The Capture and Escape; Or, Life Among the Sioux (1871) True Story: (Captured by the Sioux and Freed Five Months Later. She Later Wrote a Book about Her Experiences)

Fanny Kelly (1845-1904) was a North American pioneer woman captured by the Sioux and freed five months later. She later wrote a book about her experiences called Narrative of My Captivity among the Sioux Indians in 1871.She was born Fanny Wiggins in Orillia in what is now Canada in 1845 to James Wiggins. In 1856, Wiggins decided to relocate his family to the new town of Geneva in the soon-to-be state of Kansas. Along the way, however, he died of cholera, leaving the family to continue on to Geneva on their own. Fanny eventually married Josiah S. Kelly. Kelly hoped that a change of climate would aid his failing health, so he, Fanny, and her seven-year-old niece and adopted daughter, Mary Hurley, along with two "colored servants," Franklin and Andy, set out on May 17, 1864 from Geneva for the region that is now Idaho or Montana. A fellow traveler, a Methodist clergyman named Mr. Sharp, joined them a few days later. A couple of weeks after that, William and Sarah Larimer and their eight-year-old son Frank, with whom they were acquainted, left a large wagon train to accompany them. Two others joined the group somewhere along the journey, Gardner Wakefield and Noah Taylo On July 12, the ill-fated party had crossed Little Box Elder Creek in Wyoming when they encountered a large group of "about two hundred and fifty" Oglala Sioux "painted and equipped for war," led by their war chief, Ottawa.[2] Vastly outnumbered, the emigrants tried to placate the warriors. The Sioux became increasingly assertive and suddenly attacked without warning. Sharp, Taylor, and Franklin were killed immediately.[3] Wakefield was seriously injured. Josiah Kelly, William Larimer, and Andy got away, while the two women and two children were taken captive. Another wagon that happened on the scene by chance sped off, at the cost of one person's life. The Sioux then proceeded to loot the five wagons. Josiah Kelly and Andy separately made their way to the protection of a large wagon train some miles away, as did the people of the other wagon that had passed by. They later found William Larimer, with an arrow wound to the arm, and Wakefield with three arrows in him, but still alive. After a couple of days, the party made its way to Deer Creek Station, where there was an army garrison.