We've had many members wonder how accurate SWCH is ...after all, it is supposed to be based on a true story ...however the information we've found leads us to believe that it's very loosely based indeed! Here is some of what we've found, cobbled together from old posts.

Marnie's info....

"Well, there I was the other day doing a spot of research for a book cover in an ancient military base library when I came across a musty old tome called "The Indian Wars of the Plains" or something like that ...it's a little hard to read, the original cover being long gone and someone has hand written a replacement! Having special access to the library I was able to take the book home ....just because I was intrigued by it ...the last time it had been taken out was in 1958!!!!! Anyhow, there I was ploughing through it (actually I was just reading a bit here and there as the language is a bit arcane in places ....and definitely not PC ...though it is quite a sympathetic book as it uotes from both sides ...old logs and diaries and also "Indians" that were interviewed.) Anyhow, I'm rambling on a bit ....but suddenly a couple of names leapt out at me ....a Miss White and a Mrs. Morgan....our heroines from SWCH. Yes, it actually has a bit about their kidnap ...and eventual "rescue" by Custer! According to the book, it was after the Washita when, "Two white girls, a Miss White, and a Mrs. Morgan, a bride of a month, had been captured by the Indians in raids up the Solomon and Republican valleys the previous summer. Their capture aroused great indignation in Kansas. Governor Crawford obtained permission from the war department to organize the 19th Kansas Cavalry."
(Here it relates some of the rather nasty things that were purported to have happened to Miss White and Mrs. Morgan ....I won't go into it too much here ...but suffice to say it's not as nice as the film, the girls being severely abused on the journey back to the encampment when they became the property of a specific captor.)
Anyway, Custer went off searching but got side-tracked by finding the remains of Major Elliot who'd been missing since the Washita ....and so as winter was coming on, the fighting was over for the year. In the spring they set out again. Guided by a captive Cheyenne woman, Custer located the village where the two girls were held.
"It would have been easy to ride down and give the Indians a taste of lead but that would have ensured the demise of the prisoners."
Diplomacy took the place of force . "Custer flattered, promised and threatened for tedious days."
Then he took the step of seizing three Cheyenne warriors as hostages for the safety of the girls. To make it a bit more palatable he sent presents and promised the release of the warriors on the surrender of the captives. The following day the girls were sent to him, both mounted on a single pony. No more is mentioned of this incident except a footnote that Miss White lived to an old age. She afterward married and reared a family ....but sadly Mrs. Morgan died a few years after her release from captivity.

Well, I dunno about you ....but I prefer the CBS version!!!
Marnie
PS I quoted and paraphrased and changed the wording a bit but that's pretty much what it says in the book ..."
 

Subsequently I discovered another book ....
 

"I was back at the military library ...and would you believe I found another book that mentioned Miss White and Mrs Morgan. This one had a much lengthier description ....but, man, it was even harder to read and not nearly as balanced as the other one. The book is made up of various writings from "frontiersmen" and Cavalry officers ...so you can imagine how biased it is. Plus, the writing is so florid and grandiose (not to mention self-serving) it rather jangles the nerves. However, I did find the description really interesting ...especially that Mrs. Morgan's brother, Mr Brewster, did accompany the cavalry to help find her but he was only about 22 ...Mrs. Morgan being 19 ...and that the two girls didn't know each other prior to their capture. Mrs. Morgan's husband was badly injured and left crippled in the original raid which is why he didn't accompany the search and the two girls did, in fact, briefly manage to escape but were chased and caught ("I'll run you till you drop" Sonja?) and then split up. This part was very long and encompassed a lot more than the actual search for the two and it was  written in the first person and why did the writer keep receiving orders addressed to "General" I kept asking myself? You got it, this section was written by Custer!! Took me a while to figure it out as his name wasn't mentioned as author. I had heard he was a bit of a self promoter ...and  judging from this book he certainly was!"
 

Later I mentioned that in one passage I read there was someone who struck me as being similar to "Tokalah" this generated some interest so  I then quoted the relevant section.....
 

"The passage I thought was most apropos was when he was actually deciding to hold some of the "Chief's " hostage .....for the return of Miss White and Mrs. Morgan and other guarantees. It's  long ..and there is a point when Custer is worried he's going to throw up whilst smoking the "pipe" ...but anyway, I could just picture one of
them as "Tokalah" .....

Custer writes....
"...Even at this date I recall no more exciting experience with Indians than the occasion I now write. Near me stood a tall, grey haired chief, who, while entreating his people to be discreet, kept his cocked revolver ready in his hand for use, should the emergency demand it. Near him stood another, a most powerful and forbidding warrior, who was without firearms, but who was armed with a bow, already strung, and a quiver full of iron-pointed arrows. His coolness during the scene of danger and excitement was often the subject of  remark afterward between the officers whose attention had been drawn to him. He stood apparently unaffected by the excitement about him, but not unmindful of the surrounding danger. Holding his bow in one hand, with the other he continued to draw from his quiver arrow after arrow. Each one he would examine coolly as if he expected to engage in target practise. First he would cast his eye along the shaft of the arrow, to see if it was perfectly straight and true, then he would with thumb and finger gently feel the point and edge of the barbed head, returning to the quiver each one whose condition did not satisfy him.
   In this manner he continued until he had selected perhaps half a dozen arrows, with which he seemed satisfied, and which he retained in his hand, while his quick eye did not permit a single incident about him to escape unnoticed. The noise of the voices and the excitement increased until a movement began on the part of the Indians who were mounted, principally the young men and boys. If the latter could be allowed to escape and the chiefs be retained, the desired object would be gained. Suddenly a rush was made. But for the fact that my men had been ordered not to fire, the attempt of the Indians would not have been successful. I, as well as the other officers near me called upon the men not to fire. The result was that all but four broke through the lines and made their escape. The four detained, however, were those desired, being chiefs and warriors of prominence......"

So which one do you think I meant ...the "grey haired chief" or the one coolly picking out his arrows, psyching them out? ...I won't tell you what happened to him, it'd just depress you!"

So there you go ...this is what I found out  ...plus I also just discovered that "Miss White" lived to a ripe old age and died in 1938 ....it doesn't seem that long ago, really!

 Looking forward to hearing what the book "Pioneer Women" has to say on this subject....let's hope it's happier than some of the stuff I found!
Marnie
 

Angela, our Lady of the Beasts found some more references to the "kidnap" in a book called "Pioneer Women" this is the information she found.

Angela's info....

I am going to  summarize the information that  I got from  the book "PioneerWomen".  First, some information about the book:

Title: Pioneer Women Voices From the Kansas Frontier
Author: Joanna L. Stratton
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

The  story appears  in Part Two, Chapter Six, pg 123-126.
The author obtained the information  from "Emily Haines Harrison,
' Reminiscences of Early Days in Ottawa County,'"Kansas Historical Society. Vol.10(1907-8),pp.627-28.
(Whew!)

I am summarizing  and paraphrasing in a list form for clarity.

1. Sarah and Anna were captured separately, a month apart, by two different groups  of warriors who  took them to the same  village. Sarah was 17 years old, one of 7 children.  Anna is described as a beautiful young  woman,
with, "...yellow hair, blue eyes and a fair complexion".  She had been married exactly one month.

2. At the village they were forced to do menial chores. They were obedient but immediately began to set aside dried buffalo meat  so they would be ready to escape whenever they had a chance. The chance came during a big pow-wow.

3. They almost made it to Fort Dodge when they were recaptured, whipped, tied to  ponies and taken back. Now they had no privileges  whatever and settled to a life of hard work.

4. An Indian chief (who is not named) proposed to Anna and she accepted hoping to improve her lot.   It worked. In her words she states  that, "... my Indian husband would come in from the warpath bringing many things he thought would please me”.

5. Now the other women had  to wait on her and bring her firewood.  All her husband expected of her was  for her to tend his horse when he came in. He would throw the lariat to her and she would “picket  out” the horse.
(WASH THE HORSE, ANNA?”)

6. In her words Anna began, “...to think much of him for his kindness to me.”

7. One day she was brought the news that there were two white men in the camp. She did not care to see them.  Then her own brother walked into the tent.

8. Anna and Sarah were exchanged  for the lives of five chiefs scheduled for hanging.

9. After their return, Sarah made money  by telling her story and selling her photograph.  Anna did not.

10. Anna is described  as melancholy  and unable to forget her captivity. A few months after she returned home, she gave birth to a son, by her Indian husband. The child died at age two.

11. An  acquaintance reported that,  “...her mind gradually failed and she died in an asylum.”

12. Anna is quoted as having said, : “After I came back, the road seemed rough, and I often wished they had never found me.”

Joanna Stratton writes that Custer wrote about this  incident in “My Life on the Plains”and  that he wrote about the story in a political way. Her opinion is that the personal truth of the  capture was very complex.

Angela

 PS The book  has some humorous, some frightening, and  many touching and often sad anecdotes of  the relationships of the pioneer women with the Native people. If not available at your library you might find it at a college library under History/Women’s Studies which is its classification . Enjoy!

Just recently one of Sarah White's descendants dropped by our message board and added to what we'd learned.....

SWCH-Some more true info
BethWhite-Hanley ,

 I wanted to share that the info you have is pretty correct on the info about Anna as I obtained it from the Kansas State Historical Society. Sarah was only about 17 and she had auburn hair and was the daughter of Ben White who was killed by the Indians that captured her by being shot in the neck. They were farmers and not the rich citified type as portrayed in the film and tho' I love the film it doesn't sit well about how loosely they based it. I guess I don't like the portrayal of Sarah due to the fact that I am a relative. I grew up hearing about this incident and have it in my family history of which I sent Michael a copy and he was glad to get it and said he couldn't wait to read it. Don't know if he ever did or not tho'. I am descended from Sarah's brother so she would be a cousin. I had always wondered if she had written anything and just recently found out she had and so am going to be contacting my relatives in Concordia, Kansas to try and obtain copies. Another relative went out and visited them recently and they even took them to where Ben was killed and everything which is so neat.  Sarah married a man by the name of Brooks or Cook (having a senior moment) and I know that Anna had several children after her 1/2 Indian baby died and she did indeed die in an asylum. I too prefer the happy ever after ending. 

We also found some intriguing information at the Delphos, Kansas page......

"Delphos was founded in 1867 by Levi and Dan Yockey.  These brothers relocated to the area from Delphos, Ohio and named the new community for their hometown.  Many other settlers, like the Yockey's, came to the area looking for a fresh start after the Civil War.

        There were numerous Indian raids in the area in the late 1860's.  On October 14, 1868 Mrs. Anna (Brewster) Morgan, a newlywed of only one month, was taken captive.  She was taken to the Indian village where she met Miss Sarah White of the Concordia area who had been held hostage since the middle of August.  The women were forced to endure many hardships at the hands of their captors.  They tried to escape once, but were caught and beaten.  After more than a year they were rescued by General Custer and his soldiers.  (More details on the search and rescue of the two women can be found in "My Life on the Plains" by General George Armstrong Custer.)

        After her return Mrs. Morgan gave birth to a child of Indian blood who only lived a few years.  Although she had three other children who grew to maturity, it was said that Mrs. Morgan was never able to put the experience behind her and in later years was of unsound mind.  She and the Indian baby are buried in the Delphos cemetery. "

An associated segment by Clayton L. Hogg has this to say.......

"ANNA BREWSTER MORGAN was captured by Indians just northwest of present-day Delphos during a raid on October 3, 1868. The young, pretty school teacher had been married less than a month to James Morgan. On that ill-fated day Mr. Morgan was working in a field about a mile north of their dugout when he was attacked by a band of Sioux Indians. His frightened horses ran back to the dugout. Mrs. Morgan, suspecting the worst, strapped a pistol on her side, mounted one horse, and set out to find her husband. The Indians had followed the horses, then hid in bushes when they spied Anna approaching. They pounced on her after she had crossed the creek. They tied her to her horse and took her to their camp.
    Later the Sioux traded her to a band of Cheyennes, who had earlier kidnapped Sarah C. White near Concordia. During the more than five winter months, Anna and Sarah had given up all hope of rescue. Their one attempt failed.
   Then they were rescued by Gen. George Custer on March 22, 1869, northwest of the Wichita Mountains near today's Lawton, OK. Custer demanded the return of the women with the threat of hanging one of six hostage chiefs each day.
    Anna gave birth to a half-Indian child, Ira, a few months after her rescue. The little fellow died about two years later. Anna had three more children, but the unhappy marriage ended when the youngest child was seven. Anna and her children moved in with her brother, Arthur Brewster, and lived with him until the children were grown. Until she was later declared insane, she had lived alone. She avoided publicity and was never accepted by the community. She confessed to a neighbor woman once, "I often wished they had never found me." She is buried near the entrance of the Delphos Cemetery next to her son, Ira. "
 

Hope everyone isn't too disillusioned ...after all, we all need a little "happily ever after" in our lives!