The Captured Audiobook By Scott Zesch cover art

The Captured

A True Story of Abduction by Indians on the Texas Frontier

Preview

Try for $0.00
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

The Captured

By: Scott Zesch
Narrated by: Grover Gardner
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $16.22

Buy for $16.22

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

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
Indigenous Peoples State & Local United States Disappearance American Indian
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

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

What listeners say about The Captured

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,051
  • 4 Stars
    344
  • 3 Stars
    117
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
    12
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    934
  • 4 Stars
    270
  • 3 Stars
    73
  • 2 Stars
    10
  • 1 Stars
    5
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    936
  • 4 Stars
    252
  • 3 Stars
    80
  • 2 Stars
    15
  • 1 Stars
    9

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent book!

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

well researched interesting

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!