The Captured

A True Story of Abduction by Indians on the Texas Frontier

By: Scott Zesch

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

On New Year's Day in 1870, 10-year-old Adolph Korn was kidnapped by an Apache raiding party. Traded to Comanches, he thrived in the rough nomadic existence, quickly becoming one of the tribe's fiercest warriors. Forcibly returned to his parents after three years, Korn never adjusted to life in white society. He spent his last years living in a cave, all but forgotten by his family.

That is, until Scott Zesch stumbled upon his great-great-great-uncle's grave. Determined to understand how such a "good boy" could have become Indianized so completely, Zesch traveled across the West, digging through archives, speaking with Comanche elders, and tracking eight other child captives from the region with hauntingly similar experiences. With a historian's rigor and a novelist's eye, Zesch paints a vivid portrait of life on the Texas frontier in The Captured and offers one of the few nonfiction accounts of captivity.

©2004 Scott Zesch (P)2004 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"A fascinating, meticulously documented chronicle of the often-painful confrontations between whites and Indians during the final years of Indian Territory." (Booklist)

Enjoyable and educational personal story

I love history, and found this story captivating. No pun intended. lol
Apparently some folks have nitpicked as to whether it is 100% true, but I didn't really care about that. It is based on actual events, that were researched to the extent the author was able to do so. I believe it is illustrative of important events in the history of the country. Events and lessons that are relevant today.

Very very interesting. Enjoyed it!!

The settlers had to be very hardy in such stressful times. "Working to the bone to eek out a living" has a new meaning to me!! The constant waring between the Indians and the new settlers must have been unbearable especially for the defenseless women and children. I am sure guilt rests on both sides!!

Very immersive

This book takes you right to the 1800’s. It has left me wanting more. I’ve spent the last few days googling the names and locations in the story and that has made it all the better. You feel on the run with Apache and Comanche and others. A few moments were quite graphic, not for the feint of heart. It was factual so it was not unacceptable. If you are thinking of letting young people read this book I suggest you read it with them to skip or explain one very violent chapter. Fabulous reading. Well written. I’d love more from this author.

Excellent

I could not stop listening. The read contained detailed descriptions of the lives of the captured during and after life with the Indians. As usual Mr. Gardner’s read was excellent.

Fascinating Story!

This was a very easy to listen to book. It was well-written in a way that both informs and entertains, while maintaining a more believable balance (than many narratives of the frontier) of human complexity for all characters. I appreciated the primary sources used to round out the experience of a single person by telling the stories of many others who were there or were living similar lives. It doesn’t claim to tell the full story, but definitely paints a clear picture from several perspectives of the same situations.

Excellent book!

I would recommend this book to anyone and I am sad to have finished it already!

well researched interesting

author did great job with specific details as a clear accurate broad historical picture presented

Excellent story, but narrator does not pronounce makes authentically.

This is a fabulous story, but the narrator needed help with pronunciation. I live in West Texas, and many names/places were pronounced incorrectly. Most glaringly, the narrator spoke of rodeos as “rho-day-ohs” rather than “rho-dee-ohs”. A Texan narrator would have made the recording much better.

Fascinating - I could picture every scene.

Love this historical account of Indian kidnappings back in the days on the Texas frontier. Page turner. Satisfying read from the very beginning to the very end. No stone left unturned!

Raids and such

Very interesting to listen to. Kind of gives whiplash in a weird way going from talking about how captured whites enjoyed going native then describing the gruesomeness of raids.