I would check out Lisa Voigt's book "Writing Captivity in the Early Modern Atlantic". This is a good starting point once you mine her sources as it is a 2009 publication.

The captivity narrative is actually the first American-born literary genre. They began in New England with the puritans (c. 1682-1724). Mary Rowlandson in 1682 was the first really popular American captivity narrative. In my research, I found the themes in the early puritan tales remain the hallmarks of the genre (1682-1920) pretty consistently.

So what are the standards?

First, a godforsaken wilderness (where man is not, Earth is barren). In the puritan tales it was the demon haunted wilds of New England, “where the Indian had their unapproachable kennel [and] habitations of cruelty,” (Cotton Mather). As the frontiers shifted, so did the location of the nightmarish wilderness, but never this theme. As if the land itself were evil. There is a very horror movie like theme running through many of these narratives.

Next, it all happens suddenly. Bam! It's a nice day, people are working, kids are playing: and out of the blue feigns from hell, usually in terrifying warpaint, attack. The message is clear: you may think you are safe, but safety on the frontier is an illusion.

The initial attacks are shocking and described in agonizing detail. Increasingly so as time went on, I'd say. Men are killed on sight. "Savages" killing crying babies is a very common theme. "Braining infants" against trees seems to be universal in these narratives. It is always these initial attacks that make the most emotional impact on the reader, in my experience. You can't unread this stuff. Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian doesn't hold a candle to this stuff in terms of brutality.

The next theme is movement. Almost like a chase scene in a modern movie. The captors flee with the captives at a breakneck pace. Captives who cannot keep up are usually killed on the spot. For the narrators, this is often the hardest part of their ordeal. Most of them are in complete shock at this point and consider this excruciating pace unbearable torture. Starvation (for captors and captives) is pretty universal during this journey. Descriptions of eating horrid things (rotten meat, leather shoes, etc) is another common element you will encounter in nearly every narrative.

Kindness. Acts of kindness towards the captives are really emphasized by the narrators. Stockholm syndrome levels basically. Expect nearly every narrative to spend some time on how nice their captors really were.

The greatest change from the puritan captivities to the mid-west and western tales is the nature of captivity itself. For the most part, the puritan captives were being taken directly to the French to sale for ransom. It was a simple economic decision primarily. However, in general, the point of captivity was to bolster the tribal population. So for many captives, this meant very systematic indoctrination and forceful assimilation into the tribe. This was actually very effective and lots of white captives never "came back," even when they were "rescued."

This is a subject I have been fascinated with for a while and I've read dozens of these narratives. My impression is that publishers and editors made sure capitivity stories followed the same general format and narrative structure and that many of these narratives were ghost written.

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####Sources

Rowlandson, Mary. The Sovereignty & Goodness of God Together, with the Faithfulness of his Promises Displayed; Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson. Commended by her, to that desires to know the Lords doing to, and dealing with Her, 2nd Ed. (Cambridge, 1682) in Puritans Among the Indians: Accounts of Captivity and Redemption, 1676-1724, Edited by Alden T. Vaughan and Edward W. Clark, 29-78. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1981.

Calloway, Colin G. “An Uncertain Destiny: Indian Captivities on the Upper Connecticut River.” Journal of American Studies 17. No.2 (August, 1983): 189-210.

Rushforth, Brett. “A Little Flesh We Offer You’: The Origins of Indian Slavery in New France,” In American Encounters: Natives and Newcomers from European Contact to Indian Removal, 1500-1850. Edited by Peter C. Mancall and James H. Merrell, 457-482. New York: Routledge, 2007. Cotton Mather, Magnalia Christi Americana: or the Ecclesiastical History of New England, from …1620, unto…1698, (London, 1720) in Puritans Among the Indians: Accounts of Captivity and Redemption, 1676-1724 (Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1981), 31.

The Captured: A True Story of Abduction by Indians on the Texas Frontier by Scott Zesch Link: http://amzn.com/0312317891

Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S. C. Gwynne Link: http://amzn.com/1416591060