Voting Station

Herman Lehmann

Please vote to return to collections.

Oddity

The Resume

    (June 5, 1859-February 2, 1932)
    Born in Loyal Valley, Texas
    Son of German immigrants
    Kidnapped at the age of nine by Apache Indian raiders (1870)
    Spent 6 years with the Apaches; spent another 3 years living with the Comanche tribe
    Returned to his family during his time on the Kiowa-Comanche reservation (1879)
    Wrote the autobiography, 'Nine Years Among the Indians' (1927)
    Site of his kidnapping was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1991
    Apache name was 'En Da' ('White Boy'); Comanche name was 'Montechema'

Why he might be annoying:

    He was dogged his whole life (and through both of his marriages) by rumors that the had taken an Indian bride.
    He never completely adjusted to life after being 'rescued' by the Indian Department.
    He liked to eat in front of house-guests in nothing but Indian leggings and a feathery headdress.
    His other eccentricities included rejecting food served to him and refusing to sleep in his bed, instead camping out on the floor.
    He later summed up his reluctance to embrace life with his birth family by nonchalantly explaining: 'I was an Indian, and I did not like them because they were palefaces.'
    He later capitalized on his fame as 'the white Apache' by going on tour - showing up at county rodeos and state fairs to recount his experiences as an 'Indian captive.'
    He recounted, in his autobiography, having had a fling with a Comanche girl whom he had met while skinning a buffalo.
    Her father, who didn't approve of the relationship, caught Herman sneaking into his daughter's tepee.
    While the two were making love, Herman received a swift kick in the ass followed by an arrow into his leg, before the girl talked her father down by pouting (some things are the same in every culture).
    He dealt with drinking problems in the final years of his life, frequently getting into bar fights and trouble with the law.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His brother was kidnapped along with him, but managed to escape.
    His captors lied and claimed they had killed his entire family.
    He failed in his first escape attempt, resulting in the Apaches stripping him naked and tying him to a pole like they would a hunted animal.
    He managed to effectively assimilate into Apache culture, working his way to the rank of petty chief.
    He may have had Stockholm Syndrome (or maybe he just enjoyed the relative freedom offered by the Plains Indians which his own family didn't).
    He was almost shot by a Texas ranger in an 1875 skirmish before the soldier identified him as a white captive (Herman fled before he could be brought back however).
    He was forced to leave the Apaches after killing a medicine man in retaliation for the murder of his adoptive father, Carvoniste.
    He was an adopted son of Quanah Parker, himself the son of an Indian captive.
    His life inspired components of the popular Dustin Hoffman film, 'Little Big Man' (1970).
    'Nine Years Among the Indians' is recognized as one of the finest captivity narratives in American literature.
    His account also dissolved many misconceptions about the 'barbaric' Indians of popular imagination (instead depicting them as caring, fun-loving, and, well, human).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 7 Votes: 42.86% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying