R. B. (Royal Byron) Stratton

Born in 1827, R. B. (Royal Byron) Stratton was an American Methodist reverend and lecturer. Modern editions of Captivity of the Oatman Girls describe him as a minister who spent eleven years lecturing in California before publishing the book that became his best-known work.

Stratton is chiefly associated with Captivity of the Oatman Girls, first published in 1857 and later reissued in multiple editions. The book tells the story of Olive and Mary Ann Oatman and became the work for which he is most widely remembered.

He died in 1875. Although not much biographical detail is easily confirmed today, his name remains closely tied to one of the best-known captivity narratives of the American West.