Pawnee Prisoner: The Story of Jane Gotcher Crawford

Winner - 2026 Texas Authors Texas Best Book Award for Historical Fiction Biography.

Pawnee Prisoner, The Story of Jane Gotcher Crawford is a tale of survival set in the 1830s and based on the true story of the daughter of Texas pioneer James "Jim" Gotcher who carved a narrow road through Austins Little Colony, and widow of Alamo Defender Lemuel Crawford, the spirited young man with high hopes and a firm belief in Texas Independence.

When Lemuel died at the Alamo, leaving Jane a widow with a small daughter, she was devastated. A year later, as life begins to return to normal, a Pawnee raiding party attacks the Gotcher family work camp, killing five members of her family. Jane offers herself as a captive to try to protect the children. Janes courage and determination to keep her daughter and young brothers alive is tested on the long journey to Oklahoma. She saves her daughter from certain death multiple times and finds ways to help the children cope with captivity. Her determination is tested again when they are separated at the Pawnee village. While Jane deals with the brutality, jealousy, and challenges of being a prisoner of the Pawnee, her daughter and brothers face their own struggles to survive.

As Jane begins to lose hope of rescue, Charles Spalding, a bearded trader, discovers the family and negotiates a trade that takes longer than expected. Jane refuses to leave anyone behind. Standing Bear, the fiercest of the Pawnee, disagrees with the release of the captives and decides to take matters into his own hands.

Loved by one and coveted by another of the Pawnee, will Jane make it home to the Gotcher Trace or will one final confrontation send her back to the Indian village?