Mary LaFintia Pipkin (1869 - 1909)

Born 7 Nov 1869 in Steelville, Crawford, Missouri, USA

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 13 Sep 1909 at age 39 in Ramah, McKinley, New Mexico, USA

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Roger Hatch [send private message]

Biography

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We recite here one story of the unusual relationship between the Navajo people and the Mormon settlers, taken from the journal of Paris Ashcroft. The old missionary, Ira Hatch, had settled in Ramah with his family by his late Indian wife, Sarah Dyson, and his new family by Nancy Pipkin. Lafenti Pipkin was Nancy’s daughter by a prior marriage, and was Paris’ mother. Paris writes that “Jose Pino (the chief) was friendly to the Hatch people and a very frequent visitor. He decided to ask Ira Hatch for Lafenti to be his wife. He had several wives already, but that was the custom. It was also their custom to make this proposal of marriage through the parents of the girl, instead of making the proposal directly to the girl. Ira Hatch told him it wasn’t our custom to sell our girls to make a deal of this kind, but that if he could get the girl’s consent that was the white man’s way ... At this time Lafenti was keeping com- pany with Josiah Emer Ashcroft, although both of them were quite young. The chief did not waste much time in asking her to marry him. He said he would give her lots of jewelry and nice clothes. He would give her lots of sheep and horses, and she would be looked up to by all the other wives and Indians.” “Of course Lafenti answered and told him she appreciated his friendship, but that she already had a sweet- heart and would have to refuse the great chief ... He left quite angry ... One day Lafenti was alone at the ranch ... Jose Pino must have known she was alone, because he came to the house dressed in his finest clothes. He told Lafenti he had come again to ask her to marry him; that he wasn’t used to having women refuse him, and would she have him without waiting any longer? She told him again that she already had her lover, and had promised to marry him, and for him to go away now and not bother her any more as she had made up her mind.” “The chief jumped and grabbed Lafenti, and told her he would kill her unless she consented to marry him. He forced her to sit in a chair and taking his hunting knife in his right hand, told her if she still refused, he would cut her throat. Lafenti was very frightened, but she knew good and well she had better not show it. She looked him square in the eye and said, ‘Go ahead and kill me if you dare; I am not afraid of you ...’ This bravery of Lafenti’s was too much for Jose and he released her and said, ‘I can’t kill you; you are too brave a squaw to be killed. I am sorry I acted this way. I will bother you no more.’ He made good his word. He was still friendly to their family and in a few years he was baptized.”

Sources

1. ↑ Entered by Elizabeth Hatch.

Hatch Family News August 1969

Footnotes

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Elizabeth Hatch for starting this profile. Click the Changes tab for the details of contributions by Elizabeth and others.

• findagrave.com

• JOSEPH and MAUD TIETJEN and some equally wild NEIGHBORS, p.8

http://tietjen.org/histories/tietjen/joe-maud-tietjen/Joe-Maud_Tietjen.pdf