Nora Hildebrandt, "America's First Tattoed Lady"

from Gerald Drewicz:

Nora Hildebrandt at age 22 became the first tattooed woman to be exhibited in America. Nora was the daughter of Martin Hildebrandt who is credited as being the first professional tattooer in America.

Moving from camp to camp, Martin tattooed soldiers from both the north and south during the civil war.
Nora's pitch was that she and her father were kidnapped by Sitting Bull and his tribe who tied
her to a tree and forced her father to tattoo her every day for a year to earn their freedom.

Nora boasted of 365 tattoos from head to toe.

~ Adapted from Bodies of Subversion: A Secret History of Women and Tattoo, by Margot Mifflin.