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Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings
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LAVA BEDS NATIONAL MONUMENT
California
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Location: Siskiyou and Modoc Counties, accessible
via Calif. 139 and secondary roads; address: P.O. Box 867, Tulelake,
Calif. 96134.
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This national monument, consisting of more than
46,000 acres of solidified lava flow, is geologically as well as
historically interesting. The major events of the Modoc War (1872-73),
one of the last Indian-soldier clashes in the Pacific Northwest,
occurred within its boundaries.
The Modocs, aroused by the intrusion of emigrants,
settlers, and ranchers into their homeland on the Lost River along the
California-Oregon boundary north of Tule Lake, reacted by a series of
assaults on the newcomers. Public demand for their removal heightened.
In 1864 they agreed to relocate to the newly opened Klamath Indian
Reservation, on Oregon's Upper Klamath Lake. Spurred by repeated
conflicts with the Klamath Indians, the following year Captain Jack and
most of the Modocs fled to their home country, about 35 miles
southeastward. There they resided for 4 years in uneasy coexistence with
the settlers and ranchers. In 1869 U.S. officials convinced them to
return to the reservation. Still unable to reconcile intertribal
differences, the next year they again headed for the Lost River. For 2
years, U.S. representatives pressured Captain Jack to move back onto the
reservation.
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Journalists often accompanied
troops on the Indian frontier. Here a San Francisco Bulletin
correspondent poses with soldiers in California's lava beds during the
Modoc War. (National Archives) |
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Gen. Edward R. S. Canby, who
died with Rev. Eleasar Thomas at the hands of the Modocs while serving
as a peace commissioner. (National Archives) |
Finally, late in November 1872, troops from Fort
Klamath, Oreg., proceeded to Captain Jack's village, on the west side of
the Lost River near its mouth, at the northwestern corner of Tule Lake,
to coerce the band. But, before any discussion could take place, firing
broke out on both sides. Some settlers then attacked a second Modoc
village, on the east bank of the river. Captain Jack's group retreated
southward across Tule Lake in canoes, and the other band traveled by
horseback around the eastern side of the lake. Uniting in the
north-central region of the lava beds they took cover in a natural
fortress of caves, crevices, and twisted masses of lava rock that came
to be known as Captain Jack's Stronghold. They managed to exist by
eating a herd of cattle they discovered and found other ways to keep
alive. On January 17, 1873, about 300 Regular and Volunteer troops
opened an attack. Yet the Indians, numbering only 70 or so, repelled
them.
Late that month the Secretary of War halted military
operations to allow a Department of the Interior peace commission, which
included the military department commander, Brig. Gen. Edward R. S.
Canby, to try negotiation. At the third truce meeting, on April 11,
after a brief exchange of words, the Modocs killed General Canby and
another commissioner, the Reverend Eleasar Thomas, both of whom were
strong advocates of fair treatment of the Modocs. The rest of the party
managed to escape, but the eastern humanitarians whose prodding had
brought about the peacemaking attempt, as well as President Grant's
Peace Policy, suffered setbacks.
On April 15 about 650 soldiers launched a second
assault on the stronghold. When they captured it 2 days later, they
found it deserted. For weeks they pursued the band throughout the lava
beds and the surrounding region, clashed with it several times, and took
a few captives. Eventually the harassed Modocs surrendered. The soldiers
apprehended Captain Jack on June 1 and transported him to Fort Klamath,
where he and five others stood trial and were convicted of murder.
President Grant commuted the sentences of two of them to life
imprisonment. In October Captain Jack and three other leaders died on
the gallows. Troops escorted the surviving Modocs to a reservation in
Indian Territory, and the Pacific Northwest gained several years of
peacebut only at the expense of a campaign that had been prolonged
beyond all expectations and proved very costly to the military, which
suffered 126 casualties.
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Assassination of the Modoc War
peace commissioners, a sketch originally appearing in the London
Times and reprinted in Harper's Weekly (June 28, 1873).
(Library of Congress) |
Museum exhibits, markers, and self-guiding trails
interpret the park's geology and history. Noteworthy sites are those of
Captain Jack's Stronghold, the Army base camp, the place of Canby's
death, and the principal engagements. The terrain is essentially
unchanged since the time of the Modoc War.
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/soldier-brave/sitea7.htm
Last Updated: 19-Aug-2005
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