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The Modocs - History and Culture of the Modocs (Part 1)

In the woods in southern Oregon, a man quietly stalks a deer. The summer weather is brutally hot and he sweats profusely. The man is careful to avoid making any sort of noise and is weary not to let his game out of sight. The deer stops in a small clearing and it is the perfect opportunity to strike. The man raises his bow and prepares it with an arrow as he gets ready to shoot. It is vitally important that he does not miss as the deer will provide food for the women and children of his village and the pelt will provide clothing. His thoughts are a blur as he takes aim and lets the arrow go. The time seems to last a small eternity until the arrow finally reaches its deadly mark. The man is a young hunter belonging to the Modocs.

When asked about the Modocs, most people will say they have not heard of them. Compared to better known Native American tribes such as the Cherokees, Apache and Arapahos, the Modocs are a relatively small and mysterious tribe, but their story is nonetheless quite interesting.

Tucked away in the northwest corner of the United States, generations of Modocs lived, hunted and battled for centuries. The Modocs lived in the range from south-central Oregon to northern California, but they primarily lived around Tule Lake (see map) where they fished and ate waterfowl. Gathering was also an important part of the Modoc diet. They gathered camas root, wocus seed and other wild plants and during the summer months they also hunted deer, antelope and bighorn sheep in the high country. Eventually the Modocs adopted some of the ways of the white men such as cattle ranching and they even began working vocational jobs in Fort Klamath, Linkville, Jacksonville and Yreka. For the Modocs, to own horses as a sign of wealth that only those who were in a position of power or earned money from the white men could afford.

The Modoc tribe called themselves the Maklaks. They were part of the Klamath tribes of the northwest and spoke a language of Penution origin. Before 1800 they were part of the Lulacas tribe, but because of an internal dispute about tribute to the chief, the Modocs broke away to form their own tribe. Their villages were mostly autonomous and each had their own leaders, shamans and medicine men, however, when war was upon them, the villages would unite to fight for the common cause against the enemy. During the winter, they would live in earth-covered lodges, or “pit houses,” but the poorer families who couldn’t afford such lodges would live in mat-covered houses. In summer, they lived in domed houses made of poles and matting or lean-tos made of brush. An important part of every village was the sweathouses which served as a community center. Here both men and women would gather for prayer, religious activities and for recreation.

Everything began to go downhill for the Modocs when the first contact with the white men was established. In 1826, the Hundon’s Bay Company trading brigade established a trading station on the Dalles of the Columbia where slave trading was quite common. The Modocs received horses, firearms, clothing and other goods from the white men as payment for helping with the trading business and in exchange for slaves. Finding the trading business quite fruitful, the Modocs began to establish trading businesses of their own. They began to trade and sell lumber from their native lands and, because of their knowledge of the land and connections throughout the area, they also began to setup freighting routes for the white men. By August 1889, there were 20 tribal teams profiting in the freighting business.

Since the white men could not pronounce the Modocs’ native names, they began giving them English nicknames. The most famous of these nicknames is that belonging to the chief Keintpoos, “Captain Jack,” who would play a significant role in events to come…

Check back soon for part 2!

Other parts of this series

Immigration

The topic of immigration is a touchy subject, but is nonetheless important. It has been an important part of American history since the founding of our country. It was important 150 years ago and it remains important still. For us in the west in modern times, it is a particularly sensitive issue it seems.

I don’t care to discuss too much the politics of immigration as it is quite a sensitive subject, but I will say that I fully agree with what President Teddy Roosevelt had to say about immigration in 1907:

“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American…There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag… We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language… and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people.”

Savage Photography

In 1860, a man by the name of Charles Roscoe Savage arrived with his family in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. It was here that he would found his photography studio and begin capturing the wild American west in photographs. The medium of photography as a means of art or even as a means of documentation had of yet not been extensively used, however, Savage blazed new trails with his photographs of the yet vastly untouched American west.

Charles Roscoe Savage (also known as C.R. Savage) was born in Southampton, England, on August 16, 1832. At the young age of 14, he joined the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints which is presumably the reason for his eventual emigration to Utah. During the winter of 1856-57, he emigrated to New York where he worked for a short time as a photographer, however, he soon relocated to Florence, Nebraska on assignment from the church. His family quickly joined him there. Relocating to Iowa soon after his move to Nebraska, he founded his first independent photography studio and gallery in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

In August 1860, he traveled with his family to Salt Lake City, Utah where he established a new photography studio and gallery with a man by the name of Marsena Cannon who was a daguerreotype photographer. After Cannon left Salt Lake City, Savage formed a new partnership with George Martin Ottinger. Many of Savage’s photographs were printed in the Harper’s Weekly newspaper gaining him and the firm national attention. During this time Savage also worked under contract for the Union Pacific Railroad. He traveled to California in 1866 and photographed the progress as he followed the rails back east towards Utah. Some of his most famous photographs are photographs of the linking of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific railroads at Promontory Summit in Promontory, Utah in 1869 (pictured right). Savage also took photographs of Yellowstone National Park and Zion National Park among many other places. In 1870, Savage and Ottinger dissolved their firm and Savage formed the Pioneer Art Gallery which was subsequently replaced by the Art Bazaar in 1875 after deciding he needed more room.

On June 26, 1883, Savage’s Art Bazaar burnt to the ground and with it took the negatives of his photographs. Savage died on Februrary 3, 1909 and two years later in 1911, another devastating fire destroyed the remaining negatives taken between the first fire and his death. The Art Bazaar permanently closed on December 31, 1926 after being run by his sons for several years.

An extensive gallery of photographs taken by C.R. Savage is available online at the C.R. Savage Collection at Brigham Young University.

The Death of Doc Holliday

The year is 1887. Winter is beginning to grip its icy grip on the small mountain town of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. You’ve just arrived after a long journey by horse from Denver. Running inside from the chilly November air outside, you seek warmth in the lobby of the fashionable Hotel Glenwood where you engage a room for the night. As you walk tiredly to your room, you pass a room in which a sick man lays coughing. You hear the coughing even as you enter your own room and close the door. You can’t help but think that the man probably has consumption — a disease which plagued many in the 19th century.

The sick man in the other room is Doc Holliday. A notorious and feared gunfighter and a man whose name is almost synonymous with the wild west outlaw, Doc Holliday’s death was melodramatic at best. His profession was dentistry, but his occupation was killing, gambling and drinking.

Doc Holliday was diagnosed with consumption, or tuberculosis as the disease is known now, shortly after his graduation from the Pennsylvania School of Dental Surgery in 1872 when he was 20. His mother had died of consumption 6 years prior in 1866 and it is widely assumed that Doc Holliday contracted the disease from his mother, although it is not known for certain. After a very short and generally unsuccessful attempt at professional dentistry, a sick Doc Holliday headed west from his native Georgia to find a drier climate. In Dallas, Texas, he gave dentistry another chance, but quickly found that his true calling was gambling where he found he could earn a much larger income. He also decided that death by bullet or by knife was better than death by consumption.

Throughout the remainder of his life, he drifted throughout the west leaving behind a reputation for his deadly shooting accuracy. The Doc participated in several gunfights — the most famous of which was the gunfight at OK Corral in Tombstone, Arizona with the Earp brothers — and sent many other men to their graves. Eventually he settled for a short while in the mountain town of Leadville, Colorado until his failing health caused him to move to Denver where it was warmer in the winter of 1885. However, Doc Holliday’s stay in Denver was also short lived. In May 1887, he moved to Glenwood Springs, Colorado to take advantage of the natural springs that would presumably help his ailing body.

He checked into the Hotel Glenwood. His health continued to quickly deteriorate and he spent the last fifty-seven days of his life in bed in that hotel. Doc Holliday died on the morning of November 8, 1887. That morning, he allegedly asked for a final glass of whiskey before dying. Legend also has it that he looked down at his bare feet and said, “This is funny,” although many historians consider this unlikely as he would have been too sick on the day of his death for coherent speech. Irregardless of what he may or may not have said, no one ever expected that the infamous deadly gunfighter would die in bed with his boots off.

Remaining Romanov Bones Found

I know this has nothing to do with American history, but I thought I would add an entry about it anyway since I found it interesting.

The History Blog is reporting that the remains of the two missing children of Tsar Nicholas II have been found. The bones belong to Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria. In July 1918, the Russian royal family, who were at the time being held captive in Yekaterinburg by the Bolshevik revolutionaries, were lined up against a wall in the basement of a noble’s house and executed via firing squad. The bodies were originally dumped into a mine shaft, but then were later removed for fear of the remains becoming a rallying point for the political enemies of the Bolsheviks as they ceased power in Russia. Once removed they were then mutilated. According to a 1934 report based on the words of Yakov Yurovsky, the leader of the family’s killers, the bodies of Alexei and a sister were buried in a pit while the rest of the bodies were doused with sulfuric acid and buried along a road. DNA testing has been done which confirms the identities of the owners of the bones.

The reaction in Russia has been a mixed one. Neither the Russian Orthodox Church nor descendants of relatives of the Russian royal family have commented on the find yet. A lawyer for the royal descendants, German Lukyanov, has said that the family should be “declared victims of political repression,” but the Russian courts have instead declared them victims of premeditated murder.

You can read more about it at The History Blog, MSNBC or Yahoo! News.

Mining in the Modern West

I was looking around on YouTube today and came across a really interesting video about modern mining in the Rocky Mountains by National Geographic. The primary focus of the video is about an 1872 mining law that allows mining companies to purchase federal land from the government at 1872 prices. They also talk about the effects modern mining practices have on the environment. Here is the video:

The Modocs - Introduction

“Well, I tell you what I will do. I give you twenty-five head of ponies if you take my place today, as you say Heaven is such a nice place. Because I do not like to go right now.” These were the words of the Modoc chief Keintpoos – or “Captain Jack” as he was nicknamed – spoken to the Christian minister on the day that he was hanged.

The story of the Modoc tribe and their eventual submission to the white Americans is quite a heroic one. Unlike many other tribes, the Modocs were generally not hostile towards the whites when they first began to invade and eventually settle on their land. For many years this pleasant relationship was sustained with the Modocs adopting several white traditions and trade between the two societies flourishing.

Unfortunately, as quite often occurs, all good things must come to an end. The US government rounded up the Modocs and displaced them to a reservation with their traditional enemies, the Klamath tribe. Relations between the US government and the Modocs quickly deteriorated. Unable to bear living with their hated enemies, a group of Modocs lead by Captain Jack left the reservation and fled to their native land near Tule Lake. Captain Jack’s flight from the reservation eventually led to military action between the Modocs and the US government and ultimately ended in defeat for the Modoc peoples.

Other parts of this series

Prairie Settlment in Nebraska

A few days ago I ran into a part of the Library of Congress’ website American Memory. American Memory is a large archive of letters, documents, etc from various times during American history. Just from the little bit of browsing I did through the archives, there appears to be quite an extensive selection of primary materials: both digitally reproduced (i.e. typed out on the website in easy-to-read format) as well as scans of the originals.

I spent some time looking through a large collection of letters and correspondences sent and received by a family who settled the Nebraska plains and found them quite interesting to read. They really give a clear, first hand view about life on the plains during the late 19th century.

The first letter is dated March 27, 1862 and is riddled with spelling errors and horrible grammar, but is nonetheless a very interesting read. It talks about a few different things ranging from “coonhunting” and wool to breastpins. Here is an excerpt:

“Well Mattie I am well pleased with the wool and hair you sent me. I think I will make a woolpicking this spring, as you sent me so much wool. I assure you that I will take good care of all you sent. I think I will send you some of pony’s hair as I did not send any with the other. I have had company all day untill the present or I would of wrote some this morning. tell Giles the next time he goes a coonhunting to come and get Mike Roaches houns then perhaps he will have better luck. which side of the pond did he go on Mattie. I do not know wich side is the best to catch Coons. did George tread the coon for Giles?” (Source: Nebraska State Historical Society; posted at the Library of Congress)

I recommend reading through the entire letter. You can find the easy-to-read digitalized version (with all the grammar mistakes included) here and the scans of the originals here.

Introducing Captain Jack and the Modocs

I am currently working on a multi-part series of articles on the Modoc Indians. I will post them here as I finish each part. They are going to cover a bit of Modoc history as well as culture and will eventually dive into their eventual submission to the US government in the late 19th century. Check back soon or subscribe to the RSS feed to read them!