Modoc

The Modoc tribe is a group of Native American people living originally in the area which is now northeastern California and central southern Oregon.

This article covers the Modoc as an ethnic group, tribe, or nation.

History

South Emigrant Trail established

Lindsay Applegate, accompanied by fourteen other settlers in the Willamette and Rogue valleys in western Oregon, established the South Emigrant Trail in 1846 between a point on the Oregon Trail near Fort Hall, Idaho and the Willamette Valley. The purpose of this new route was to encourage settlers to western Oregon, to eliminate the hazards encountered on the Columbia Route, to provide an alternate route in the event of trouble with the United Kingdom (the British Hudson's Bay Company controlled the Columbia Route), and to provide a route which would be open except for a short winter season each year.

Applegate and his party were the first white men to enter what is now the Lava Beds National Monument. On their exploring trip eastward they attempted to pass around the south end of Tule Lake but the rough lava along the shore forced them to seek a route around the north end of the lake.

The opening of the South Emigrant Trail brought the first regular contact between the Modoc and the European settlers, who had largely ignored the area before. Many of the events of the Modoc War took place along the South Emigrant Trail.

Harassment of emigrants

Beginning in 1847, the Modoc raided emigrants on the South Emigrant Trail. The Modoc, numbering about 600 warriors under the leadership of Old Chief Schonchin, inhabited the region around Lower Klamath Lake, Tule Lake, and Lost River in northern California and southern Oregon.

In September 1852, the Modoc destroyed an emigrant train at Bloody Point on the east shore of Tule Lake. Of the 65 persons in the train only three escaped immediate death; two young girls, taken prisoners and killed several years later by jealous Modoc women, and one man who made his way to Yreka, California. Hearing the news of the attack, Yreka settlers organized a party, under the leadership of Jim Crosby, to go to the scene of the massacre to bury the dead and avenge their death. Crosby's party had one skirmish with a band of Modocs.

The depredations and attacks of emigrants by the Modoc aroused settlers at Yreka to send out a party under Ben Wright's leadership in 1856. Accounts differ as to what actually took place when Wright's party finally met the Modoc on Lost River. Both Wright and the Modoc anticipated treachery. Each group planned to exterminate the other. To prevent the gathering of the entire tribe which would result in his party being greatly outnumbered, Wright attacked, killing approximately 80 Modocs. This loss led to the general mistrust of the white settlers by the Modoc.

It has been estimated that at least 300 emigrants and settlers were killed by the Modoc during the years 1846 to 1873.

Treaty with the United States

The United States and the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin band of the Snake tribes signed a treaty in 1864, establishing the Klamath Reservation. Under the terms of this treaty the Modoc, with Old Chief Schonchin as their leader, gave up their lands in the Lost River, Tule Lake and Lower Klamath Lake regions, and moved to the reservation in the Upper Klamath Valley. Approximately 160 Modoc under the leadership of Keintpuash (Captain Jack) refused to move to the reservation, as they had not been represented in the treaty negotiations.

Several unsuccessful attempts were made in the following years to convince Captain Jack and his band to move to the reservation. Finally, in 1869 Captain Jack's band agreed to relocate.

Captain Jack's band was harassed by the Klamath, as the band had been rivals with the Klamath in the past and the reservation was on land traditionally belonging to the Klamath. The band was moved to another part of the reservation, but there was no relief from the mistreatment. In April 1870, Captain Jack and his band left the reservation and returned to Lost River.

Modoc War

Main article: Modoc War

In November 1872 the US Army was sent to Lost River to attempt to force the Captain Jack's band back to the reservation. A battle broke out, and the Modoc escaped to Captain Jack's Stronghold in what is now Lava Beds National Monument, California. The band was able to hold off the US Army for several months, defeating them in combat several times. In April, 1873 the Modoc fled from the Stronghold and began to splinter. Captain Jack and his group were the last captured, on June 4, 1873. Captain Jack and 3 of his warriors were hung in October of that year for the murder of Major General Edward Canby, and the rest of the band was sent to Oklahoma as prisoners of war with Scarfaced Charley as their chief. In 1907 the group in Oklahoma was given permission, if they wished, to return to Oregon. Several did, but most stayed at their new home.

Geography

Oregon

About 600 members of the tribe currently live on the Klamath Reservation in Oregon This group included all of the Modoc who stayed on the reservation during the Modoc War, as well as the descendants of those who chose to return to Oregon from Oklahoma in 1907 following the end of their incarceration.

Oklahoma

200 Modocs live in Oklahoma on the Shawnee Reservation. These Modoc are all descendants of the band led by Captain Jack during the Modoc War of 1872 - 1873.

Culture

To be written along the lines of Wikipedia:WikiProject Ethnic Groups Template

Institutions

To be written along the lines of Wikipedia:WikiProject Ethnic Groups Template

Classifications

To be written along the lines of Wikipedia:WikiProject Ethnic Groups Template

Miscellaneous

Modoc County, California is named for this group of people.

External links

• Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma
• Klamath Reservation General Council