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The Native Americans would usually capture Settlers and torture them to death.

Men and women captives as well as teenage boys, would usually face death by ritual torture. The torture
had strong sacrificial overtones, usually to the sun. Captives, especially warriors, were expected to show
extreme self-control and composure during torture, singing "death songs", bragging of one's courage or deeds
in battle, and otherwise showing defiance. The torture was conducted publicly in the captors' village, and
the entire population (including children) watched and participated. Common torture techniques included
burning the captive, which was done one hot coal at a time, rather than on firewood pyres; cutting with knives,
beatings with switches or sticks, and jabs from sharp sticks. Captives' fingernails were ripped out. Their fingers
were broken, then twisted and yanked by children. Captives were made to eat pieces of their own flesh, and were
scalped alive. The genitalia of male captives were the focus of considerable attention, culminating with the
dissection of the genitals one slice at a time. To make the torture last longer, the Native Americans would
revive captives with rest periods during which time they were given food and water. Tortures typically began
on the lower limbs, then gradually spread to the arms, then the torso. The Native Americans spoke of "caressing"
the captives gently at first, which meant that the initial tortures were designed to cause pain, but only
minimal bodily harm. By these means, the execution of a captive, especially an adult male, could take several
days and nights.

“The great real fact,” declared one colonel, “is that these Indians take alive when possible, and slowly torture.”

“You could always tell which casualties had been wounded [first],” one sergeant reminisced, “because the little
Indians and the squaws, after removing the clothes, would shoot them full with arrows and chop them in the faces
with hatchets. They never mutilated a dead man, just those who had been wounded.”

“A favorite method of torture was to ‘stake out’ the victim,” revealed Colonel Richard Dodge:

He was stripped of his clothing, laid on his back on the ground and his arms and legs, stretched to the utmost,
were fastened by thongs to pins driven into the ground. In this state he was not only helpless, but almost
motionless. All this time the Indians pleasantly talked to him. It was all kind of a joke. Then a small fire
was built near one of his feet. When that was so cooked as to have little sensation, another fire was built
near the other foot; then the legs and arms and body until the whole person was crisped. Finally a small fire
was built on the naked breast and kept up until life was extinct.

A similar procedure used by the red torturers was to slice with a sharp knife a small inch of skin on the foot
then peel it up slowly in long strips until the head was reached. This agonizing procedure was repeated on all
sides of the body until the crazed victim eventually “seeped” to death hours, even days, later.

Some women captives were prized by the Natives. If they complied with their captors, they would be treated
with some decency. If they resisted, they would be tied up and have burning embers shoved up their noses
until they agreed to submit. If the continued to resist, more burning embers would be placed into much more
sensitive areas as you might not want to imagine. Finally, they would be beaten and scalped.

Legend often portrays the Natives as peaceful and gentle people - they certainly were not. Captives were lucky
if they were only taken to become slaves. Unfortunately, most were taken to become the focus of ritual torture
and prolonged and grisly death.