Cynthia Haseloff

The Chains of Sarai Stone by Cynthia Haseloff is the story of one woman who has been reclaimed from the Comanche that kidnapped her fifteen years ago when she was still a child. She was adopted and grew up with the Indians, married and had children before she was recaptured by white men and returned to her family. She was given into the care of her uncle, a man who hated Indians and felt that his niece was little more than a savage. He had her placed in an iron collar and chained, and even though the townspeople thought he was going to far, no one interfered.

The author didn’t hesitate to show how badly returned women were treated, and, in fact, many of these women committed suicide when they realized that they were unsuccessful at integrating back into white society. Sarai needed to discover whether she can adapt to becoming white again or does her heart still belong with the Comanche.

Although based on the story of Cynthia Ann Parker, perhaps the most famous of all Indian captives, the author branches off from the original story and creates a new path for the main character to follow. Overall this was a fairly routine story although the author was born in Texas and was actually named for Cynthia Ann Parker. She obviously knows her history and what terrible conditions captive women were placed under both by the Indians and then again when they were returned to their families.… (mehr)

Satanta’s Woman by Cynthia Haseloff is the story of a frontier woman who is kidnapped by the Kiowa Indians along with her two young granddaughters. One of the children stays with her and is adopted into the family of Satanta, only to go missing in the confusion of the Sand Creek Massacre.. The other child, a baby disappears into the Indian Nation.

As her life with the Kiowa goes on, she comes to understand their ways and sympathize with them. She and Satanta, the warrior that kidnapped her come to love one another. Eventually she is found by white soldiers and returned to the white world where she is reunited with her granddaughter. Satanta is taken and put on trail where her testimony saves him from being hung. He is however, imprisoned for the rest of his life.

A sad, yet touching story of the last days of the truly “wild” Indian, and, more personally a doomed yet enduring love. Written in a straight-forward, simple yet heart-felt manner, I was both enthralled and moved by this book.… (mehr)