A B Meacham

Wigwam and War-Path: The Modoc Indian War 1872-3, by an Active Eyewitness A B Meacham

Brutal conflict in the lava beds

Students of the history of the American West-and the wars of the United States government against the indigenous American Indian tribes in particular-will be familiar with the early 1870s action against the Modoc Indians. This was the last of the conflicts with native American tribes in California and Oregon and came about when the Indian leader, 'Captain Jack,' led a party of 150 Modocs, including over 50 warriors, away from their Klamath reservation to take up defensive positions in the lava beds south of Tule Lake, on the California/Oregon border. The guerrilla war they waged endured for months, with the Modocs resisting attempts to defeat them in battle, or to dislodge them from their stronghold, by the U. S Army and native Indian and volunteer forces. The murder of General Canby and another peace commissioner by 'Captain Jack' and others during a truce negotiation has made the conflict infamous. The author of this book, Alfred Meacham, was the U. S Superintendent for Indian Affairs in Oregon; he knew the principal characters and leaders of the Modocs well and was engaged closely in the events of the war. He was wounded in the famous incident which took the lives of two of his colleagues, so his account provides the reader with a uniquely informed and comprehensive account of the war and is a primary source on the subject. The war may be familiar to some readers as the background for the movie 'Drum Beat' (1954), starring Alan Ladd which in the character of 'Captain Jack' also gave Charles Bronson his first movie role.
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