to the loss of their livelihood and sustenance ( the buffalo herds) and the invasion of white settlers who killed off the dwindling herds and claimed the land and game on it for their exclusive use and ownership. A great read for those interested in Indian Life as it was and as it disappeared. Not for those with a fragile stomach, but tastefully and accurately described in detail.
• Great book on life among the Indians. If you like this book you will also want to read the following 99-cent classics on life with Indians
  1. Bird Woman (Sacajawea) the Guide of Lewis and Clark Her Own Story Now First Given to the World (1918)
  2. My Life as an Indian The Story of a Red Woman and a White Man in the Lodges of the Blackfeet (1907)
  3. The Life and Adventures of James P. Beckwourth Mountaineer, Scout, and Pioneer and Chief of the Crow Nation of Indians (1856)
  4. Waheenee An Indian Girl's Story (1921) (Active Table of Contents)
  5. The Old North Trail Or, Life, Legends and Religion of the Blackfeet Indians (1910) (2.99)
  6. Two Wilderness Voyagers A True Tale of Indian Life (1902)
  7. Stories from Indian Wigwams and Northern Campfires (1892) (Linked Table of Contents)
  8. Altowan, or Incidents of Life and Adventure in the Rocky Mountains (1846)
  9. Pocahontas Alias Matoaka, and Her Descendants Through Her Marriage at Jamestown, Virginia, in April, 1614, with John Rolfe, Gentleman (1887)
  10. Voyages and Travels of an Indian Interpreter and Trader (1791)
• This is a book about Herman Lehmann, who is a 3x great uncle to my sons. I first read this book 40 years ago. I'm so glad to have found that this true life story has been re-printed. It reads like the best of western adventure tales. Herman Lehmann was captured by a tribe of Native Americans when he was only 11 years of age. He lived with that tribe for a few years, and was included in all their rituals and training that a young brave would receive. He left that first tribe and lived on his own for about a year in the Oklahoma territory and Texas wilderness. He then joined another Native tribe. Adopted by Quanah Parker, Herman was found and brought back to his birth family, where he had to be taught how to conduct himself in that culture which he had totally forgotten. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the west, in Native American culture, and the settlers in Texas in the latter half of the 19th Century. Other books have been written about Herman Lehmann, I recommend A. C. Green's "The Last Captive," as an addition to this book in your library.
• the book gives us a view of the daily activities of the Apache and Comanche Indians.
  Their lives are fraught with hostilities between the different tribes and the tribes and
  the white men who were moving into their lands.
  We learn what it is to behave like an Indian warrior where honor and bravery are
  intertwined. The reader comes away with respect for the abilities of the Indians
  and marvels at how any of them survived the dual dangers of white men and their guns,
  and hostile warlike tribesmen. The truth is that not many of them did survive.
  Herman Lehmann was abducted from his family when he was a child and forced to learn
  to be an Indian or be killed by the same Apache tribesmen. He chose to survive and
  we see his transformation into an accepted Indian warrior. His metamorphosis is so complete
  that mentally he grows to hate the White men.
  In 1879 he is pacified with the rest of his tribe and finds his mother who helps him to complete his
  reformation into white customs and civility.
• The value in this book is that it is the real story of a boy kidnapped and raised with the Apache indians in frontier times. In the beginning, he was treated horribly by them. Later he was more accepted by them, and he stayed with them until he was an adult and was returned to his white family by the government. He had a hard time re-learning how to live with his white family. Very interesting!