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"Modoc War: Its Military History & Topography" »
A free online book providing an overview
of the Modoc War.
Historic
Photos »
A gallery of selected historic photos.
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History & Culture
A historic lithograph
illustrating an artist's conception of the Modocs living and
fighting from Captain Jack's Stonghold. |
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The Modoc War: A Brief History
Background to Conflict:
The Modoc people historically lived over a wide area centered on Tule
Lake. They subsisted mainly on fish and waterfowl from the lake, as well
as camas root, wocus seed, and other wild plants. In summer, they hunted
deer, antelope and bighorn sheep in the high country. The first European
contact came in 1826, when a trading brigade from the Hudson's Bay
Company came through the region. When the trading station on the Dalles
of the Columbia was established, the Modocs began to trade for horses,
firearms, clothing and other goods. As the Lava Beds region lacked
fur-bearing game, the Modocs traded slaves - mostly captives from other
tribes.
When the Applegate brothers opened a cutoff from the Oregon Trail
through Modoc territory, trouble began. The Indian tribes to the east of
Modoc country were hostile to emigrants, and the pioneers treated the
Modocs harshly. The Modocs retaliated by attacking trains along the
north shore of Tule Lake, an area that came to be known as "Bloody
Point". In 1852, Ben Wright, a local "Indian Hunter" ambushed the Modocs
at a parley. His men killed 52 men, women and children - approximately
10% of the entire Modoc nation.
In the same period, remarkably, many of the Modocs sought employment
with the white residents in Yreka, Jacksonville, and Linkville, as well
as on the ranches in the Tule Lake basin. It was through these contacts
most of the Modocs acquired the names we know them by today. The whites
could not pronounce most of the Modocs' real names, so gave them new
names. Some were based on physical traits (Scarfaced Charley,
Curly-Headed Doctor, Black Jim), others on personal habits (Shacknasty
Jim). These aliases are still the only names we know for many of the
Modocs.
In 1864, the U.S. Government signed the Council Grove treaty with the
Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin bands. The tribes agreed to cede most of
their territory in exchange for a reservation on the north shores of
Upper Klamath Lake, on Klamath land. The Modocs did not get along well
with the Klamaths or the Yahooskin. Congress did not ratify the Council
Grove treaty until 1869, and not all of the Modocs wanted to move to the
reservation. A young war leader, Kientpoos, known by the Whites as
Captain Jack, led a group of followers who stayed off the reservation.
Captain Jack was persuaded to come onto the reservation, but the
Klamaths harassed his people and promised supplies failed to arrive. In
the spring of 1870, Jack's people left the reservation for good. By the
spring of 1872, settlers in the Lost River basin were pressuring the
government to remove the Modocs. The new Indian Agent for the territory,
Thomas B. Odeneal, ordered the commander at Fort Klamath, Major John
Green of the 1st U.S. Cavalry, to send troops to bring the Modocs in, ".
. . peaceably if you possibly can, forcefully if you must."
November 29, 1872, The Battle of Lost River:
Co. B, 1st U.S. Cavalry, moved on Captain Jack's village on Lost River
at dawn. After the soldiers demanded the Modocs' surrender, firing broke
out. One Modoc and one soldier were killed in the exchange of fire. The
Modoc warriors fled into cover, while the women, children and elderly
broke camp and headed across Tule Lake for the Stronghold, a natural
fortress of lava rock on the south shore of Tule Lake.
While this was happening, civilians from Linkville (Klamath Falls)
entered Hooker Jim's village across Lost River from Jack's. Fighting
broke out there as well, the civilians abandoning the field. Jim and his
warriors rode around Tule Lake and killed 14 male settlers in
retaliation for the attack.
January 17, 1873, The First Battle of the Stronghold:
The military forces of the Department of the Columbia were mobilized to
bring in the Modocs. Most of the military were not enthusiastic about
the campaign. Many of the soldiers believed the settlers in the Tule
Lake basin and corrupt government agents on the Klamath reservation were
responsible for the conflict. They believed, however, that a band of 50
or so Indian warriors would not be difficult to deal with, even in the
dead of winter.
The local commander, Lieutenant Colonel Frank Wheaton of the 21st U.S.
Infantry, was confident of victory. His force of 400 cavalry, infantry
and volunteers outnumbered Jack's warriors by 8 to 1. On the morning of
January 17, the army attacked in a heavy fog. Units became demoralized
as the Modocs opened fire from concealed positions in the lava flows. By
the end of the day, 40 soldiers were dead or wounded, while the Modocs
suffered no casualties. Wheaton was relieved of command and replaced by
Colonel Alven Gillem of the 1st U.S. Cavalry.
February through April 11, 1873, the Peace Commission:
Public outcry following reports of the First Battle of the Stronghold
caused President Ulysses Grant to name a Peace Commission to negotiate a
settlement with the Modocs. The army also sent reinforcements to the
Lava Beds. Brigadier General E.R.S. Canby, commander of the Department
of the Columbia, took personal command in the Lava Beds. He quickly
dominated Gillem and the civilian Peace Commissioners, Alfred Meacham,
L.S. Dyar, and Reverend Eleazar Thomas.
To place pressure on the Modocs, Canby ordered his forces to move their
camps closer to the Stronghold. The eastern force moved to Scorpion
Point on the east shore of Tule Lake, then to Hospital Rock,
approximately two miles from the Stronghold. Canby moved the western
force to establish Gillem's Camp, approximately three miles west of the
Stronghold, on April 1.
In the Modoc camp, pressures mounted between the war faction, led by
Hooker Jim, and the peace faction, led by Captain Jack. Hooker Jim and
his followers favored widening the war. They knew they were liable to be
hanged on the spot for killing the settlers if they surrendered. Jack
hoped to end the war peacefully, but was unwilling to give up Jim and
the others to such a fate. Finally, the war faction came up with a plan
to kill the army leaders, on the theory that the soldiers will lose
heart and go away. They ambushed Jack at a council and humiliated him,
calling him a coward and placing women's clothes on him. Although he
realized killing the army's leaders would only bring the government's
vengeance down on all his people, Jack agreed to the war faction's plan
to retain his authority as chief.
April 11, 1873, The Last Meeting of the Peace Commission:
On the morning of Good Friday, the Commissioners, General Canby, and
Frank and Toby Riddle, interpreters, went out to meet Captain Jack at a
tent erected approximately one mile from Gillem's Camp. Captain Jack
repeated his demand for a separate Modoc reservation and amnesty for his
warriors. As he had through the negotiations, Canby repeated his demand
that the Modocs surrender and trust the government to protect them. Jack
then signaled the others, drew a concealed revolver from his shirt and
shot Canby in the face. The other Modocs opened fire at the same time,
killing Reverend Thomas and severely wounding Meacham. Earlier that day,
three Modocs approached the camp at Hospital Rock, asking to meet the
"Chief" of the soldiers there. After a long-range parley with the
Officer of the Day, Lieutenant William Sherwood, and the Quartermaster
officer, Lieutenant William Boyle, the Modocs opened fire, mortally
wounding Sherwood.
Although the soldiers were ready to attack the Stronghold at once, the
army leadership ordered them to prepare for a more organized attack.
April 15-17, 1873, The Second Battle of the Stronghold:
Colonel Gillem ordered an all-out assault on the Stronghold. The army
moved forward with approximately 600 troops. As before, Modoc snipers
slowed the army advance to a crawl. Even bombardment of the Stronghold
by mortars and howitzers failed to demoralize the Modocs. This time,
however, the soldiers stayed in place at nightfall and resumed the
advance on the morning of the 16th. By dusk on the 16th, the soldiers
had failed to trap the Modocs against Tule Lake, as originally planned.
Instead, the troops had joined along the shore of Tule Lake, cutting the
Modocs off from their water source. The Modocs abandoned the Stronghold
in the wee hours of the 17th. With a force that never exceeded 60
warriors, the Modocs had held off an army that exceeded 600 men.
April 26, 1873, The Thomas-Wright Massacre:
In an effort to locate the Modocs, Gillem sent out patrols of cavalry
and Indian scouts. On learning the Modocs were in the lava flows south
of the Stronghold, he sent a patrol of 68 men from the 12th U.S.
Infantry and the 4th U.S. Artillery toward Sand Butte (now Hardin
Butte). The patrol, under the command of Captain Evan Thomas of the 4th
Artillery and Lieutenant Thomas Wright of the 12th Infantry, were
ordered to establish an observation post and evaluate the butte as an
artillery position for bombarding the Modocs' suspected position. After
taking most of the morning to cover the 4 miles from Gillem's camp, the
Thomas-Wright patrol arrived at the Base of Sand Butte. As the men broke
ranks for lunch and a break, a group of 22 Modocs under the command of
Scarfaced Charley ambushed the command. In 45 minutes, 2/3 of the troops
were dead or wounded, including both Thomas and Wright. Most of the
survivors were men who fled in panic when the shooting started. Charley
ended the carnage by calling down to the men, "All you boys what ain't
dead had better go on home. We don't want to kill you all in one day!"
In spite of their victory, the Modocs moved further southeast, beyond
the Lava Beds. Gillem was relieved of command, replaced by Col.
Jefferson C. Davis of the 23rd U.S. Infantry.
May 10, 1873, The Battle of Sorass Lake:
Colonel Davis sent out mounted patrols to track the Modocs down. These
units each had a detachment of Indian scouts, members of the Warm
Springs band. A force of cavalry and mounted artillery, under the
command of Captain Henry Hasbrouck of the 4th Artillery, moved southeast
from the Lava Beds to camp on the shore of Sorass Lake (now Dry Lake).
The Modocs attacked the camp at dawn on May 10. The troopers were
surprised, but held together under fire and drove the Modocs off when
the Warm Springs scouts attacked them from the rear. Only one Modoc was
killed in the fighting, Ellen's Man George, who has administered the
coup de grace to General Canby. The war faction claimed Jack was jealous
of George, the "true warrior", and had deliberately placed George in a
position where he could be killed. Hooker Jim and his followers left
Jack's band and turned west toward the Hot Creek basin. Jack led his
reduced band east toward Clear Lake.
May 11 to June 1, 1873, The Modoc Bloodhounds:
The army found Hooker Jim's trail and captured his band on May 22. To
save themselves from hanging for killing Canby, Hooker Jim, Steamboat
Frank, Bogus Charley and Shacknasty Jim offered to track down Captain
Jack. They led the troopers to Antelope Creek near Clear Lake. They
found Jack's band and brought them in. Captain Jack surrendered on June
1, 1873.
The Aftermath:
The Modocs were taken to Fort Klamath. Captain Jack, John Schonchin,
Black Jim, Boston Charley, Barncho and Slolux were tried and convicted
for the murder of General Canby and sentenced to death. Barncho and
Slolux had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment on Alcatraz
Island. The others were hanged at Fort Klamath on October 1, 1873.
The surviving members of Jack's band were deported to the Quapaw
reservation in Oklahoma. Many died in the first years. Survivors were
allowed to return to the Klamath reservation in 1909. Today,
approximately 200 Modocs survive in Oklahoma, descendants of seven of
the original prisoners of war. Approximately 700 Modocs live on the
Klamath reservation, mostly descendants of the Modocs who remained
peaceful in 1873 and never left the reservation. Only in recent years
have the Modocs begun to return to the Lava Beds. Many still refuse to
return to an area with such terrible memories. Others are trying to
reestablish their spiritual bonds to the land of their ancestors.
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