A price was put on her head
Since Tubman would often work on other plantations and was even occasionally hired out to work for other families, her absence was not immediately apparent. In fact, it was a full two weeks before a runaway notice was placed in the local newspaper when Tubman first escaped along with her two brothers. On this occasion, the note, published in the Cambridge Democrat offered a reward of $100 for each of the three runaways.
In some histories of Tubman’s life, there’s mention of a much larger reward being placed on her head a few years later. According to some accounts, this might have been as large as $5,000, with slaveowners coming to realize her key role in making the Underground Railroad a success. There is, however, no proof that such a huge reward was ever offered, though rumors of it have only helped add to Tubman’s legendary status.
That’s not to say that there was no effort made to capture Tubman. As soon as she became involved in the Underground Railroad, she placed herself at significant personal risk. Right across the South, professional ‘slave catchers’ made a living capturing escaping slaves and returning them to their owners. Most had dogs and were violent and cruel in their methods. Before long, rumors of a small, illiterate former slave lady leading groups of escapees to the north started circulating. Tubman became one of the most-wanted people in all of America. It was only her cunning and caution that kept her from being captured and sent back to slave on a plantation – or even a fate worse than enslavement.