23 Rare Historical Photos Never Exposed Until Now

7. The Girl with the Chin Tattoo

The woman you see before you is Olive Ann Oatman, known as the first white American woman to have a tattoo. She was born in 1837 in Illinois, and was kidnapped by a Native American tribe, either olkepayas or Western Yavapais, along with her sister when she was 14. The rest of her family was killed in the incident.

Oatman and her sister Mary Ann were adopted by a Mohave chief and his family and were both given chin tattoos. Five years after originally being taken, rumors of a white girl living with the Mohave tribe reached her home village and she was eventually traded for several blankets and horses. Her sister, Mary Ann, sadly died of hunger before the release. Oatman’s story resonated with the media for a long time after her return, and several novels, plays and films were written about her. She eventually died of a heart attack in 1903.