Caprock Chronicles: The rescue of the German Girls, Part 3; Catherine German's memories of captive life with the Cheyenne
Editor's Note: Caprock Chronicles is edited by Jack Becker, retired Texas Tech University librarian. He can be reached at jack.becker@ttu.edu. Today’s article about Catherine German’s life on the Llano Estacado with the Cheyenne is the third of a three-part series by frequent contributor Chuck Lanehart, Lubbock attorney and award-winning Western history writer. Part One was an account of the abduction and rescue of the four German sisters. Part Two was Catherine German’s account of her captivity, continued here. “The Contested Plains,” a movie by Fall River Productions about the saga of the German family, will premiere in September at Oklahoma City, Pampa, Wichita and Oakley, Kansas.
After the raiding party which killed five members of the German family and abducted the four younger German sisters reached a Native American village of 300 lodges, Catherine — the eldest sister — was “adopted” by a Cheyenne family. The “buck” — age 45, and the squaw — about 35 — had an 8-year old son. Catherine’s life became only slightly easier.
“There were many times when I had occasion to feel very thankful to Ni-ho-e [her adoptive father] for his care and kindness. My Indian mother had a quick temper, and as is nearly always characteristic of such temperaments, she had her good spells as well as her bad ones. While I lived with them, they never quarreled, but got along nicely together and set a good example for their son.”
Catherine observed the work duties of the Cheyenne. “The men took care of the ponies and horses and provided food, while the women prepared the food and carried the wood and water. All helped erect and take down the lodges.
“The centuries-old habit of smoking was strong. Both sexes seemed to enjoy the pipe, and it was evident that they experienced greater pleasure when smoking with a visitor.”
Generous, they “always served food to a visitor if they had anything to give, and the amount they gave was governed by the supply on hand. They cut and tear the buffalo meat into thin strips and hang the strips on poles to dry in the sun. This was called jerked meat.”
Squaws spent much time making buffalo robes. “They laid the fresh hides on the ground with the wet side upward. Then stakes were driven through the edges of the hides into the ground. When the skins seemed half dry, the squaws scraped off any remaining pieces of meat and fat with sharp pieces of steel and smoothed the skins well. Next they placed ropes along trunks of growing trees, reaching from the lower limbs to the ground, and over these ropes they see-sawed the dry skins until they were smooth and soft. Thus, useful buffalo robes were made.”
The girls’ dresses “were two pieces of cotton cloth gored and cut the required length with a rude hem at the bottom. Straight pieces of cloth were hemmed and sewed in for sleeves, but they were made with no side seams in them. A hole was cut large enough to admit the head. When the Indian women had finished, they tried on my new garment and scrutinized it very carefully, then they decided that I needed better arm protection. They brought a man’s new shirt and put it on under the dress. This suit I wore without any change nearly all the time I remained with this family. In addition to the dress we always wore a blanket and shoes were replaced by moccasins.”
Catherine described the hygiene—or lack of it—of her captors. “It was a matter of choice if my face was ever washed, and as for a bath or clean clothes, such things were never mentioned. There were no changes of clothes or moccasins. When one pair of moccasins was worn out, a new pair was made to replace the old ones. They had no soap and a wash day was an unheard-of occasion. When they washed their faces, they drew water from the keg into their mouths, squirted it upon their hands and then rubbed their faces with it.” The German girls lived under these conditions for months.
During the winter of 1874-75, the U.S. Army drove the tribe to the bleak plains of northeastern New Mexico and the Panhandle of Texas, where food was scarce. “The severity of the winter was one of the best allies the soldiers could have had in subjugating the Indians. The . . . horses were dying by the hundreds from starvation. The Indians were forced to eat the flesh of those starved animals, thus saving their own lives. I became very hungry for bread, fruits or vegetables. Even grains of corn would have been relished for I had never been accustomed to a meat diet alone.”
The starving Cheyenne slowly made the long trek east across the Texas Panhandle to the Cheyenne Agency in Indian Territory, now Oklahoma.
In early March, the tribe ransomed Catherine and Sophia to the army for a wagonload of provisions. “Although we were very thin [17-year-old Catherine weighed 80 pounds, and 12-year old Sophia weighed 60 pounds], we were not especially weak, as our strenuous life with the Indians had kept our muscles hard and firm.” They learned their younger sisters, Julia and Adelaide, had been rescued the previous November. The four girls were reunited at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Their captors were eventually identified and imprisoned. The girls all married and lived long lives in Kansas, Colorado and California.
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Caprock Chronicles: The rescue of the German Girls, Part 3
