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{{Short description|1872–73 conflict between the Native American Modoc people and the U.S. Army}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=April 2008}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Modoc War
| caption           = Engraving of soldiers recovering the bodies of the slain May 3, 1873
| date              = July 6, 1872 – June 4, 1873
| place             = [[California]] and [[Oregon]], United States
| result            = United States victory
| combatant1        = [[Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma|Modoc]]
| combatant2        = {{flagicon image|Flag_of_the_United_States_(1867–1877).svg}} [[United States]]
| commander1        = [[Kintpuash]]<br />[[Scarface Charley]]<br />[[Shaknasty Jim]]
| commander2        = [[Frank Wheaton]]<br />[[John Green (US Army officer)|John Green]]<br />Reuben Benard<br />[[Alvan Gillem]]<br />Edwin Cooley Mason<br />[[Jefferson C. Davis]]<br />[[Edward Canby]] {{KIA}}<br />[[Donald McKay (scout)|Donald McKay]]<br />[[Billy Chinook]]
| strength1         = 120 warriors<ref name="history.army.mil">{{Cite web |url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/reference/army_flag/iw.html |title=INDIAN WARS Campaigns |access-date=2010-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100808023530/http://www.history.army.mil/html/reference/army_flag/iw.html |archive-date=2010-08-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| strength2         = 1,000 infantry, scouts and cavalry<ref name="history.army.mil">{{Cite web |url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/reference/army_flag/iw.html |title=INDIAN WARS Campaigns |access-date=2010-07-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100808023530/http://www.history.army.mil/html/reference/army_flag/iw.html |archive-date=2010-08-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref><br />2 [[howitzer]]s
| casualties1       = 17 warriors killed<ref name="siskiyou-county-online.com">{{Cite web |url=http://siskiyou-county-online.com/Modoc_Indian_War.html |title=Modoc Indian War |access-date=2016-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811102814/http://siskiyou-county-online.com/Modoc_Indian_War.html |archive-date=2016-08-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref><br />39 warriors captured<ref name="siskiyou-county-online.com">{{Cite web |url=http://siskiyou-county-online.com/Modoc_Indian_War.html |title=Modoc Indian War |access-date=2016-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811102814/http://siskiyou-county-online.com/Modoc_Indian_War.html |archive-date=2016-08-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| casualties2       = 83 soldiers and volunteers killed<ref name="siskiyou-county-online.com">{{Cite web |url=http://siskiyou-county-online.com/Modoc_Indian_War.html |title=Modoc Indian War |access-date=2016-06-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811102814/http://siskiyou-county-online.com/Modoc_Indian_War.html |archive-date=2016-08-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref><br />46 wounded
| image             = The_Modoc_War_--_Soldiers_Recovering_the_Bodies_of_the_Slain.jpg
}}
{{Campaignbox Indian wars and conflicts of California}}

The '''Modoc War''', or the '''Modoc Campaign''' (also known as the '''Lava Beds War'''), was an armed conflict between the [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] [[Modoc people]] and the [[United States Army]] in northeastern [[California]] and southeastern [[Oregon]] from 1872 to 1873.<ref>Beck, Warren A. and Ynez D. Hasse. [http://www.militarymuseum.org/Modoc1.html The Modoc War, 1872 to 1873.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108003019/http://www.militarymuseum.org/Modoc1.html |date=2006-11-08 }} ''California State Military Museum.'' (10 Feb 2008)</ref> [[Eadweard Muybridge]] photographed the early part of the US Army's campaign.

[[Kintpuash]], also known as Captain Jack, led 52 warriors in a band of more than 150 Modoc people who left the [[Klamath Reservation]]. Occupying defensive positions throughout the lava beds south of [[Tule Lake]] (in present-day [[Lava Beds National Monument]]), those few warriors resisted for months the more numerous United States Army forces sent against them, which were reinforced with artillery. In April 1873 at a peace commission meeting, Captain Jack and others killed General [[Edward Canby]] and Rev. Eleazer Thomas, and wounded two others, mistakenly believing this would encourage the Americans to leave. The Modoc fled back to the lava beds. After U.S. forces were reinforced, some Modoc warriors surrendered and Captain Jack and the last of his band were captured. Jack and five warriors were tried for the murders of the two peace commissioners. Jack and three warriors were executed and two others sentenced to life in prison.

The remaining 153 Modoc of the band were sent to [[Indian Territory]] (pre-statehood Oklahoma), where they were held as prisoners of war until 1909, settled on reservation land with the [[Shawnee]]. Some at that point were allowed to return to the Klamath Reservation in Oregon. Most Modoc (and their descendants) stayed in what became the state of [[Oklahoma]]. They achieved separate federal recognition and were granted some land in Oklahoma. There are two federally recognized Modoc tribes: in Oregon and Oklahoma.

==Events leading up to the war==
The first known explorers from the United States to go through the Modoc country were [[John C. Frémont|John Charles Frémont]] together with [[Kit Carson]] and [[Billy Chinook]] in 1843. On the night of May 9, 1846, Frémont received a message brought to him by Lieutenant [[Archibald Gillespie]], from President [[James Polk]] about the possibility of war with Mexico. Reviewing the messages, Frémont neglected the customary measure of posting a watchman for the camp. Carson was concerned but "apprehended no danger".<ref>This account is described in Dunlay p. 115, and Sides p. 78.</ref> Later that night Carson was awakened by the sound of a thump. Jumping up, he saw his friend and fellow trapper [[Basil Lajeunesse]] sprawled in blood. He sounded an alarm and immediately the camp realized they were under attack by Native Americans, estimated to be several dozen in number. By the time the assailants were beaten off, two other members of Frémont's group were dead. The one dead attacker was judged to be a Klamath Lake native. Frémont's group fell into "an angry gloom."<ref>Fremont, ''Memoirs'', p. 492.</ref>

In retaliation, Frémont attacked a [[Klamath Tribes|Klamath Tribe]] fishing village named Dokdokwas, that most likely had nothing to do with the attack, at the junction of the [[Williamson River (Oregon)|Williamson River]] and Klamath Lake, on May 10, 1846.<ref>[https://www.thecivilwardays.com/John_Charles_Fremont.html John Charles Fremont] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723120241/https://www.thecivilwardays.com/John_Charles_Fremont.html |date=2012-07-23 }} Las Mariposas Civil War – TheCivilWarDays.com</ref> Accounts by scholars vary, but they agree that the attack completely destroyed the village structures; Sides reports the expedition killed women and children as well as warriors.<ref>H. Sides reports the massacre included women and children. Dunlay reports that Carson said, "I directed their houses to be set on fire" and "We gave them something to remember ... the women and children we did not interfere with." (Dunlay, p.117)</ref>

<blockquote>The tragedy of Dokdokwas is deepened by the fact that most scholars now agree that Frémont and Carson, in their blind vindictiveness, probably chose the wrong tribe to lash out against: In all likelihood the band of native Americans that had killed [Frémont's three men] were from the neighboring [[Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma|Modoc]] ... The Klamaths were culturally related to the Modocs, but the two tribes were bitter enemies.<ref>Sides, ''Blood and Thunder'', p. 87</ref> </blockquote>

Although most of the "[[California Gold Rush|49ers]]" missed the Modoc country, in March 1851 [[Abraham Thompson]], a mule train packer, discovered gold near [[Yreka, California|Yreka]] while traveling along the [[Siskiyou Trail]] from southern Oregon. The discovery sparked the [[California Gold Rush]] area to expand from the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] into [[Northeastern California]]. By April 1851, 2,000 miners had arrived in "Thompson's Dry Diggings" through the southern route of the old [[Emigrant Trail]] to test their luck, which took them straight through Modoc territory.<ref name=Sproull>Harry V. Sproull. [https://books.google.com/books?id=pXHFPwAACAAJ ''Modoc Indian War''], Lava Beds Natural History Association, 1975.</ref>

===First hostilities===
[[File:Schonchin Butte.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Schonchin Butte]], a [[cinder cone]] named for Old [[Schonchin]], a chief of the [[Modoc people]] during the late nineteenth century.]]
Although the Modoc initially had no trouble with Americans, after the murders of settlers in a raid by the [[Pit River Tribe]], an American militia unit, not familiar with the Indian peoples, retaliated by attacking an innocent Modoc village, killing men, women and children.<ref name="Riddle"/> ([[Kintpuash]], the future chief also known as Captain Jack, survived the attack but lost some of his family.) To try to end the American encroachment, some Modoc chose to attack the next whites they encountered. In September 1852 the Modoc attacked a wagon train of some 65 men, women, and children on their way to California.<ref name=fsusda>[https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/modoc Modoc NF History, 1945 – Chapter I, General Description]  [[United States Department of Agriculture]], Forest Service.</ref>

One badly wounded man escaped to the Oregon settlements in Willamette Valley and told of the attack. His report spread quickly and Oregon volunteers who later reached the scene, reported bodies of men, women and children mutilated and scattered for more than a mile along the lake shore and their wagons plundered and burned.<ref name=fsusda /> The location became known as [[Bloody Point (Oregon)|Bloody Point]].<ref name="Riddle"/><ref name="milmuseum">[http://www.militarymuseum.org/Modoc1.html "Modoc War"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108003019/http://www.militarymuseum.org/Modoc1.html |date=2006-11-08 }}, California State Military Museum</ref> In another round of retaliation, California [[militia]] led by an Indian fighter named Ben Wright killed 41 Modoc at a peace [[parley]].<ref name="Riddle">Davis Riddle, ''History'', pp. 28–30.</ref> [[John Schonchin]], the brother of the Modoc chief, was one of the natives who escaped.

===Great Treaty of Council Grove===
Rounds of hostilities continued in the area as American settlers continued to encroach on Modoc land and urged the government to take over the territory. Warriors of the Klamath and the Yahooskin also attacked settlers and migrants in efforts to repulse them. In 1864 the United States and the [[Klamath people|Klamath]], Modoc, and Yahooskin band—over 1000 Indians, mostly Klamath—signed a treaty, by which the Indians ceded millions of acres of lands and the US established the [[Klamath Reservation]], within the boundaries of present-day Oregon. Under the treaty terms, the Modoc, with Old Chief ''[[Schonchin]]'' as their leader, gave up their lands in the [[Lost River (California)|Lost River]], [[Tule Lake]] and [[Lower Klamath Lake]] regions of California, and moved to a reservation in the [[Upper Klamath River]] Valley. In return, the Indians would receive food, blankets, and clothing for as many years as would be required to establish themselves.<ref name=Sproull /> Allen David signed for the Klamath, while Old Schonchin and Kintpuash for the Modoc. Looking around for something to give emphasis to his pledge, Schonchin pointed to the distant butte and dramatically declared, "That mountain shall fall, before Schonchin will again raise his hand against his white brother."<ref name=fsusda /> The old chief kept his word, although his brother and Kintpuash repudiated signing the treaty and left the reservation with a few followers.

===Captain Jack===
While the old Modoc chief remained in the reservation, Kintpuash returned to [[Lost River (Oregon)|Lost River]] and led an abusive harassment against the white settlers who had occupied the area. The small Modoc group of about 43 Indians demanded rent for the occupation of their land, which most settlers paid. After a few attempts to negotiate in behalf of the complaining settlers, including failed attempts by Agent Lindsay Applegate in 1864–6<ref>Davis Riddle, ''History'', p. 252.</ref> and Superintendent Huntington in 1867, the Modoc finally relocated in 1869 following a council between [[Kintpuash]] (also known as Captain Jack); [[Alfred B. Meacham]], the US Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon that replaced Huntington; O.C. Knapp, the US Indian agent on the reservation; [[Ivan DeCounter Applegate|Ivan D. Applegate]], sub-agent at Yainax on the reservation; and [[William.C. McKay]]. Meacham was from Oregon, and knew Captain Jack and the Modoc.

When soldiers suddenly appeared at the meeting, the Modoc warriors fled, leaving behind their women and children. Meacham placed the women and children in wagons and started for the reservation. He allowed "Queen Mary", Captain Jack's sister, to go meet with Captain Jack to persuade him to move to the reservation. She succeeded. Once on the reservation, Captain Jack and his band prepared to make their permanent home at [[Modoc Point]].
[[File:General Edward Canby 525.jpg|thumb|right|Major General E.R.S Canby]]

===Mistreatment by the Klamath===
Shortly after the Modoc started building their homes, however, the [[Klamath people|Klamath]], longtime rivals, began to steal the Modoc lumber. The Modoc complained, but the US Indian agent could not protect them against the Klamath. Captain Jack's band moved to another part of the reservation. Several attempts were made to find a suitable location, but the Klamath continued to harass the band.

In 1870, Captain Jack and his band of nearly 200 left the reservation and returned to Lost River.  During the months that his band had been on the reservation, a number of settlers had taken up former Modoc land in the Lost River region.

===Return to Lost River===
[[File:Captain Jack (Kintpuash), a Modoc subchief, executed October 3, 1873, bust-length, full-face, 1873 - NARA - 533242.jpg|thumb|Captain Jack]]
Acknowledging the bad feeling between the Modoc and the Klamath, Meacham recommended to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in [[Washington, D.C.]] that Captain Jack's Modoc band be given a separate reservation at Yainax, in the lower southern part of the reservation. Pending a decision, Meacham instructed Captain Jack to remain at Clear Lake. Oregon settlers complained that Modoc warriors roamed the countryside raiding the homesteads; they petitioned Meacham to return the Modoc to the Klamath Reservation. In part, the Modoc raided for food; the US did not adequately supply them. Captain Jack and his band did better in their old territory with hunting.

==Failure of US to respond to Modoc==
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs never responded to Meacham's request for a separate reservation for the Modoc. After hearing more complaints from settlers, Meacham instead requested General [[Edward Canby]], Commanding General of the Department of the Columbia, to move Captain Jack's band to Yainax on the Klamath Reservation, his recommended site for their use. Canby forwarded Meacham's request to General Schofield, Commanding General of the Pacific, suggesting that before using force, peaceful efforts should be made. Jack had asked to talk to Meacham, but he sent his brother John Meacham in his place.<ref name="Murray"/>

In the middle of the crisis, the Commission of Indian Affairs replaced Meacham, appointing [[T. B. Odeneal]] as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon.<ref name="Murray">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pMB9HhBwCNoC&q=T.+B.+Odeneal |title=Keith A. Murray, ''The Modocs and Their War,'' 1965; reprint, University of Oklahoma Press, 1984, p. 71 |isbn=9780806113319 |access-date=2015-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512193312/https://books.google.com/books?id=pMB9HhBwCNoC&dq=The+Modocs+and+Their+War&q=T.+B.+Odeneal+#v=onepage&q=T.%20B.%20Odeneal&f=false |archive-date=2016-05-12 |url-status=live |last1=Murray |first1=Keith A. |year=1959 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press }}</ref><ref name="craterlakeinstitute.com">[http://www.craterlakeinstitute.com/online-library/nature-notes/vol10no2-modoc-war.htm Don C. Fisher and John E. Doerr, Jr., "Outline of Events in the History of the Modoc War"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526072119/http://www.craterlakeinstitute.com/online-library/nature-notes/vol10no2-modoc-war.htm |date=2012-05-26 }}, ''Nature Notes From Crater Lake,'' Volume 10, No. 2 – July 1937, Crater Lake Institute, accessed 1 November 2011</ref> He "knew almost nothing of the background of the situation and had never met Jack or the Modocs" but was charged with "getting the Modocs to leave Lost River."<ref name="Murray"/> In turn, Odeneal appointed a new US Indian agent, who was also unfamiliar with the parties and conditions.

On April 3, 1872, Major Elmer Otis held a council with Captain Jack at Lost River Gap, near what is now [[Olene, Oregon]]. At the council, Major Otis presented Captain Jack with some settlers who complained about the behavior of Jack's men. Captain Jack countered that the Modoc were abused and unjustly accused of crimes which other Indians had committed.

Although the council's results were inconclusive, Otis resolved to remove Jack's band of Modoc to the Klamath Reservation. As he needed reinforcements, he recommended waiting until later in the year, when he could put the Modoc at a disadvantage.<ref>''Reports of the Otis Conference, 3 April 1873;'' and Otis to Odeneal, 11 April 1872. [http://maxpages.com/modocwar/Otis_Conference] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529141702/http://maxpages.com/modocwar/Otis_Conference|date=2014-05-29}}</ref>

On April 12, the [[Commission of Indian Affairs]] directed US Superintendent T. B. Odeneal<ref name="craterlakeinstitute.com"/> to move Captain Jack and his Modoc to the reservation if practicable. He was to ensure the tribe was protected from the Klamath.

On May 14, Odeneal sent Ivan D. Applegate and [[L. S. Dyar]] to arrange for a council with Captain Jack, which the latter refused. On July 6, 1872, the US Commissioner of Indian Affairs repeated his direction to Superintendent Odeneal to move Captain Jack and his band to the Klamath Reservation, peacefully if possible, but forcibly if necessary. Minor skirmishes occurred during the summer and early fall, but some of the settlers in California were sympathetic to the Modoc, as they had gotten along well with them before. The Modoc felt mistreated.

==Battle of Lost River==
{{Main|Battle of Lost River}}
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:cscarface.jpg|thumb|right|Scarface Charley]] -->
On November 27, Superintendent Odeneal requested Major [[John Green (US Army officer)|John Green]], commanding officer at [[Fort Klamath]], to furnish sufficient troops to compel Captain Jack to move to the reservation. On November 28 Captain [[James Jackson (soldier)|James Jackson]], commanding 40 troops, left Fort Klamath for Captain Jack's camp on Lost River. The troops, reinforced by citizens from Linkville (now [[Klamath Falls, Oregon]]) and by a band of militiamen arrived in Jack's camp on Lost River about a mile above Emigrant Crossing (now Merrill, Oregon) on November 29.

Wishing to avoid conflict, Captain Jack agreed to go to the reservation, but the situation became tense when Jackson demanded that the Modoc chief surrender his weapons. Although Captain Jack had never fought the Army, he was alarmed at this command, but he finally agreed to put down his weapons. The rest of the Modoc warriors began to follow his lead.

Suddenly an argument erupted between Modoc warrior [[Scarfaced Charley]] and Lieutenant Frazier A. Boutelle, of company B, 1st Cavalry. They drew their revolvers and shot at each other, both missing. The rest of the Modocs scrambled for their weapons, and briefly fought before fleeing toward California. After driving the remaining Modoc from the camp, Captain Jackson ordered a retreat to await reinforcements. One soldier had been killed and seven wounded in the encounter; the Modoc lost two killed and three wounded.

A small band of Modoc under [[Hooker Jim]] retreated from the battlefield to the Lava Beds south of Tule Lake. In attacks on November 29 and November 30, they killed a total of 18 settlers.

Accounts vary regarding the first clash. One version: that the soldiers and militia had gotten drunk in Klamath Falls and arrived at the Lost River camp disorganized and were outfought; that, furthermore, the militia arrived last and retreated first, with one casualty; and that the Army did not drive the Modoc away. This version claimed that some warriors held their ground while the women and children loaded their boats and paddled south; that Scarfaced Charley, who spoke good English, was foul-tempered from lack of sleep, because he'd been gambling all night and was possibly drunk—but, since there was a warrant out for his arrest on a false murder charge, he wasn't going to go quietly. The official report, however, concealed that the operation had been badly managed, as Captain Jackson later admitted.

==Fortifying the Stronghold==
[[File:Capt Jack Cave.jpg|thumb|right|U.S. soldiers inspect Captain Jack's cave in the Lava Beds. 1873 Edward Muybridge photo]]
[[File:CaptainJacksStronghold.jpg|thumb|right|Captain Jack's Stronghold 1992. {NPS}]]
For some months, Captain Jack had boasted that in the event of war, he and his band could successfully defend themselves in an area in the lava beds on the south shore of Tule Lake. The Modoc retreated there after the Battle of Lost River. Today it is called [[Captain Jack's Stronghold]]. The Modoc took advantage of the [[lava]] ridges, cracks, depressions, and [[cave]]s, all such natural features being ideal from the standpoint of defense. At the time the 52 Modoc warriors occupied the Stronghold, Tule Lake bounded the Stronghold on the north and served as a source of water.

On December 21, a Modoc party scouting from the Stronghold attacked an ammunition wagon at Land's Ranch. By January 15, 1873, the U.S. Army had 400 troops in the field near the Lava Beds. The greatest concentration of troops was at Van Brimmer's ranch, 12 miles west of the Stronghold. Troops were also stationed at Land's ranch, 10 miles east of the Stronghold. Col. [[Frank Wheaton]] was in command of all troops, including regular army as well as volunteer companies from California and Oregon.

On January 16, troops from Land's ranch, commanded by Col. [[R. F. Bernard]], skirmished with the Modoc near [[Hospital Rock (Tulelake, California)|Hospital Rock]].

==First battle of the Stronghold==
{{Main|First Battle of the Stronghold}}
On the morning of January 17, 1873, troops advanced on the Stronghold. Hindered by [[fog]], the soldiers never saw any Modoc. Occupying excellent positions, the Modoc repulsed troops advancing from the west and east. A general retreat of troops was ordered at the end of the day. In the attack, the U.S. Army lost 35 men killed, and 5 officers and 20 enlisted men wounded. Captain Jack's band included approximately 150 Modoc, including women and children. Of that number, there were only 52 warriors. The Modoc suffered no casualties in the fighting, as they had the advantage of terrain and local knowledge over the militia.

==Peace Commission appointed==
On January 25, [[Columbus Delano]], [[United States Secretary of the Interior|Secretary of the Interior]], appointed a Peace Commission to negotiate with Captain Jack. The Commission consisted of Alfred B. Meacham, the former superintendent for Oregon as chairman; [[Jesse Applegate]], and [[Samuel Case]]. General [[Edward Canby]], commander in the Pacific Northwest, was appointed to serve the commission as counselor. Frank and [[Toby Riddle]] were appointed as interpreters. Toby Riddle (sometimes spelled as Tobey) was a Modoc woman and a cousin of Kintpuash.<ref>{{Cite book |last=McNally |first=Robert Aquinas |title=The Modoc War: A Story of Genocide at the Dawn of America's Gilded Age |publisher=[[University of Nebraska Press]] |year=2017 |isbn=9781496201799 |pages=57 |language=en}}</ref>

On February 19, the Peace Commission held its first meeting at Fairchild's ranch, west of the lava beds. A messenger was sent to arrange a meeting with Captain Jack. He agreed that if the commission would send John Fairchild and [[Bob Whittle]], two settlers, to the edge of the lava beds he would talk to them. When Fairchild and Whittle went to the lava beds, Captain Jack told them he would talk with the commission if they would return with Judge [[Elijah Steele]] of [[Yreka, California|Yreka]] as the judge had been friendly to Captain Jack.

Steele went to the Stronghold. After a night in the Stronghold, Steele returned to Fairchild's ranch and informed the Peace Commission that the Modoc were planning treachery, and that all efforts of the commission would be useless. Meacham wired the Secretary of the Interior, informing him of Steele's opinion. The Secretary instructed Meacham to continue negotiations for peace. Judge [[A. M. Rosborough]] was added to the commission. Jesse Applegate and Samuel Case resigned and were replaced by Rev. [[Eleazer Thomas]] and [[L. S. Dyar]].

In April, [[Gillem's Camp]] was established at the edge of the lava beds, two and one-half miles west of the Stronghold. Col. [[Alvan C. Gillem]] was placed in command of all troops, including those at Hospital Rock commanded by Col. [[E. C. Mason]]. [[File:Modoc women.jpg|thumb|right|L to R, standing: US Indian agent, [[Toby Riddle|''Winema'']] (Tobey) and her husband Frank Riddle (interpreter), with four Modoc women in front, 1873]]

On April 2, the commission and Captain Jack met in the lava beds midway between the Stronghold and Gillem's Camp. At this meeting Captain Jack proposed: (1) Complete pardon of all Modoc; (2) Withdrawal of all troops; and (3) The right to select their own reservation. The Peace Commission proposed: (1) That Captain Jack and his band go to a [[Indian reservation|reservation]] selected by the government; (2) That the Modoc guilty of killing the settlers be surrendered and tried for murder. After much discussion, the meeting broke up with no resolution.

The Modoc began to turn on Captain Jack, who still hoped for a peaceful solution. Led by [[Schonchin John]] and Hooker Jim, they put pressure on Jack to kill the peace commission. They believed that if the Americans lost their leaders, the Army would leave. They shamed Jack for his continuing negotiations by dressing him in women's clothing during council meetings. Rather than lose his position as chief of the band, Captain Jack agreed to attack the commission if no progress was made.

On April 5, Captain Jack requested a meeting with Meacham. Accompanied by John Fairchild and Judge Rosborough, with [[Frank Riddle|Frank]] and [[Toby Riddle]] serving as interpreters, Meacham met Captain Jack at the peace tent; it was erected about one mile east of Gillem's Camp. The meeting lasted several hours. Captain Jack asked for the lava beds to be given to them as a reservation. The meeting ended with no agreement. After Meacham returned to camp, he sent a message to Captain Jack, asking that he meet the commission at the peace tent on April 8. While delivering this message, the Modoc interpreter Tobey Riddle learned of the Modoc plan to kill the peace commissioners. On her return, she warned the commissioners.

On April 8, just as the commissioners were starting for the peace tent, the signal tower on the bluff above Gillem's Camp received a message; it said that the lookout had seen five Modoc warriors at the peace tent and about 20 armed Modoc hiding among the rocks nearby. The commissioners realized that the Modoc were planning an attack and decided to stay at Gillem's. Rev. Thomas insisted on arranging a date for another meeting with Captain Jack. On April 10, the commission sent a message asking Captain Jack to meet with them at the peace tent on the following morning.

==Murder at the peace tent==

On April 11, General Canby, Alfred B. Meacham, Rev. E. Thomas, and L. S. Dyar, with Frank and Toby Riddle as interpreters, met with Captain Jack, [[Boston Charley]], [[Bogus Charley]], Schonchin John, Black Jim, and Hooker Jim. After some talk, during which it became evident that the Modoc were armed, General Canby informed Captain Jack that the commission could not meet his terms until orders came from Washington.

Angrily, Schonchin John demanded [[Hot Creek (Modoc County, California)|Hot Creek]] for a reservation. Captain Jack got up and walked away a few steps. The two Modoc Brancho (Barncho) and Slolux, armed with rifles, ran forward from hiding. Captain Jack turned, giving the signal to fire. His first shot killed General Canby. Reverend Thomas fell mortally wounded. Dyar and Frank Riddle escaped by running. Meacham fell seriously wounded, but Toby Riddle saved his life and interrupted warriors intending to scalp him by yelling, "The soldiers are coming!" The Modoc warriors broke off and left.

US efforts for peace ended when the Modoc killed the commissioners. [[Canby's Cross]] marks the site where Canby and Thomas died.

==Second Battle of the Stronghold==
{{Main|Second Battle of the Stronghold}}
[[File:The Modocs in Their Stronghold.jpg|thumb|right|''The Modocs in Their Stronghold'', an 1873 [[wood engraving]]]]
The U.S. Army prepared to attack the Stronghold. On April 15 a general attack began, troops advancing from Gillem's camp on the west and Mason's camp at Hospital Rock, northeast of the Stronghold. Fighting continued throughout the day, the troops remaining in position during the night. Each advance of troops on April 16 was under heavy fire from the Modoc positions. That night the troops succeeded in cutting the Modoc off from their water supply at the shore of Tule Lake. By the morning of April 17 everything was in readiness for the final attack on the Stronghold. When the order was given to advance, the troops charged into the Stronghold.

After the fighting along the shoreline of Tule Lake on the afternoon and night of April 16, the Modoc defending the Stronghold realized that their water supply had been cut off by the troops commanding the shoreline. On April 17, before the troops had begun to charge the Stronghold, the Modoc escaped through an unguarded crevice. During the fighting at the Stronghold, April 15–17, US casualties included one officer and six enlisted men killed, and thirteen enlisted men wounded. Modoc casualties were two boys, reported to have been killed when they tried to open a [[round shot|cannonball]] and it exploded. Several Modoc women were reported to have died from sickness.

==Battle of Sand Butte==
{{Main|Battle of Sand Butte}}
[[File:Warm Spring scouts, Lava Beds, California, their leader, Donald McKay, is leaning against rock, 1873 - NARA - 533246.tif|thumb|Warm Spring Indian scouts in the Lava Beds with their leader, Donald McKay, center]]
On April 26, Captain Evan Thomas commanding five officers, sixty-six troops and fourteen Warm Spring Scouts left Gillem's camp on a reconnaissance of the lava beds to locate the Modoc. While they were eating lunch at the base of Sand Butte (now [[Hardin Butte]]), in a flat area surrounded by ridges, Captain Thomas and his party were attacked by 22 Modoc led by Scarfaced Charley. Some of the troops fled in disorder. Those who remained to fight were either killed or wounded. US casualties included four officers killed and two wounded, one dying within a few days, and 13 enlisted men killed and 16 wounded.

Following the successful Modoc attack, many soldiers called for Col. Gillem to be removed. On May 2, Bvt. Brigadier General [[Jefferson C. Davis]], the new commander of the [[Department of the Columbia]], reported to relieve Gillem of command, and assume control of the army in the field.

==Battle of Dry Lake==
{{Main|Battle of Dry Lake}}

At first light on May 10, the Modoc attacked an Army encampment at Dry Lake. The troops charged, routing the Modoc. Casualties among the Army included five men killed, two of whom were Warm Spring Scouts, and twelve men wounded. The Modoc reported five warriors killed. Among the five was [[Ellen's Man]], a prominent man in the band. This was the first defeat of the Modoc in battle.

With the death of Ellen's Man, dissent arose among the Modoc, who began to split apart. A group led by Hooker Jim surrendered to the Army and agreed to help them capture Captain Jack. In return, they received [[amnesty]] for the murders of settlers at Tule Lake, Canby and Thomas.

Captain Jack, his wife, and young daughter were captured by army scouts; Captain William F. Drannan, U.S. Army {{dubious|date=September 2015}} <!--SEE TALK Re CPT Drannan--> and Scout George Jones, U.S. Army in Langell's valley, June 4. <!--SEE TALK-->

==After the war==
General Davis prepared to execute Captain Jack and his leaders, but the [[United States Department of War|War Department]] ordered the Modoc to be held for trial. The Army took Captain Jack and his band as [[prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] to Fort Klamath, where they arrived July 4.

Captain Jack, Schonchin John, Black Jim, Boston Charley, Brancho (Barncho) and Slolux were tried by a military court for the murders of Canby and Thomas, and attacks on Meacham and others. The six Modoc were convicted, and sentenced to death on July 8.

On September 10, President [[Ulysses S. Grant]] approved the death sentence for Captain Jack, Schonchin John, Black Jim and Boston Charley; Brancho and Slolux were committed to life imprisonment on [[Alcatraz]]. Grant ordered that the remainder of Captain Jack's band be held as prisoners of war.

On October 3, 1873, Captain Jack and his three lead warriors were hanged at Fort Klamath. The remainder of the band of Modoc Indians, consisting of 39 men, 64 women, and 60 children, as prisoners of war were sent to the [[Quapaw Agency]] in [[Indian Territory]] ([[Oklahoma]]). In 1909, after Oklahoma had become a state, members of the [[Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma]] were offered the chance to return to the Klamath Reservation. Twenty-nine people returned to Oregon; the Modoc of Oregon and their descendants became part of the [[Klamath Tribes]] Confederation.

The historian Robert Utley believes that the Modoc War and the [[Great Sioux War]] a few years later undermined public confidence in President Grant's peace policy.<ref>Robert Marshall Utley, ''Frontier regulars: the United States Army and the Indian, 1866-1891'' (1984) [https://books.google.com/books?id=ojYrdQ-IBaMC&dq=modoc+ulysses+canby&pg=PA206 p. 206 online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428212430/https://books.google.com/books?id=ojYrdQ-IBaMC&pg=PA206&dq=modoc+ulysses+canby&lr=&as_brr=0&cd=4 |date=2016-04-28 }}</ref> There was renewed public sentiment to use force against the American Indians to suppress them.

==Appendix to history of the Modoc War==
In the First Battle of the Stronghold, January 17, 1873, there were approximately 400 Army troops in the field. The troops included U. S. Army [[infantry]], [[cavalry]], and [[howitzer]] units; Oregon and California volunteer companies, and some Klamath Indian Scouts. Lt. Col. Frank Wheaton commanded all troops.

In the Second Battle of the Stronghold, April 17, 1873, approximately 530 troops were engaged. These included U. S. Army infantry, cavalry, [[artillery]] and the U.S. Army Wasco Scouts from the [[Warm Springs Indian Reservation]]. The volunteer companies had withdrawn from the field. A small number of civilians were used as runners and packers. Col. Alvin C. Gillem was in command.

During the Modoc War, the Modoc had no more than 53 warriors engaged in the fighting.

The casualty lists for the Modoc War are as follows:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Rank
!Killed
!Wounded
|-
|Officers (U.S.A.)
|7
|4
|-
|Enlisted Men
|48
|42
|-
|Civilians
|16
|1
|-
|Indian Scouts
|2
|0
|-
|TOTALS
|73
|47
|}

Including the four Modoc executed at Fort Klamath, Captain Jack's band suffered the loss of seventeen warriors killed.

The Modoc War is estimated to have cost the [[United States]] over $400,000; a very expensive war in terms of lives and dollars, considering the small number of opposing forces. In contrast, the estimated cost to purchase the land requested by the Modoc for a separate reservation was $20,000.
[[File:Canby Memorial Site Commemorative Plaque.jpg|thumb|Commemorative Plaque for Edward Canby.]]

Battlefields of the Modoc War are among the outstanding features of the [[Lava Beds National Monument]]. These include Captain Jack's Stronghold, where numerous cracks, ridges, and knobs were used by the Modoc to defend their positions. In addition there are numerous Modoc fortified outposts, smoke-stained caves occupied by the Modoc during the months of the war, [[corral]]s for their [[cattle]] and [[horse]]s, and a war-dance ground and council area. Around the Stronghold are numerous low stone fortifications built by troops advancing on the Stronghold.

After the Modoc left the Stronghold, US troops built fortifications to protect against their possible return. The Thomas-Wright battlefield, near [[Hardin Butte]], is a feature of the monument; as is the site of Gillem's camp, the former military cemetery, Hospital Rock, and [[Canby's Cross]]. The [[National Park Service]] provides self-guided trail maps for two walking tours of the battle field.

<gallery>
File:Schonchin and Jack (15024820873).jpg|Schonchin and Captain Jack 
File:Shacknasty Jim - California Historical Society (15642322741).jpg|'''Shacknasty Jim''' 
File:Hooka Jim - California Historical Society (15644971965).jpg|'''Hooker Jim''' 
File:Boston Charley ca. 1873.jpg|Boston Charley in 1873
File:Scarfaced charley.jpg|Scarface Charley
</gallery>

==Legacy==

===Canby's memorial plaque and cross===
A memorial plaque and a reproduction of [[Canby's Cross]] have been set up at [[Lava Beds National Monument]] outside of [[Tulelake]]. The names of all the fallen (both Modoc and US Army) are listed at Gillem's Camp; another historical marker is at the Lava Beds.

Over the years, various individuals and groups have made efforts to memorialize the death of General E.R.S. Canby, the only general to be killed in the Indian Wars. The wooden cross is a replica of an original erected by a U.S. soldier in 1882, nine years after the event. Some of the same troops whom Canby had commanded at the Lava Beds were fighting other Indian Wars, and public interest ran high.

===California Historical Landmark===
On [[California State Route 139]] and the Old Alturas Highway is a [[California Historical Landmark]] # 108 the '''Battle of Land's Ranch'''.<ref>[https://ohp.parks.ca.gov/ListedResources/Detail/108 California Parks, California Historical Landmark]</ref>

California Historical Landmark number 108 reads:
:''NO. 108 BATTLE OF LAND'S RANCH-1872 - One of the engagements of the Modoc War took place on December 21, 1872, on what was then known as the Land's Ranch. Army supply wagons, escorted by cavalrymen, had reached camp in safety, but several of the soldiers who had dropped behind were suddenly attacked by Indians hiding among the rocks above the road. Two men were killed and several wounded.''<ref>[https://www.californiahistoricallandmarks.com/landmarks/chl-108 californiahistoricallandmarks.com Landmarks chl-108]</ref>

==See also==
* [[Indian Campaign Medal]]
* [[:Category:Modoc War|Modoc War topics index]]
* [[:Category:Native American history of California|Native American history of California]]
* [[California Historical Landmarks in Modoc County]]
* [[Mariposa War]] = 1850s conflict with the [[Ahwahnechee]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite web|title=Named Campaigns – Indian Wars|publisher=[[United States Army Center of Military History]]|url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/reference/army_flag/iw.html|access-date=2010-07-12|archive-date=2010-11-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101109084007/http://www.history.army.mil/html/reference/army_flag/iw.html|url-status=dead}}
*[https://archive.org/details/indianhistorymo00riddgoog Riddle, Jeff C. Davis. ''The Indian History of the Modoc War and the Causes that Led to It''], Printed by Marnell and Co., 1914.
* Dunlay, Tom, ''Kit Carson and the Indians'', University of Nebraska Press, 2000. {{ISBN?}}
* Drannan, William F, "Thirty One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains" Rhodes & M'Clure Publishing Co. Chicago,  1899 {{ISBN?}}
*{{cite book|title=The Modocs and Their War|first=Keith A. |last=Murray|publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|year= 1984|isbn=0-8061-1331-6}}
* [[Edwin L. Sabin|Sabin, Edwin L.]], ''Kit Carson Days'', vol. 1 & 2, University of Nebraska Press, 1995. {{ISBN?}}
* Sides, Hampton, ''Blood and Thunder'', Doubleday, 2006. {{ISBN|0-385-50777-1}}.
* Note: This article was adapted from a series of articles by Don C. Fisher and John E. Doerr Jr., published in the public domain ''Nature Notes from Crater Lake National Park'', vol. x, nº 1–3, National Park Service, 1937.

==Further reading==
* Bales, Rebecca. [https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/spring/winema.html Winema and the Modoc War: One Woman's Struggle for Peace], Prologue Magazine, Spring 2005.
* {{cite book |last=Bancroft |first=Hubert Howe |authorlink=Hubert Howe Bancroft |title=California Inter Pocula |chapter=[[wikisource:en:California Inter Pocula/Chapter 19|19: Some Indian Episodes]] |year=1888 }} This chapter was primarily written by [[Frances Fuller Victor]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=[[wikisource:en:The Origin and Authorship of the Bancroft Pacific States Publications: A History of a History (part 1)|The Origin and Authorship of the Bancroft Pacific States Publications: A History of a History (part 1)]]|year=1903 |journal=[[Oregon Historical Quarterly]] }}</ref>
* Beeson, John. [https://archive.org/details/pleforindianswit00beesrich ''A Plea for the Indians: With Facts and Features of the Late War in Oregon.''] Third Edition. New York: John Beeson, 1858.
* Cothran, Boyd. ''Remembering the Modoc War: Redemptive Violence and the Making of American Innocence'', Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2014. {{ISBN|978-1-4696-1860-9}} 
*[https://archive.org/details/wigwamandwarpat00meacgoog Meacham, Alfred B. ''Wigwam and Warpath; or, The Royal Chief in Chains''], Boston: J. P. Dale & Co., (1875), at Internet Archive, online text
* {{cite journal |title=[[wikisource:en:The Californian/Volume 1/In the Lava Beds]] |first=William Mitchell |last=Bunker |journal=The Californian | volume=1 | number=2 |year=1880 }}
* Murray, Keith A. ''The Modocs and Their War,'' Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959; reprint 1965, 1979 and more
* Quinn, Arthur. ''Hell With the Fire Out: A History of the Modoc War,'' New York: Faber and Faber, 1998
* [https://archive.org/stream/indianhistoryofm00riddrich#page/14/mode/2up Riddle, Jeff C. ''The Indian History of the Modoc War, and the Causes that Led to It''], Marnell and Company, 1914, Internet Archives, online text with photos
*{{Cite book
| publisher = White Stone Press
| last = Smith, J. L.
| title = A Chronological History of the Oregon War, 1850 to 1878
| location = Anchorage, AK
| date = 2010
| isbn = 9781456485993
}}
* Solnit, Rebecca. ''River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West'', 2003 {{ISBN|0-670-03176-3}}
* Tassone, Michael, [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D76NZ34Z ''Me and the Senator Search for Captain Jack's Severed Head''] (2024),  [https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D76NZ34Z ISBN 979-8321944721]
* Yenne, Bill. ''Indian Wars: The Campaign for the American West'', 2005. {{ISBN|1-59416-016-3}}.

===Fiction===
*Johnston, Terry C. ''Devil's Backbone: The Modoc War, 1872–3'', New York: Macmillan, 1991
*Riddle, Paxton. ''Lost River'', Berkley Trade Publications, 1999

==External links==
{{externalimage|float=right|image1=[http://www.militarymuseum.org/Resources/ModacMap.gif Map of the campaigns during the Modoc War]}}
* [http://www.militarymuseum.org/Modoc1.html Warren A. Beck and Ynez D. Hasse, "Indian Wars: The Modoc War"], California State Military Museum, first published in their ''Historical Atlas of California, used with permission of the University of Oklahoma Press, 1975
* [http://www.exile.ru/articles/detail.php?ARTICLE_ID=8484&IBLOCK_ID=35 Gary Brecher, "The Modocs: A Beautiful Little War"], ''The Exile'', 23 February 2007
* [http://www.csuchico.edu/alva/projects/2012/the-beginning-of-the-end.shtml ''The Beginning of the End''], Documentary on the Modoc War produced by students from the [http://www.csuchico.edu/alva/index.shtml Advanced Laboratory for Visual Anthropology] at California State University, Chico.
* [http://watch.opb.org/video/2165728995 ''The Modoc War''], Documentary produced by [[Oregon Public Broadcasting]] in cooperation with the [[Oregon Historical Society]].

{{Ulysses S. Grant}}
{{Reconstruction Era}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Modoc War| ]]
[[Category:Modoc]]
[[Category:Modoc Plateau]]
[[Category:1870s conflicts]]
[[Category:1870s in California]]
[[Category:Indian wars of the American Old West]]
[[Category:Wars involving the indigenous peoples of North America in California]]
[[Category:Wars involving the indigenous peoples of North America in Oregon]]
[[Category:History of Modoc County, California]]
[[Category:History of the Great Basin]]
[[Category:Native American history of California]]
[[Category:Native American history of Oregon]]
[[Category:Presidency of Ulysses S. Grant]]
[[Category:Organized events in California]]
[[Category:1872 in California]]
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[[Category:1870s in Oregon]]
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