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Wl-NE-MA. 
 
WI-NE-M A 
 
 (THE WOMAN-CHIEF.) 
 
 AND 
 
 HER PEOPLE. 
 
 BY HON. A^ BREACH AM, 
 
 EX-SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS " CHAIRMAN OP THE LATB MODOO 
 
 PEACE COMMISSION; AND AUTHOR OF THE " WIGWAM AND WAS- - t i 
 PATH," ETC., ETC. 
 
 HARTFORD, CONN.: 
 AMERICAN PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
 
 1876. 
 
COPYRIGHTED BY 
 
 A. B. MEACHAM, 
 18T6. 
 
brary 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THIS book is written in the interest of justice and 
 humanity, with the hope that its perusal may have a 
 salutary effect upon the minds of its readers, and enable 
 them to better understand a subject involving the honor 
 of the American people, by one saved from a horrible 
 death under the scalping knife. It is written with the 
 avowed purpose of doing honor to the heroic Wi-ne-mn, 
 who at the peril of her life sought to save the ill-fated 
 Peace Commission to the Modoc Indians in 1873 ; the 
 woman to whom the waiter is indebted, under God, for 
 his escape from death. It is written as though it were 
 given as evidence before a tribunal to whom the writer 
 \vas responsible as a witness upon the stand. Its second 
 object is to redeem a promise made to a " chained lion" 
 who was led out to die for the crimes of bad men, that 
 the " other side of the Modoc story " should be told. Its 
 further aim is to secure a more just and humane treatment 
 of the remnants of the original owners of the continent 
 of America. With this distinct and avowed understand 
 ing the author respectfully offers it to the public, chal 
 lenging impeachment as to its authenticity or correctness, 
 declaring his personal responsibility for ever} 7 line and 
 every page. While it is historic, it is not a tabular state 
 ment of dry, dull facts on the Indian question, but rather 
 a narrative of exciting events, which have transpired 
 within the past few j^ears, to many of which the writer 
 has been an eye-witness and participant. 
 
 A. B. MEACHAM. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 COVENANT AND PROMISE. 
 
 The Royal Chief in Chains Led out to Die No Friends The 
 Parting Promise Triumphant Power Exulting over Help 
 less Weakness Music of Galling Chains Consecrated to the 
 "Work Timid Friends Preparing to keep the Promise. ... 7 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 WIDOW AND VICTIM. 
 
 Savaeres playing Civilized Games Penitential Tears The Quaker's 
 Managing Blood-stained Warriors What Extermination has 
 
 Accomplished What has been Done 12 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ' THE BIRTH-PLACE OF HEROES. 
 
 Klamath Lake The Birth-place of Nan-ook-too-wa The stone 
 Image The Footprints of God Over the Falls Paddling for 
 Life Named Wi-ne-ma The little Woman-chief Her first 
 Interview with a White Man Her resolution to become Civil 
 izedHer Boy-Lover The Separation 18 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 AMBITION AND LOVE. 
 
 Love at First Steht Cupid's Freaks The Fair haired Rival Bro 
 ken Idols The Betrothal Married under Indian Law The 
 Mutual Friend/ Transformation Wild life becomes Tame 
 The first Visit to Wi-nc-ma's People U-le-ta The Surprise 
 
 The Lover's Death The Race with a Grizzly 24 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 PEACE-MAKING SUCCESSFUL. 
 
 Wi-ne-ma among the Enemies Treaty between Hostile Tribes- 
 Treaty of Modocs with the Government Breach of Promise of 
 Government-Agents Wi-ne-ma on the War-path She Com 
 mands a Battle A City Dandy in Wi-ne-ma' s Cabin Keeping 
 
 Hotel Arguing the case with a Yankee. 31 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 
 
 First Meeting of the Author with Wi-ne-ma In Captain Jack's 
 Camp Almost aTragedy Success Owing to her Wisdom Her 
 Advice to Captain Jack 38 
 
CONTENTS. V 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE FLAG OP TRUCE. 
 
 Wi-ne-ma as a Peace maker The Flag of Truce Organization of 
 the Peace-Commission Wine-ma at Fairchild'8 Narrow Es 
 cape Successful in making the Armistice The Captured 
 Horses Thte broken Pledge of Government The Author 
 and the Warrior-Chief Wit mixed with {Sarcasm The new 
 
 Law 43 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE FATAL COMPACT. 
 
 Warning Repeated Strategy Foiled Evidence of Treachery No 
 Meeting except on Even Terms Hope of Peace gone Turn- 
 ing-Poiut Dr. Thomas's faith in Prayer Religious Strategy 
 of the Modocs The Compact ending in Blood The Uuna- 
 vailing Protest Great Religious Faith of Dr. Thomas Gen 
 eral Cauby Underrates Modoc Courage Wi-ne-ma' s anxiety 
 to Avert the Bloody Scene Trying Courage En route to the 
 Trysting Place The Modocs in Council Captain Jack's Cour 
 age Allotment of Bloody Work 51 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CARNIVAL OF BLOOD. 
 
 The Betrayal Captain Jack's Hesitation The Demand for the 
 Removal of the Soldiers Dr. Thomas's Last Sermon Hesita 
 tion of the Modoc Chief The Tragedy of the Lava Beds- 
 Successful Strategy of Wi-ue-ma 57 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE RESCUE. 
 
 Wi-ne-ma's narrow Escape Danger on Land and Water Wi-ne-ma 
 Defending the Mothers of the Fifty-three, Murdered by White 
 
 Men Threatened Outbreak Quelled 63 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 BLENDING BRAVE BLOOD. 
 
 Frank Riddle His Career as a Miner Exciting Experiences with 
 Grizzlies His Devotion to the Indian Race Charka, Son of 
 Wi-ne-ma and Frank His Courage and Ability His Indian 
 
 Grandfather. . , , 68 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 GOD'S NOBLEMEN PLANTING AN EMPIRE. 
 
 An Experiment Captain Applegate His Character Wal-aiks-ski- 
 dat His Character Yum-nis-poe-tis " David and Jonathan." 
 Siletz Reservation Ol-hat-e Wool-wy-he "No Reserva 
 tion Policy." 72 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE OTHER SIDE. 
 
 Captain Jack His first Battle Scar-Face Charley, begins the 
 War The Burning Squaw Vows of Vengeance The Quaker 
 Escapes Scar-Face warning his Friends Protects Wi-ne-ma 
 
 Votes for Peace His Exploits 78 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 FEATS OF INDIAN ARCHERY. 
 
 The Orphan Frank Marrying his Adopted Mother Frank's Effort 
 
Tl CONTENTS. 
 
 to Avert War Savages Reading the Bible Qunker Jones and 
 the Modocs Shacknasty Jim in New York His Wonderful 
 
 feat of Archery 86 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE MISSION. 
 
 First Entertainment Newspaper Comments Crossing the Conti 
 nent Final Organization Indian Frauds Last Appearance 
 at the Cooper Institute The Lost Chief The Search The 
 
 Effect on the Lost Chiefs People 93 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 SAGES AND SAVAGES. 
 
 Wal-aiks-ski-dat at Philadelphia Yum-nis-poe-tis' Medicine Speech 
 
 Author's Reflections in Written Words 103 
 
 CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 THE BIBLE AND TRADITION. 
 
 First Pair The Forbidden Tree The Delude The Great Peace- 
 Maker His Miracles His Preaching Key to Indian Resist 
 ance Authenticity of Tradition 112 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 HOW HEROES ARE MADE. 
 
 The Modoc's Physical Manhood Early Training Hints Useful to 
 Civilized People Incidental Appeal for Justice How Heroes 
 are Made Medicine-Men How Selected Bringing out Ut-ti- 
 
 na His Failure 134 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SAVAGE PRATERS AND CHRISTIAN BULLETS. 
 
 Fifty-Three Red-Skinned Spartans Two Hundred Christian Sol 
 diers The Command to Surrender Refusal Savages Praying 
 to the God of the Christian Soldiers The Solemn Covenant 
 
 Medicine-Man of the Modocs--Answered Prayers 147 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 WAITING SPIRITS OF THE DEAD. 
 
 Death of Che-la-ka Ceremony of Cremation The Waiting Spirit 
 waving Farewell Responsibility of Medicine-Men Indian 
 Sympathy in a Dark Hour Picture of Border-Life Summon 
 ing the Witness 147 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 EXPENSIVE EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 The Humane Policy on Trial The Transformation The Cloud 
 Rolled Back The Three Appeals Result of Careless Words 
 
 Who is to Blame for the Modoc War? 153 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 CHURCH, STATE, AND ARMY. 
 
 What has been Done Building False Hopes Results of one Change 
 Who is Responsible For It The Proposition to Transfer the 
 Indians to the Military Department Solicitude of Agents and 
 
 .... 160 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 COVENANT AND PROMISE. 
 
 THE ROYAL CHIEF IN CHAINS LED OUT TO DIE NO FRIENDS 
 THE PARTING PROMISE TRIUMPHANT POWER EXULTING OVER 
 HELPLESS WEAKNESS MUSIC OF GALLING CHAINS BACK TO THE 
 DUNGEON ASSUMING RESPONSIBILITY CONSECRATED TO THE 
 WORK TIMID FRIENDS PREPARING TO KEEP THE PROMISE. 
 
 " LET me die like a man and not like a dog." The 
 speaker was a man of thirty years of age, stout, well- 
 proportioned, his face declaring him to be something 
 more than a common man. Every motion of his 
 limbs rang harsh music from the chains upon his legs. 
 " the world says you have spoken for your race. Let 
 extermination be the cry. Now speak once more for 
 your race and let the world hear your side of the 
 story," replied the man addressed. This man was 
 nearing fifty years of age, and as he spoke he held up 
 his mutilated hands and pointed to the great scars 
 upon his face. 
 
 This conversation was had near Tort Kalmath, in 
 Oregon. The first speaker was a man whose name ia 
 associated with the darkest page of the world's history 
 for the year 1873. He was doomed to die. The 
 
 2 
 
8 CO VEX ANT AND PROMISE. 
 
 other, had passed so close to the portals that death 
 had left the marks of his icy fingers upon him. "When 
 last these men parted it was amid the whizzing of 
 bullets and the tumult of jells and prayers commingled : 
 the last glance the latter had of the other he was 
 pointing a revolver at the head of a general of the 
 United States' Army. The last time until this meet 
 ing the first had seen the other, he was prostrate upon 
 the grey rocks of the lava-beds and gasping for breath, 
 with the blood flowing from half a dozen wounds. 
 
 Strange meeting after such a parting. And yet it 
 is true to the letter. "You talk for me" continued 
 the first speaker, "you understand my heart. The 
 world won't hear me. I have no books or papers to 
 talk for me, I am doomed to die. I want the world 
 to hear my side of this trouble. You know all about 
 it. You tell about Ben "Wright, and about the soldiers 
 stealing my horses and about Gen. Cranby moving 
 his army near me while we were trying to make 
 peace." At the same time laying his hand and fixing 
 his dark penetrating eye upon the listener. These 
 words were spoken in the ancient language of the 
 " La-la-cas." And were translated by a woman whose 
 personal appearance betokened that she was of the 
 race of the speaker. Indeed it was Wi-ne-ma, a cousin 
 to the speaker and knew well his words. Sitting a 
 few moments in silence the listener arose to depart, 
 and held out his hand to the other, who grasped 
 it and repeated his request, "Tell my side of the 
 trouble." Still clinging to the hand of his old friend, 
 "Will you do it? Then I can die if you promise to 
 speak for me and my race." 
 
 The white man seemed to hesitate. The red-man 
 
CO YEN ANT AND PROMISE. 9 
 
 insisted. At length, as the two stood with clasped 
 hands, the white man replied " I will do it if my life 
 is spared." The other turned away to his prison cell 
 reconciled to meet his fate. This was the last meeting 
 and parting of these men. "Why it was so and 
 why one was doomed to die the death of a felon, 
 and how the other has kept his promise to tell 
 " the other side of the story " will appear as this 
 volume progresses, written by the second person 
 spoken of in this opening sketch. In order to secure 
 recognition and to avoid the accusation of shirking 
 responsibility, it shall be written in the first person 
 and with the assurance to the reader that every fact, 
 stated as such, shall be given in plain unvarnished 
 words, nothing hidden or withheld, nothing added, 
 from desire to extenuate the crimes of the people 
 about whom he writes. I shall do this in the fear of 
 God and with the approbation of my own conscience, 
 knowing full well that this book will call out bitter 
 denunciations from partisan enemies of both the writer 
 and the Indian race ; nevertheless it shall be written 
 as though given in evidence before a legal tribunal, 
 with the responsibility of a witness under oath. 
 With this understanding with rny reader, and the 
 further declared purpose -of doing justice to every 
 party to this strange chapter of American history 
 whose name shall be necessary, but more especially to 
 Wi-ne-ma, to whom I owe my life, for her heroic 
 interference in my behalf in the lava-beds when Gen. 
 Canby and Dr. Thomas were assassinated, the llth of 
 April 1873, 1 shall endeavor to keep my promise to 
 Captain Jack. 
 1* 
 
10 CO VENANT AND PROMISE. 
 
 I know just how the popular heart beats in regard 
 to the question involved in this book. I know that 
 the Indian is regarded as an incorrigible savage by a 
 large portion of the people. I know that lie who 
 speaks for him must expect to have his motives 
 doubted, to be derided as a fanatic, and to be assailed 
 from every point. When, oh when, will some great 
 strong soul step out, boldly defying popular whims 
 and caprices, demand for every human being on this 
 continent equal and exact justice before the law, and 
 before the reading world ? Those whose hearts are 
 right, who cry aloud, do it in muffled tones, lest they 
 disturb the smooth current of popular sentiment, and 
 their voices are as one man shouting back against the 
 roar of Niagara. Fight on, brave defenders of the 
 right, the time will come when other voices will join 
 yours, and the music will wake the hearts of the 
 American people, and your pleadings will not be lost. 
 
 If I had hesitated to make the promise to the Modoc 
 Chief, it was but for a moment. Turning away from 
 him and looking squarely in the face of public senti 
 ment. I then and there began to plan for the redemp 
 tion of my promise. 
 
 Springing from an ancestry whose religious con 
 victions as to the crime of slavery, led them to 
 manumit their slaves in the Carolinas, very early in 
 the present century ; it may well be supposed that 
 with such an example, and such an inheritance, as soon 
 as my mind opened to the investigation of such sub 
 jects, I should give them more than ordinary and 
 casual attention. Born on the frontier of Indiana, 
 surrounded by the refugees from bondage and their 
 
CO VENANT AND PR OMISE. H 
 
 sympathizers, my heart was enlisted in their behalf. 
 Transported with my father's family, in 1842, to the 
 border-line of civilization, in Iowa, rny sympathy was 
 to some extent transferred to another race the Red 
 Man. Since that time I have lived continuously on the 
 advance-wave of emigration, which carried on its crest 
 until checked by the roaring of the Pacific Ocean, and 
 then backward turning, be^an to cover the great plains 
 which the tidal wave of 1 850 had leaped in its hurry 
 to compass the continent. 
 
 My opportunities for study and observation have 
 been continuous for over thirty years. I have been 
 on the war-path against the Indian, and on the war 
 path by his side, against his enemies of hostile tribes. 
 I have been his friend, and sometimes his enemy. 
 Have felt the warmth and devotion of the Indian's 
 heart, and, again, the pain of his treachery, the stiug 
 of his arrows, and tlie smart of his scalping knife. I 
 have suffered more at his hands than any public man 
 of this country now living, and I think that I owe 
 more to the courage, fidelity, and real heroism, of 
 Indian character than any other man. But for the 
 treachery of the Indian I should not write with 
 maimed hands, but for the fidelity and heroism of 
 "Wi-ne-ma, the heroine of the lava-beds, I should not 
 write at all. With such credentials, and with a solemn 
 covenant, made with God, when I lay on the grey 
 rocks of the battle-ground of the Modoc War, ever 
 hanging over me, as a reminder, I dare not, if I would, 
 be false to truth. 
 
CIIAPTEK II. 
 
 WIDOW AND VICTIM. 
 
 8AVAGES PLAYING CIVILIZED GAMES A FLOOD OF PENITENTIAL 
 TEARS RESTING FROM A YEAR OF STORMS THE QUAKER'S MAN 
 AGING r-BLOOD-STAINED WARRIORS WHAT EXTERMINATION HAS 
 ACCOMPLISHED WHAT IT HAS NOT DONE. 
 
 In pursuance of the main object, and feeling, too, 
 that I could touch the popular mind on this great 
 question, I wrote a book of seven hundred pages, 
 octavo, and submitted it to the judgment of some of 
 the most eminent literary men in America, espec 
 ially those whose lives had been declarations of their 
 fidelity to the cause of humanity. It was favorably 
 criticised, and pronounced worthy of publication. At 
 the suggestion of some of my reviewers, I determined 
 to make an opportunity for the red-men of the West 
 to speak for themselves, believing then, as I now do, 
 that a better understanding between the races would 
 go far to remove the universal prejudice engendered 
 by ex parte statements of interested enemies of the 
 red-man. Armed with letters and endorsements, I 
 repaired to "Washington City, Nov. 1874, and pre 
 sented my petition which set forth in preamble, the 
 
 12 
 
WIDOW AND VICTIM. 13 
 
 objects in view, which were, FIRST: to awaken public 
 sentiment on the Indian question ; SECONDLY, to make 
 an opportunity for the Indian race to be heard in its 
 own behalf; THIRDLY, and generally, by speech and 
 book to disseminate reliable information on this 
 question. 
 
 The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Hon. Ed. P. 
 Smith, offered the plan, and entered into hearty coop 
 eration. The Honorable Secretary of the Interior, 
 Delano, dissented. The President was appealed to, 
 but refused assent because permission had been denied 
 to parties who had sought to secure Indians for public 
 exhibition as a financial speculation : when, however, 
 he was made fully to understand the prime motive, 
 his objections were withdrawn, and the letters and 
 permit were granted, with authority re-organize a com 
 pany, with the distinct understanding that no expense 
 would be incurred by the government. This permit 
 says that, "you will be required to exercise in all. 
 respects the care of a guardian over their physical 
 condition, habits, and morals, and especially to keep 
 them from the use of intoxicating liquors, and to this 
 end }^ou will avail yourself, not only of your own 
 well-known habits of temperance, but also secure for 
 your assistants persons who by example as well as 
 precept will enforce the principles of total absti 
 nence." 
 
 Cheerfully accepting the letter with its special pro 
 vision and requirement, I went West for the purpose 
 of completing the organization. Inasmuch as finan 
 cial success as well as moral results depended on 
 popular patronage, it was deemed advisable to secure 
 
14: WIDOW AND VICTIM 
 
 a few of the survivors of Captain Jack's band of 
 Modocs, who Lad .been exiled as a punishment for 
 their crimes. I made my appearance in the Modoc 
 camp, Quaw-Paw Agency, Indian Territory, on the 
 morning of Nov. 15th, 1S74, accompanied by friend 
 Tuttle teacher of Modoc schools. As we approached 
 the agency unheralded, we came upon a scene of 
 civilized sport, with savage players. In front of the 
 Agency building a game of croquet was in progress. 
 The most dashing fellow among the players was 
 Bogus Charley -, who was dressed half-quaker and-half 
 Spanish. His head was covered by a broad-brimmed 
 Lat, his feet in high-heeled calf boots, with red lace 
 at the top, and small tassels dangling on his instep, 
 and he wore a red sash round his waist. The next one 
 of note was lloolter Jim ; this was the fellow who 
 had but a few moments before the slaughter began 
 on the llth of April 1873, taken my overcoat, and in 
 formed me that he would take my hat also very soon. 
 
 Another historic character was also taking part in 
 the game, Shack-Nasty-Jim' and still another, Steam 
 boat Franlt, whose name stands in the list of Capt. 
 Jack's betrayers, and who make up the quartet of 
 traitors who first drove the Modoc Chief into crimes, 
 and who were the first to desert him, and go upon 
 his trail, day and night, until they pointed his pur 
 suers to his last hiding-place.* 
 
 The neighing of one of our horses arrested the 
 game of croquet, and quickly the quartet came to the 
 carriage to welcome friend Tuttle and his wife. Bogus 
 Charley's keen eye caught sight of my face, and with 
 
 *For details see Wigu-am and War-path. 
 
WIDOW AND VICTIM. 15 
 
 Lurried movements he snatched the babe from Mrs. 
 Tattle's arms, muttered in Modoc a few words to his 
 companions, and ran into the agent's house. The 
 others, surprised, stood watching our party dismount. 
 Greetings were not as cordial as they were on the 
 morning of the llth of April, 1874, before these 
 men assailed Gen. Canby and the Peace Commission. 
 Half an hour later the remnants of the Lava-bed band 
 were collected in front of the Agency. Every eye was 
 eager to see the man who had been " killed by Schon- 
 chin, and as they believed, brought back to life by the 
 Great Spirit" Curious meeting this ! the victim of 
 Indian wrath with his scarred hands grasped in the 
 palms of the sad, heart-broken, widows and orphans 
 of the very men who had killed Gen. Canby and Dr. 
 Thomas, and as they thought had killed him also. 
 The Agent and his friends were silent spectators of 
 this strange scene, while they beheld the tears running 
 down the faces of the exiled widows. 
 
 The object of my visit was announced, much to the 
 satisfaction of Bogus, Hooker, Steamboat, and Shack- 
 nasty-Jim, for they were suspicious that justice had 
 sent me on an errand. I doubt not, inward conviction 
 and guilt prompted their fears. Immediately after the 
 proposition was made, Queen Mary sister of Capt. 
 Jack and her husband volunteered to join my 
 company. No permanent arrangements were com 
 pleted, the matter being left entirely in the hands of 
 H. W. Jones, the quaker agent. I was gratified to 
 see that these unfortunate Modocs had fallen into good 
 hands, and that a home had been purchased for them, 
 which they gladly accepted. The men generally 
 
16 WIDOW AND VICTIM. 
 
 entered with good heart into the work of preparation 
 for permanent settlement. The Modoc's children 
 were all in school, and making rapid progress in 
 learning. 
 
 The work of " extermination" had left one hundred 
 and thirty-nine souls out of one hundred and sixty- 
 three, who were in the stronghold of the Lava-bed when 
 the watchword of Gen. Sherman, for the extermin 
 ation of the Modocs, was issued. All this had been 
 accomplished at a cost merely nominal in treasure, 
 not more than two or three million dollars and less 
 than two hundred valuable lives. "Extermination" 
 worked well, but like a boomerang, it struck back to 
 the hand which sped it forth. These Modocs now 
 found rest. They have no idea of ever going again 
 upon the war-path. " They have learned a terrible 
 lesson." It is not a question whether the Govern 
 ment has learned a lesson. It has at least " taught 
 the savage tribes that it cannot be trifled with." It 
 has vindicated its honor, by demonstrating to savage 
 minds, how easily it can fill its broken ranks. It has 
 not convinced them that it is just and impartial. It has 
 not hunted up, and executed, or exiled the white mur 
 derers who outraged humanity by killing four unarmed 
 warriors, in Fairchild's wagon, on the 4th of June 
 1873, after they had surrendered and were prisoners of 
 war. It has not won the confidence of the Indian 
 tribes of America. It has not made war with them 
 less probable, in the future. It has not heard the 
 silent muttering of the Indian for vengeance, on 
 account of its failure to punish offenders who can go 
 to the ballot box, with heads covered with innocent 
 
WIDOW AND ORPHAN. 17 
 
 Indian blood and long scalp-locks hanging to their 
 belts. Neither have all the outlay of treasure, the 
 long rows of graves near the Lava-beds, the marble 
 shafts and costly monuments which stand above the 
 dead, given the brave frontiersman more faith in its 
 promises, or made him feel more secure in his cabin 
 which stands upon the outskirts of Christian civiliza 
 tion, exposed to the avenging tomahawk and scalping- 
 knife. 
 
 The mercy now shown the survivors of Jack's 
 band of Modocs, cannot call up from the grave the 
 forty-one braves who where 'killed by Ben Wright, 
 under a flag of truce, in sight of the spot where 
 the blood of Canby, Thomas, and the writer of 
 these pages, paid the demand for revenge. When, 
 oh when, will a properly Christian nation redeem the 
 covenants made by the Fathers, a century since? 
 when will it cease to rush to battle before exhausting 
 the alternatives of peace and love to all mankind ? 
 when will it learn to " do right because it is right?" 
 
CHAPTEK III. 
 
 THE BIRTH-PLACE OF HEROES. 
 
 KALMATH LAKE THE BIRTH-PLACE OP NAN-OOK-TOO-WA THE 
 STONE IMAGE THE FOOTPRINTS OF GOD OVER THE FALLS 
 PADDLING FOR LIFE NAMED WI-NE-MA THE LITTLE WOMAN- 
 CHIEF HER FIRST INTERVIEW wlTH A WHITE MAN HER RES 
 OLUTION TO BECOME CIVILIZED HER FAILURE TO INSPIRE U-LE- 
 TA, HER BOY LOVER, WITH THE SAME AMBITION THE SEPARA 
 TION TRUE TO HER PURPOSE. 
 
 ABOUT twenty miles north of the line dividing 
 California and Oregon, lies Kalmath Lake. It is 
 forty miles long and ten miles wide, dotted with small 
 islands. It is four thousand feet above the sea level. 
 Its pure, transparent waters form a beautiful inland 
 sea of enchanting loveliness. The mountains on the 
 west bathe their feet in this fresh-water sea, while on 
 the north and east they fall away several miles, leav 
 ing a valley of great beauty. This lake is fed by 
 mountain-streams draining the eastern slope of the 
 southern portion of the far-famed Cascade Mountains. 
 Its principal feeder is Williamson River, which comes 
 in on the north. At the south end of this charming 
 lake, the mountains seem to have shut it up against 
 the mountains on the north and west until the water 
 forced a passage through, cutting and tearing its way, 
 
 18 
 
THE BIRTH-PLACE OF HEROES. 19 
 
 leaving the sides rough and unshapely, with the 
 rocks just as they were rent at the time of the separa 
 tion by the mad flood. Through this opening the 
 stream pours in a wide stream known as Link Kiver, 
 which falling about one hundred feet to the mile, 
 finds its level in lower Kalmath Lake, which again, in 
 turn, tears along to the Pacific Ocean throngh the 
 mountains for nearly one hundred miles. 
 
 On the east side of Link Kiver near its upper end, 
 there are streams of hot water bursting from the 
 depths of the earth in continuous flow. These springs 
 are said to possess wonderful healing properties. 
 "When the winds blow from the south, the waters of 
 the upper Kalmath Lake are forced back like a great 
 tide, leaving Link River almost dry, save the deep 
 holes and pools left in the channel. In the middle 
 of this channel the water has cut in the stone, curious 
 holes said to resemble the feet of a large man. Near 
 the footprints, is another wondrous work of ntaure, 
 wrought in the image of a man. 
 
 The ragged sides of the cleft mountain ; the steam 
 jets and hot springs; the footprints and the great 
 stone image in the middle of the river ; the effect of 
 the south winds upon the lake above, all together, 
 have furnished this singular spot of the earth with 
 unusual requisites for Indian sacred lands. Here for 
 untold generations have they come to worship the great 
 Ka-moo-kum-chux (God) ; to fish, and hold councils; 
 believing, as they do, that the holes in the rock are 
 the footprints of God, and the rough-shaped stone in 
 the river, is Ilis image. The people who inhabited 
 this place were of a somewhat different character from 
 
20 THE BIRTH-PLACE OF HEROES. 
 
 other Indians of America. They were formerly 
 known as the La-la-cas. They claimed to be the 
 children of GOD, having among them traditions reach 
 ing as far back as any written history of Man. 
 That they were different from other Indians was 
 declared by the Modoc War. Of the several charac 
 ters developed by that war, none stands out with 
 more claim to an honorable place in history than 
 Wi-ne-ma, (the woman-chief) who is the subject of 
 this sketch. She was born on Link River, and very 
 near the sacred lands of the La-la-cas (the tribe from 
 whence sprang the Modocs). Her father was a brother 
 of the hero, martyr-chief, Captain Jack. Her mother 
 is said to have belonged to a family of Indians 
 remarkable for one peculiarity, that of having very 
 fine brown or red hair. It does not appear, however, 
 that there was any other evidence of her being more 
 than an ordinary Modoc woman. She died soon after 
 the birth of Wi-ne-ma. Polygamy being an established 
 custom among the Modocs, Wi-ne-ma was a member 
 of a large family, having, however, only one brother 
 and one sister. In early life she exhibited the rare 
 qualities, which since her growth into womanhood, 
 have made her distinguished. She was at first called 
 " Nan-ook-to-wa the strange child," on account of 
 her habit of going alone to the sacred springs, and 
 her fearlessness in visiting the rocks where Ka-moo- 
 kum-chux had left his footprints. Indian children 
 have a certain kind of reverential fear of things sacred. 
 From her father's lodge she could see the snow-clad 
 mountain peaks of the Cascades, and could hear the 
 roar of the rushing waters. The lodge was near the 
 
THE BIRTH-PLACE OF HEROES. 21 
 
 outlet of the lake, and it was tlie favorite pastime of 
 the children to paddle on its bosom. On one occasion 
 when she, with others of her own age, were thus 
 engaged, the canoe was drawn into the current, which 
 was so swift that the stoutest hearted brave would not 
 venture into it. The father saw the danger and shouted 
 to them, but too late, and the slender craft was carried 
 into the dashing flood which roared and plunged 
 through the rocky shoot. The father was wild with 
 the sight, and would have plunged into the stream to 
 save his children, but the canoe was carried so rapidly 
 along that he caught but occasional glimpses of it as 
 it rose like a feather on the huge waves. Undaunted, 
 Nan-ook-too-wa stood in the canoe and with quick 
 eye steered right and left past the great boulders, 
 commanding the other children to calmness, as they 
 hurled swiftly past the rocks. On, on, they went, 
 while the frightened father mounted his horse and 
 hurried down the river's bank, fast as speed could fly, 
 seeing his children as they rose upon the waves, and 
 expecting each time would be the last. Away they 
 go, swifter than steed, swift as lightning, still on 
 went the flying canoe, and still on went the flying 
 steed, while the canoe roared with the united voices 
 of rushing waters and frightened people. Still the 
 little Nan-ook-ta-wa, stood erect, still she plied the 
 paddle, until the canoe reached the calm surface of 
 the lower lake, when rounding with its precious freight, 
 the child landed in safety to meet her excited father 
 and the friends who had joined in the pursuit, when 
 she was called for the first time Kaitch-ko-na Wi-ne- 
 ma, the little woman-chief. From this time "Wi-ne-ma 
 
22 THE BIRTH-PLACE OF HEROES. 
 
 was regarded by her people as an extraordinary child, 
 and became the pet of the old warriors of her father's 
 tribe. It was sufficient that she was possessed of 
 great courage and could not be intimidated by danger. 
 The old braves delighted to tell her the stories of her 
 people ; of the battles fought ; of the traditions of the 
 race regarding the history of their origin ; of Ka-moo- 
 kum-chux (God) ; of I-sees, (the Son of God) ; of the 
 first white men they had seen, and thus she grew wise 
 before her time. Her father often took her on hunt 
 ing expeditions, and sometimes to the sacred lakes in 
 Yai-nax Mountain. 
 
 He still lives near the place of his birth, enjoying 
 the confidence of all who know him. He delights 
 to tell of the little Wi-ne-ma going with him to hunt 
 the grizzly, in the mountains, and of her daring in 
 times of danger. A white man belonging to a com 
 pany of emigrants going into Oregon, was lost from 
 his party, and in a state of destitution and starvation, 
 he was carried into the Indian village at Link River. 
 He became the guest of the family to which Wi-ne-ma 
 belonged. He was detained by sickness many weeks; 
 meanwhile he learned to talk with his benefactors. 
 It was through this sick man, that Wi-ne-ma first 
 learned of the great cities and towns of the white man, 
 of his civilization and wonderful achievements. Her 
 heart was fired by her first lessons in the white man's 
 history, and as time passed on she became more and 
 more interested, and finally determined to know for 
 herself, of the higher life of the white man. Mean 
 while her boy lover, U-le-ta, had been her constant 
 attendant on her rambles for fruits and flowers. She 
 
THE BIRTH-PLACE OF HEROES. 23 
 
 endeavored to inspire him with her ambition to learn 
 more about " the new people." He was so thoroughly 
 Indian, however, that she failed to interest him. He 
 sought to dissuade her from her purpose, at the same 
 time growing more in love with her; for Indians do 
 love, notwithstanding that the great civilized world 
 treats them as though they were animals of lower degree. 
 Although U-le-ta was several years older than Wi-nc- 
 ma, he was about as much behind her in general 
 knowledge, as the white boy is behind his sister, five 
 years his junior. When Wi-ne-ma had reached 
 fourteen, she was older than many of her own race 
 and sex of seventeen or eighteen. 
 
CHAPTER IY. 
 
 AMBITION AND LOVE. 
 
 WI-NE-MA'S FIRST MEETING WITH FRANK RIDDLE LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT 
 
 CUPID'S FREAKS THE FAIR-HAIRED RIVAL BLACK EYES AGAINST 
 
 BLUE BROKEN IDOLS THK BETROTHAL MARRIED UNDER INDIAN LAW 
 
 THE MUTUAL FRIEND CHANGED CABIN TRANSFORMATION CIVIL AND 
 
 SAVAGE IN THE SAME CABIN WILD LIFE BECOMES TAME THE FIRST 
 
 VISIT TO WI-NE-MA'S PEOPLE U-LE-TA THE SURPRISE HIS DEATH 
 THB RACE WITH A GRIZZLY. 
 
 IT was not uncommon for the Link River Indians 
 to visit the miners in and around Yreka, California. 
 It was on one of these visits of Wi-ne-ma's father that 
 she first met Mr. Frank Riddle. Frank was a miner, 
 and had in his cabin a talisman which had been his 
 anchor through the stormy scenes of a miner's life. 
 It was the picture of a fair-haired girl whom he had 
 left behind him in " Old Kentuck." He had carried 
 this picture with him through all his wanderings, and 
 it had been to him the reminder of his vows. The 
 fair face was often before him, and always seemed the 
 loveliest on earth to him. 
 
 When the old man, Se-cot, Wi-ne-ma's father, 
 camped upon the creek below Frank's cabin, he 
 little dreamed that this fact would rob him of his 
 child. Little thought Frank Riddle that the plump, 
 
 24 
 
i 'IV' 1 " 
 
AMBITION AND LOVE. 25 
 
 round-faced little squaw would dethrone Iris boy 
 hood's love, and become the empress of his heart. 
 After the duty's work was over, he, with his partner, 
 would visit the Indian camp, and u swap stories " 
 with the braves. Several days passed, and Frank 
 began to observe that Wi-ne-ma manifested unusual 
 interest in the talks. Often, too, he caught her dark 
 eyes gazing at him through the long lashes. No 
 words were spoken, but each seemed to know what 
 the other was thinking. Who has not had the same 
 experience? Curious, that the language of love can 
 be understood though never a vocal word be spoken. 
 When Se-cot broke camp and went away, Frank 
 felt, as he termed it, " a goneness in his heart," but 
 he had not thought for a moment of putting from 
 his memory the fair-haired girl. Wi-ne-ma carried 
 with her the image of Frank Riddle photographed on 
 her heart. 
 
 It is told of Frank, by his mining partner, that 
 he proposed to knock off work earlier than usual 
 that day, and that he strolled out alone, with a small 
 parcel in his hand, containing the letters of his Ken 
 tucky sweetheart ; that on his return to the cabin he 
 declared that K the Modoc maiden should not make 
 him forget his girl ! " Be careful, Mr. Eiddle, you 
 don't know what the morrow may bring for you. At 
 the Indian lodge a young girl of about fifteen was 
 humming a low tune in the Modoc tongue. It is the 
 same voice we heard near the camp of the Te-ni-noes 
 two years since. The morning came, but no Wi-ne-ma 
 was at her father's camp. Supposing that she had 
 gone for the horses, her father felt no alarm, until an 
 2 
 
26 AMBITION AND L VE. 
 
 hour later, when it was discovered that lier personal 
 effects were missing. Even then he did not suspect 
 the truth, but thinking she had only gone to some of 
 her kindred, she would return. 
 
 She had indeed gone to her cousin's house. This 
 cousin had married a white man. Wi-ne-ma told 
 her of her love for the young man in the cabin. 
 The cousin informed her husband, and he, wishing 
 to have congenial neighbors, went to Frank, and in 
 formed him of the presence of the maiden at his 
 house, and of her attachment for him. Frank shook 
 his head. He had fortified himself against the 
 charms of the Indian maiden, as he thought, but 
 consented to visit her. Ah ! my man, have you not 
 learned that when the first step is taken the next fol 
 lows easily, and then another ? 
 
 Frank gave some attention to his dress, putting on 
 the " biled shirt " which had been kept for " extra 
 occasions," saying that he would " go just for the fun 
 of the tiling." Ah ! my boy, many a man has started 
 in fun, and come out in earnest. The face of the 
 fair-haired girl went with him, reproaching him- for 
 his folly, upbraiding him at every step, and he was 
 half inclined to turn back, but his companion en 
 couraged him to go on, saying that if he "didn't like 
 the girl he needn't take her, that's all." When they 
 arrived at his friend's cabin he found Wi-ne-ma dressed 
 in the highest style of the Modoc maidens. He felt 
 ashamed of having come, as the memory of his Ken 
 tucky betrothed rose before his mind. 
 
 The evening hours glided by, the strangeness wore 
 off, and by the aid of an interpreter the conversation 
 
AMBITION AND L VE. 27 
 
 became interesting. Wi-ne-ma sang love-songs in the 
 Modoc tongue. Frank told stories of civilized life. 
 When the parting came Frank was more than half in 
 love with the little Wi-ne-ma, and she altogether so 
 with him. The visit was repeated, and soon Frank 
 learned enough of the language to understand what 
 Wi-ne-ma meant when she sang "Ka-mis-no-stin-to" 
 (a Modoc love-song). He trembled when he remem 
 bered his betrothed. He faltered ; he hesitated. 
 What had been only a possibility at the beginning, 
 became a probability. Driven on by his growing 
 love for the Indian maiden, he at length proposed to 
 her, and she accepted, on condition that he would, in 
 conformity with the usages of her people, give her 
 father a present. Among the Modocs. it is thought to 
 be a disgrace for a woman to live with a man who 
 does not think enough of her to give presents other 
 people. Frank assented, and in the presence of her 
 cousin and her husband the compact was made, and 
 they were married, after the forms of the Modoc 
 Indians. Wi-ne-ma collected her personal effects, and 
 went home with Frank Hiddle, his wife. 
 
 The miners cabin began to change its appearance. 
 Under Frank's tuition, and through the occasional 
 visits to her cousin and the few white women who 
 had come with their husbands to this mountain wild, 
 Wi-ne-ma soon put away her squaw dress and habits. 
 She learned to cook according to the model she had 
 before her, and was not long in attaining to the dis 
 tinguished title of " a first-rate housekeeper." 
 
 When the dry season had come, Frank and Wi-ne- 
 nia visited her people. Se-cot had been dissatisfied 
 
28 AMBITION AND L VJE. 
 
 at the marriage, and was not appeased by the half- 
 dozen horses Frank had sent him as a marriage 
 present: but when he found Frank to be a good shot, 
 apt at story-telling, and strictly temperate, he mani 
 fested his approbation of the marriage by returning 
 the horses and adding to the band from his own herd. 
 
 As the summer months wore away, Frank won not 
 only on the heart of the father of Wi-ne-ma, but of 
 the whole tribe. He went with them on fishing and 
 hunting excursions, and, being a brave man in times 
 of danger, and a splendid shot, with either pistol or 
 rifle, he soon took rank as a brave. It was during 
 this visit that one of those stranger than fiction affairs 
 transpired. 
 
 U-le-ta had felt grieved at the loss of Wi-ne-ma, 
 and gave signs of aberration of mind, which disap 
 pointed love so often produces in life, for the Indian 
 is human, witli all of humanity's attributes and weak 
 nesses. He had not, however, manifested his insanity 
 to such an extent that his people should keep watch 
 of him ; he was permitted to go upon the hunting 
 and fishing journeys. He was observed to be alone 
 much of his time, and seemed especially depressed in 
 the presence of Frank arid Wi-ne-ma. Nothing passed 
 before the eyes of the tribe to create suspicion that 
 lie meditated harm to either Wi-ne-ma or Frank ; 
 but Wi-ne-ma for some reason suspected him, and 
 when the band w^ent into the Cascade Mountains on 
 the annual bear-hunt, at huckleberry time, he was 
 of the party, as were Frank and Wi-ne-ma. 
 
 They had been in the mountains several days, and 
 U-le-ta had not shown a spirit of dislike, but never 
 theless Wi-nc-ma kept her eyes on him, lest he should 
 
AMBITION AND L YE. 29 
 
 injure her husband. She discovered that he would 
 wait in camp until Frank had left for the day's hunt, 
 and then start in an opposite direction. This was to 
 her sufficient reason for following him, which she did 
 on one occasion, and found, as she suspected, that he 
 changed his course to that taken by Frank. As he 
 crept slyly along the trail of the White hunter, "VYi- 
 ne-ma followed him, and discovered that he was more 
 intent on striking her husband's trail than to raise the 
 grizzly bear. Late in the day the report of a rifle 
 was heard in the distance. U-le-ta quickened his 
 steps and "Wi-nc-ma kept on his trail. Suddenly she 
 stopped, and raising her gun for she is a good shot 
 fired apparently at some object. It was not at a 
 deer or bear, nor at her old lover, but simply to 
 give him knowledge of her presence. He turned at 
 the sound of the rifle, and hastened away in another 
 direction. He had been detected in the act of draw 
 ing his gun upon Frank Riddle. He left the camp, 
 returning to the village at Link River. Here he 
 wandered about several days, and at last threw him 
 self from a canoe at the outlet of the lake, and was 
 drowned. His body was afterwards found on the 
 shores of Lower Klaniath Lake. 
 
 Another circumstance occurred during this hunt 
 that demonstrated the courage and sagacity of this 
 remarkable woman. Her husband being ambitious to 
 excel in hunting, was reckless in his encounters with 
 the grizzly. lie raised a young cub, and thinking to 
 capture it, dropped his rifle and ran after it. The cub 
 made good his escape by climbing a tree. Frank, 
 unwilling to be outwitted, began throwing stones. 
 
30 AMBITION AND L VE. 
 
 Very soon the cub raised the cry, much to Frank's 
 encouragement. He plied the rocks; the cub cried 
 again. Frank had thrown with go'od aim, and had 
 evidently wounded the cub, who gave signs of letting 
 go the limb. Just at this moment his fun was inter 
 rupted by a sound which put life into his limbs, such 
 as he had not felt since his boyhood. " Wah, wah," 
 came to him from the breaking bushes. He knew 
 well what it meant, and lost no time in putting in his 
 very best Kentucky jumps down the mountain side. 
 He turned his eye to see an old she-bear, as she came 
 tearing after him. Away went Frank, and on came 
 the she-bear. As he now describes the race, " it was 
 nip and tuck 'twixt me and the bear," with the latter 
 closing np the space at a fearful rate, considering the 
 stakes they were running for. Every muscle was 
 doing duty in the man, while Mrs. Bear was paying 
 out muscle in quantity extremely unhealthy to the 
 hunter. Frank shouted with every jump ; the bear 
 "wah, wah "ed at every bound. Frank thought his 
 " time had come," and was almost in despair of ever 
 seeing his brown-skinned wife again, when suddenly, 
 as if she had dropped from the clouds, she sprang be 
 tween the racers, and spreading her skirts, shouted in 
 Modoc so loudly that the mother-bear suddenly halted, 
 and turned about, making way to her cub. The 
 breathless Frank crept cautiously to where he had 
 dropped his gun, covered each step by the little rifle 
 in Wi-ne-ma's hands. When they were in camp 
 again she read him a short chapter from her Modoc 
 vocabulary which he will not soon forget. It is said 
 on good authority that a bear never attacks a woman. 
 
CHAPTER Y. 
 
 PEACE-MAKING SUCCESSFUL. 
 
 VTI-NE-MA AMONG THE ENEMIES TREATY BETWEEN HOSTILE TRIBES TREATY 
 
 OK MODOCS WITH THE GOVERNMENT HER INFLUENCE IN THE COUNCIL 
 
 BREACH OF PROMISE OF GOVERNMENT-AGENTS WI-NE-MA ON THE WAR 
 PATH SHE COMMANDS A BATTLE A CITY DANDY IN WI-NE-MA*S CAB1JS 
 
 KEEPING HOTEL ARGUING THE CASK WITH A YANKEE. 
 
 At the time of Wi-ne-ma's marriage to Mr. Riddle, 
 the several tribes in the southern portion of Oregon 
 were at war. Many bloody battles were fought within 
 the lines of the white settlement ; wherever and when 
 ever the members of hostile tribes met a fight ensued. 
 "Wi-ne-ma, in the meantime, taking up her residence 
 near Yreka California. This being the only town of 
 importance in that portion of the country, the Indians 
 round about came to trade, and enemies met and 
 fought sometimes in the streets. "Wi-ne-rna became 
 the mediator between the several tribes, and also, 
 between her own race and the white man. Through 
 her management the Indians of several of these light 
 ing bands were induced to meet in a treaty council at 
 Yreka. Judge Steele came to the council, representing 
 the white men, and joined "Win-e-ma and Frank in 
 their labor of peace-making. The effort was successful 
 
 31 
 
32 PEACE-MAKING SUCCESSFUL. 
 
 and peace was declared, a peace that lias continued, 
 in so far as the Indians were concerned, among and 
 between, themselves to this day. Numerous instances 
 might be related of "YVi-ne-ma's timely intervention 
 between the races, whereby bloodshed was averted. 
 Suffice it, that she was universally known as " the 
 woman-chief," who could make peace, and who always 
 calmed the threatening tempest arising from contact of 
 races. None knew her but to respect her. Not a word 
 has ever been uttered against her veracity or good 
 character, save the incredulity of Gen. Canby and 
 Dr. Thomas during the existence of the Modoc Peace 
 Commission in refusing to heed her warning as to 
 the danger of meeting her kinsmen in the Lava-bed. 
 In the Klamath council of 1865, she again demon 
 strate her power for good by securing the attendance 
 of Captain Jack, who had refused to come at the invi 
 tation of the government. In this council it was 
 agreed by all parties, that both Schonchin and Captain 
 Jack should be recognized as chiefs. This compact 
 was broken by the agent of the government, and Cap 
 tain Jack justified himself in leaving the reservation. 
 
 Shortly after the withdrawal of her cousin Captain 
 Jack from the reservation, "Wi-ne-ina visited him at 
 his home on Lost River. She besought him to return 
 to the reservation, and obtained his consent on 
 certain conditions. Wi-ne-ma was unable to secure 
 the performance of the conditions, and Captain Jack 
 did not go back at that time. 
 
 The Pitt River Indians occupy the country south 
 of the Modocs. The two tribes have long been ene 
 mies. The Pitt Rivers were not parties to the treaty 
 at Yreka. Raids from either side were common. The 
 
PEACE-MAKING SUCCESSFUL. 33 
 
 Klajnatlis and Modocs being at peace joined against 
 the Pitt River. The latter made a successful raid 
 into the Modoc country, driving away a large number 
 of horses belonging to the allied tribes. "V\ T i-ne-ma 
 being on a visit to her people shared the loss. Frank 
 had given her a very line saddle-horse. This horse 
 was among those stolen by the Pitt Rivers. The pur 
 suit was organized, and with it, went our heroine, 
 determined to save her horse. The captors were over 
 taken and found to be in strong force : an engagement 
 ensued, and the pursuers were driven back ; "VVi-ne-ma 
 assumed command. Another fight ensued. The day 
 was doubtful. The woman-chief encouraged her 
 braves. They had not consented for her to take the 
 advance. Enraged at the loss of some of her fighting 
 men, she made a charge at the head of her braves 
 with such audacity and skill, that the Pitt Rivers, 
 accustomed to light in individual style, each man for 
 himself, were taken by surprise and completely routed, 
 leaving three dead warriors and the stolen horses in 
 the possession of the Modocs. Wi-ne-ma refused to 
 allow the dead Indians to be scalped or mutilated. Sat 
 isfied with he recovery of the horses and the victory 
 over her enemies, she saddled her recaptured horse 
 and bade her people follow, led the way to Lost River. 
 Some of the Modoc braves who were of this party 
 declare that the woman-chief can whip any man-chief. 
 Those who have seen her only when in repose can 
 not form an idea of her wonderful courage and daring 
 spirit. Few men, or women, of any race or tribe, 
 have exhibited such examples of personal courage and 
 sagacity as Wi-ne-ma. 
 2* 
 
34: PEACE-MAKING SUCCESSFUL. 
 
 There is a man named Eliott, living at Yreka, who 
 does not hesitate to declare that to Wi-ne-ma he owes 
 his life. He was engaged in combat with a Shasta 
 Indian, when the squaw of the latter came to the 
 assistance of "her man,"with a drawn revolver. Wi 
 ne-ma, taking in the danger, sprang forward, wrenched 
 the pistol from the hands of the infuriated squaw, 
 fired it in the air above her head, then, holding her 
 arms, compelled her to observe neutrality. The fight 
 ended and no great harm was done. "Wi-ne-ma brought 
 the parties together, made terms of peace, and the 
 combatants became personal friends. 
 
 In the autumn of 1807, Wi-ne-ma and Frank took 
 up a ranch a few miles distant from Yreka. Their 
 home became the stopping place for stock-hunters, 
 Indians, and an occasional wayfarers. Frank being 
 an old-fashioned Kentuckian, always hnng the "latch- 
 string outside," and gave welcome to everybody. 
 He was never known to accept pay for meals or horse- 
 feed, except upon one occasion. 
 
 One rainy evening in February 1868, just as dark 
 ness set in, a voice shouted "hallo ! " Frank went to 
 the door and found a pompous-looking man sitting on 
 his horse. The stranger asked for lodging; it was 
 granted, and his horse was put in the barn, a pine-wood 
 fire lighted up the cabin, and Wi-ne-ma prepared 
 supper. The stranger was evidently a merchant 
 "runner" and like nearly all small-minded men made 
 great display by calling for extra sauces, napkins, and 
 such things as he knew were not in use among fron 
 tier people. 
 
 Wi-ne-ma was vexed, Frank bit his lips, and said but 
 
PEACE-MAKING SUCCESSFUL. 35 
 
 little. The stranger brought out some fine cigars, 
 and after lighting one for himself, began to talk 
 glibly on the cost, saying such cigars could not be 
 bought in San Francisco short of twenty cents each by 
 the thousand. He acted as though he was about the 
 only man worthy to be heard on that occasion. He 
 descanted loudly on the old times in the South ; had 
 much to say about abolitionism, miscegenation, pure 
 blood, and other idle talk, taking pains to say "all 
 good Indians were four foot under ground," talked 
 of the squaw-men, &c. When "Wi-ne-ma had pre 
 pared a bed for him with snow-white sheets, he threw 
 himself upon it, without undressing, taking pains to 
 exhibit a pistol, which he placed under the pillow. 
 
 The breakfast over, the following morning, he or 
 dered his horse, as though he had been a lord, and 
 lighting another fine Havana without offering one to 
 his host, he waited for his horse. With the cigar 
 elevated at an angle, he pompously asked for his bill, 
 and was brought to his senses when Frank quietly 
 informed him that he did not run a hotel generally, 
 but had begun about twelve hours since, and as the 
 stranger was his first patron he would only charge him 
 twelve dollars; saying " I should charge you nothing, 
 but you talk so rich, and smoke such fine cigars you had 
 ought to pay according to your big talk." The stran 
 ger began to demur, but before he had succeeded in 
 drawing his little pocket "popgun," Frank had cov 
 ered him completely with a " navy," and the pompous 
 fellow paid the bill , Frank meantime reading him a 
 short chapter upon miscegenation that was new to 
 him. Before mounting, Frank handed him the twelve 
 
36 PEACE-MAKING SUCCESSFUL. 
 
 dollars, saying he had hoped that he would refuse to 
 pay the bill, so he could have a good excuse for 
 thrashing him and teaching him common sense and 
 decency. 
 
 Soon after Frank met with an accident which dis 
 abled him for several months. The farm comprised 
 thirty acres of arable land. The rainy season began ; 
 Frank was unable to plow. Wi-ne-ma, being physic 
 ally robust, plowed the ground, sowed the barley, and 
 with little assistance harvested the crop, hauled it to 
 market, sold it, and saved the money It was during 
 this time that Wi-ne-ma demonstrated her ability to 
 defend her husband's honor. A Yankee who had not 
 " acclimated " well but had retained his native habit of 
 " arguing" things, came to Riddle's one day, and after 
 some talk about a stray horse, intimated that Mr. 
 Riddle had behaved unmanly in the matter. Wi-ne- 
 ina taking in the situation, pitched into Mr. Yank, and 
 before he knew it, his head was bleeding profusely 
 and a strong hand was grasping his throat. He 
 fought back as best he could, but the poor little Yank 
 was in the hands of an enraged Modoc woman, who 
 was pelting him in the face, saying between her licks, 
 " I'll learn you how you talk about my man." He 
 begged for mercy, and Frank persuaded Wi-ne-ma to 
 desist. "Wi-ne-ma brought a basin of water and bathed 
 the battered face of Yank while she preached a short 
 sermon on slandering his neighbors, finally asking him 
 to stay for dinner, which invitation Yank accepted, 
 and the whole matter was amicably adjusted by him 
 receiving the assurance that the story of his whipping 
 should not be told of him. When he met his friends 
 
PEACE-MAKING SUCCESSFUL. 37 
 
 he claimed to have been dragged by his horse through 
 the sage-brush for half a mile, and his face and clothing 
 supported the lie. That man is now one of the best 
 friends Wi-ne-ma and Frank have on the Pacific 
 Coast. 
 
 The regular visits to her father's people continued, 
 and thus Wi-ne-ma became a teacher and missionary 
 to her own race, giving them much valuable informa 
 tion about the civilization of the white man. From 
 one who was present I learned something of her efforts 
 to bring the Indian up to a full realization of the 
 necessity for adopting the white man's laws arid cus 
 toms. Said my informant, " In the evening you would 
 see the women and men gather around Wi-ne-ma while 
 she told them of the wonderful things she had seen 
 among the white people, of their manners and social 
 customs ; of the laws and rules of life ; of their way 
 of making law ; making machinery, its uses, &c. For 
 hours they would listen while she talked, and to her, 
 much of the advancement of the Indians at Klamath 
 and Yai-nax may be attributed." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 
 
 FIRST MEETING OF THE AUTHOR WITH WI-NE-MA IN CAPTAIN JACK.' 3 
 CAMP SHE SPRINGS TO THE FRONT IN THE NICK OF TIME ALMOST 
 A TRAGEDY SUCCESS OWING TO HER WISDOM HER ADVICE TO 
 CAPTAIN JACK. 
 
 IT was intensely cold, and the wind blew almost a 
 gale, filling the air with dust and snow. Qurcamp 
 was out on an open plain near the mouth of Lost 
 River. The Modoc Chief had ordered his people to 
 erect a council tent, and supply it with sage-brush fuel. 
 My party numbered eleven persons, three of whom 
 were Klamath Indians. We were there to secure the 
 restoration of Captain Jack's band of Modocs to tho 
 Klamath reservation. He had refused to join in 
 council without Wi-ne-ma and her husband. "We 
 waited patiently until nearly mid-day. Finally the 
 woman-chief was announced, and looking out from, 
 the council tent I saw for the first time this noble- 
 hearted Indian woman. 
 
 Those who have read the " Wigwam and "War 
 path," will remember that the Modoc Chief had either 
 eluded, or defied those who sought to return him to 
 the Klamath reservation, upon three several occasions. 
 
 38 
 
THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. . 39 
 
 He had been encouraged in his refusal to return, by 
 some white men who believed he had been outraged 
 in the treaty of 1865. This council was one of pecu 
 liar character. It required a great amount of wisdom 
 to hold the elements in subjection while the discus 
 sion was had. Wi-ne-ma calmly took a place beside 
 Captain Jack, and rendered the English into Modoc. 
 After considerable diplomatic skirmishing, the main 
 question was reached. The Modoc Chief thinking he 
 had made his case irresistibly strong, and that the 
 original treaty paper could not be produced, said that 
 if I could show him where he had made his mark at 
 the treaty he would go with me. To his surprise I 
 drew from my coat pocket the identical paper. He 
 began to deny the paper, but was assured by one of 
 his friends that it was the same. He then said " All 
 light." provided he could have Modoc Point on 
 the Klamath reservation for his home. I made the 
 promise, and my party feeling that we had won this 
 rebellious chief, began to exhibit signs of rejoicing. 
 Captain Jack really meant to do as he promised, but 
 the demonstration of triumph made by my party was 
 offensive to Modoc pride, especially to the medicine 
 man, who suddenly arose, saving as he did so, a few 
 words in Modoc, which brought every brave to his 
 feet. Instantly every one of them drew pistols. It 
 need not be said that my party also quickly assumed 
 the attitude which sudden danger suggests. While 
 the air was musical with the click of steel springs, 
 Wi-ne-ma sprang between the two parties, and, with 
 the presence of mind, almost superhuman, she shouted 
 " Wait, wait, until I talk ! Don't shoot. Hear me." 
 
40 THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 
 
 Then walking back and forth between the two lines 
 of drawn revolvers, putting her hands on them on 
 either side, she counselled her kinsman not to shoot, 
 begged the white man to be patient, that her cousin's 
 heart was good, that there was a misunderstanding; 
 saying to the Modocs, " If you begin now it is the last 
 of the Modocs," and to my party " You will all be 
 killed.' 7 Then with the air of a commander, born to 
 rule, she waved her hand while she talked with an 
 eloquence which only great occasions call out. She 
 held both parties enthralled by her speech. The 
 uplifted pistols slowly went down on both sides, and 
 without either seemingly yielding, the revolvers were 
 replaced in their scabbards, and the entire council was 
 discussing the main question again. The result of 
 which deliberation was, that, the Modoc Chief and all 
 his people finally went back to the Klamath reservation. 
 It requires no prophetic power to see what would 
 have been the scene on this occasion, but for the 
 presence of this woman, who seems to have been 
 created for such a one, and peculiarly qualified to 
 enact such feats as few can perform. At that time 
 the Modocs numbered about seventy warriors. True, 
 they were then poorly armed with pistols, many of 
 them having bows and arrows, but to a frontiersman, 
 these are the least desirable arms to be in the hands 
 of Indians in times of trouble. My party were all 
 armed with the best navy revolvers, and eveiy man 
 was a man, and it is not probable that the Modocs 
 would have escaped unscathed, nor would we have 
 survived the struggle. The Modoc War would have 
 been anticipated, and probably the name of Captain 
 
THE EM A NCIPA TION PROCLA MA TWN. 4-1 
 
 Jack would have been lost in this fight, had not 
 Wi-ne-ma come to the rescue at that opportune 
 moment. 
 
 The Modocs were placed upon Klamath under 
 favorable circumstances, and would have remained 
 permanently, had the acting-agent kept the faith of 
 the government, by protecting them from the taunts 
 and threats of the other Indians of the reservation, 
 who constantly badgered Captain Jack and his people. 
 When he left the second time and returned to Lost 
 River, Wi-ne-ma prevented the remainder of the 
 Modoc Tribe from joining him. She sought to 
 reconcile her cousin to the new agent, and did for 
 several months defer the final war. Had her advice 
 been regarded, the Modoc War would not have been. 
 
 Early in the year 1STO, as Superintendent of Indian 
 Affairs for Oregon, under the authority of the inter 
 course laws of the United States, I issued a proclama 
 tion of emancipation for all Indian slaves, and also 
 notified white men who w^ere living with Indian 
 women, out of legal marriage, of my determination 
 to prosecute all such persons, taking the unpopular 
 position, that any man, of any race, who would live 
 with a woman without marriage, ought to be com 
 pelled to make such woman a legal wife, and giving 
 the white men who lived with Indian women the 
 alternative of making them wives, or of being prose 
 cuted for violation of the intercourse law. Wi-ne-ma 
 believing herself to be really married, as indeed she 
 w r as under the usages of her people, was unceasing in 
 her efforts for the fulfilment of the law, and rested 
 not until the white men holding Indian women in 
 
4:2 THE EMANCIPA TWN PROCLAMATION. 
 
 bondage had married them. To my efforts in this 
 matter may be accredited Wi-ne-ma's friendship for 
 me, and her heroic services in the Lava-beds in my 
 behalf. 
 
 When the news reached Wi-ne-ma that Major Jack 
 son had attacked Captain Jack, in an instant she was 
 flying over the hills towards her father's camp, fifty 
 miles distant. She knew that her father's family 
 were not in sympathy with the rebels whom the 
 government was compelling to return to the res 
 ervation, and she also knew that if the white men 
 found them oft' of the reservation no questions would 
 be asked about " passes." She reached the camp a 
 little after daylight the next morning, and hurried 
 her kindred to the agency at Yai-nax. She was none 
 too soon. Already had the scouts been on the trail, 
 and already had Modocs from the rebel camp sought 
 to enlist this band in the war. Had they succeeded 
 it is probable that instead of one thousand men fight 
 ing fifty-three for ninety days, that ten thousand 
 W T hite men would have found entertainment in the 
 Lava-beds for a much longer period. Had the In 
 dians at Yai-nax become involved in the war, others 
 would have joined them, and a regular Indian war 
 would have been inaugurated, costing thousands of 
 lives and millions of dollars in money. That they 
 did not join the rebels was owing more to the sagacity 
 of Wi-ne-ma and Capt. O. C. Applegate, than because 
 the Indians did not have as they thought sufficient 
 cause of complaint. 
 
CHAPTER YII. 
 
 THE FLAG OF TRUCE. 
 
 WI-NE-MA AS A PEACE-MAKER THE FLAG OF TRUCE ORGANIZA 
 TION OF THE PEACE-COMMISSION WINE MA AT FAIRCHILD's 
 HER MISSION TO HER COUSIN NARROW ESCAPE SUCCESSFUL IN 
 MAKING THE ARMISTICE HER UNDERSTANDING OF THE TERMS 
 THE CAPTURED HORSES THE PET.TION REFUSED THE BROKEN 
 PLEDGE OF GOVERNMENT THE AUTHOR AND THE WARRIOR-CHIEF 
 TRUTH THRUST DEFIANTLY IN THE FACE OF THE PEACE-COMMIS 
 SIONER INDIAN WIT MIXED WITH SARCASM THE NEW LAW 
 WHEN WAS IT MADE. 
 
 THE government determined to save the further 
 effusion of blood, and sent out a Commission to the 
 refractory Modocs. My personal acquaintance with 
 the Modoc Indians, together with the successful man 
 agement of the Indians of Oregon as Superintendent 
 of Indian Affairs, pointed me out as the man to adjust 
 the difficulties. After several refusals to accept this 
 office, 1 was commissioned by letter of instructions, 
 as Chairman of the Commission. I was instructed to 
 co-operate with General Cariby, and in no event to 
 interfere with the movement of the troops. A glance 
 at this single proposition tells the whole story of the 
 failure. 
 
 Communication was established between the com 
 mission and the Modoc camp and an arrangement 
 
 43 
 
44 THE FLAG OF TRUCE. 
 
 made and entered into, by and between the government 
 on the first part, and the Modocs on the second part, to 
 the effect that no hostile movements were to be made 
 by either of the parties to this compact during the 
 existence of the armistice. The army was in two 
 divisions, one at Fairchild's Ranch twenty-five miles 
 north, and the other, being at Louie Land's Ranch, 
 twenty miles south of the Modoc camp in the 
 Lava-beds. 
 
 Having personal knowledge of Wi-ne-ma and her 
 husband, and remembering the very efficient services 
 rendered in 1869, 1 sent for them and employed them 
 as messengers and interpreters on the part of the 
 government. While peace negotiations were going 
 on, and before the time fixed for the surrender, 
 a squad of soldiers under command of Major Biddle, 
 captured the only band of horses belonging to the 
 Modocs. When this breach of the peace was made 
 known, Wi-ne-ma declared that they would keep no 
 compact after that. 
 
 The chief of the rebels sent his wife and sister to 
 General Canby, requesting the restoration of the 
 captured horses. Wi-ne-ma joined them, as did the 
 writer, in this petition. General Canby refused, and 
 the Modoc women were driven back to the rocks on 
 foot. 
 
 On the morning of the 30th of March, the army 
 was astir very early, and Wi-ne-rna being for the first 
 time informed of the purpose of moving the army 
 nearer the Modoc camp, ventured the prediction that 
 "No peace could be made if this were done." On 
 the first day of April the two divisions cauie up from 
 
THE FLAG OF TRUCE. 45 
 
 opposite sides and took positions within two miles of 
 the Modocs. 
 
 The day following the location of these armies 
 within gunshot of the Modoc camp, the chief was 
 invited to a council, or peace-talk by General Canby, 
 who had been ordered by the government, to assume 
 control of the peace negotiations. Wi-ne-ma waa 
 dispatched to the Modoc camp to make the arrange 
 ments for the meeting. She was taunted by her 
 cousin with the several breaches of the compact for 
 peace negotiations. 
 
 On the following day General Canby accompanied 
 by General Gillam, Dr. Thomas, L. S. Dyar and the 
 writer, as Chairman of the Commissson met the chief. 
 The Modocs came armed and were disposed to be quar 
 relsome. Wi-ne-ma discovered evil intentions on the 
 part of some of the men present, and satisfied that 
 treachery was contemplated, she sat down between Gen 
 eral Canby and Dr. Thomas and refused to leave them. 
 I have not the slightest doubt that but for her presence 
 our party would have been attacked and slain. On 
 their turn to General Canby's tent, Wi-ne-ma informed 
 the General and the Commission of their narrow escape. 
 General Canby did not believe it, saying: "The 
 Modocs dare not do such a thing, and that Wi-ne-ma 
 was only frightened." 
 
 A few days after this meeting, Captain Jack sent 
 a messenger, asking an interview with me alone. I 
 accepted the invitation, and with Wi-ne-ma, Frank, 
 and John A. Fairchild, I met the chief and a number 
 of his men at the council tent, midway between the 
 camps, and spent several hours with him discussing 
 
46 TIIF FLAG OF TRUCK 
 
 the situation. lie recounted the failure of the gov 
 ernment to recognize him in 1865, then again the 
 neglect to fulfil promises of protection in 1870, the 
 refusal to allow him to become a citizen on equal terms 
 with other races. The treacherous attack, as he 
 termed, it of Major Jackson on Lost Iliver, the preced 
 ing November; his willingness to surrender when 
 assured of fair and impartial trial by a jury of good 
 men, his anxiety to make terms of peace whenever 
 his captured horses were returned, and the army was 
 withdrawn to its original position. 
 
 I sought to induce him to surrender to General 
 Canby, under a flag of truce. In reply, he pointed to 
 the scene of Ben Wright's massacre, of forty Modocs 
 under a flag of trnceywhich occurred within sight of the 
 spot where we sat.- When I assured him that General 
 Canby was a different kind of man, he answered me 
 with the query, why did he not return his horses, and 
 why he broke the compact by bringing so many men 
 with canons to make peace. lie was willing to trust 
 General Canby, but he could not induce his men to 
 surrender while the army was looking on. During 
 this council, the chief repeatedly asserted his friend 
 ship for me, and the faith he had in me personally, 
 but that I could not keep u the words" because my 
 people were all opposed to him, and looked with 
 contempt upon him on account of his color. Long as 
 I have memory, I shall remember his last appeal to 
 me, to give him the Lava-beds for a home, saying that 
 if any other place was given him the white men would 
 want it some time, but the Lava-beds they would never 
 want. There was something BO sad in his face while 
 
THE FLAG OF TRUCK. 47 
 
 he turned and swept the rocks with his hand as he 
 made the appeal. 
 
 It was more than an imaginary scene, this man 
 driven before a powerful civilization to a wild jumble 
 of rocks, where not one acre of cultivated soil could be 
 found within its limits, asking for a home where only 
 wild birds flew above, and vile reptiles in countless 
 multitudes crept beneath, where neither wood nor grass 
 had footing, where desolation seemed to have gathered 
 like a great avenger to despoil it of every resource for 
 man or beast, save only, the living swarms of fish 
 which peopled the lake beside it. 
 
 I could not under the instruction I had received, 
 give him the Lava-beds. The council ended with 
 pleasant words, so far as personal friendship was 
 concerned, and with "Wi-ne-ma and Frank, and Mr. 
 Fail-child, I returned to General Canby's camp and 
 reported in full the result of the conference. Wi-ne- 
 ma again asserted, as we returned, that no peace 
 could be made as long as the soldiers were so near. 
 General Can by and Dr. Thomas were much impressed 
 with the report of the council, and it was resolved to 
 make another effort to save Captain Jack. Wi-ne-ma 
 was dispatched with the proposition to the Modoc 
 Chief to come out with such of his people as were 
 willing, under promise of protection by the army, and 
 an amnesty to all who would accept the offer. She 
 went on this mission without hope, because as she 
 asserted " no one dares to leave the Modoc camp." 
 Nevertheless, ghe went aga*in to her cousin with the 
 offer. He received her kindly but refused to entertain 
 any proposition not made to the whole band. 
 
4:8 TUB FLAG OF TRUCE. 
 
 "Wi-ne-ma sorrowfully left the Modoc Camp expect 
 ing that she would see her cousin no more, as she 
 had intimations of an attack being made by the army 
 very soon if the offer was refused. She learned as 
 she left the Modoc Camp of the proposed treachery. 
 "When she arrived in our camp her eyes were swollen 
 and she was sobbing. 
 
 General Canby did not seem to be surprised, simply 
 saying, "They dare not do it." Mr. Dyar gave it 
 credit. Knowing both William and Wi-ne-ma, I 
 believed the warning and gave my opinion accord 
 ingly. Dr. Thomas discredited the warning. As he 
 said to me, he thought as General Canby did, that 
 reporters were anxious for sensational news, and per 
 haps Wi-ne-na and her husband were influenced in 
 this matter by outside parties, at least, he questioned 
 Bogus Charlie, who came soon after "Wi-ne-ma from 
 the Modoc Camp, as to the correctness of the report. 
 Bogus Charlie, in very excited tones, demanded to 
 know who had told it. The Doctor evaded, until 
 Bogus became urgent, and then, either through his 
 frankness or on account of tho threatening attitude 
 of Bogus, replied that Wi-ne-ma had told it. Bogus 
 went directly to Wi-ne-ma and demanded her authority. 
 She refused to give it, and Bogus in high temper stole 
 out of camp and went to the stronghold of his chief. 
 When he made known the fact that they had been 
 betrayed a scene ensued. A bitter quarrel arose and 
 high words followed. It was finally decided to send 
 for Wi-me-na. Boston Charlie was dispatched with 
 the demand for her to come forthwith to the " strong 
 hold." Boston came and made the demand. When 
 
THE FLAG OF TRUCE. 49 
 
 Wi-nc-ma learned that her cousin was accused of 
 betraying the Modocs, she said she would go, though 
 she felt she would never return. Dr. Thomas now 
 alive to the mistake he had made was doubtful about 
 her safety. General Canby thought it unsafe, but 
 interposed no objection; having great faith in Wi-ne- 
 ma's discretion and her courage, I gave my assent 
 because she wished to vindicate her integrity. Her 
 husband consented with the added declaration that if 
 she w r as harmed he would avenge her. 
 
 In all the records of heroic actions, that of Wi-ne-ma 
 going after the betrayal into the camp of the most 
 desperate men in the world, stands alone peerless, as 
 an act of heroism. I did not believe she would be 
 harmed, because I knew that Captain Jack and Scar- 
 Face Charlie were her personal friends. In proof of 
 my faith, I gave her my horse and overcoat. "Wi-ne-ma 
 when ready to start, clasped her little boy in her arms 
 and pressed him to her bosom with all the affection 
 of her strong nature. Imprinting a kiss upon his 
 lips she turned to mount her horse. The mother's 
 heart subdued the heroine, and she caught him again, 
 and again to her bosom. Finally rising above the 
 mother she again became the heroine, and with livid 
 face, she mounted her horse and bidding farewell to 
 her husband rode away. 
 
 When she reached the camp, the Modocs gathered 
 around her and demanded her authority for the story. 
 She evaded at first, but when a dozen pistols were 
 drawn upon her, she arose to the grand height of the 
 real Modoc, and smiting her breast she confessed she 
 had told it, and that Captain Jack did not tell her, 
 3 
 
50 T1IE FLAG OF TRUCE. 
 
 but that one of the members of the band did tell her. 
 Then, walking backwards until she stood upon a rock 
 above the angry mob, she clasped her right hand upon 
 her pistol, and the other on her heart she shouted 
 aloud, "I am a Modoc myself. I did tell it. But I 
 will not tell you who told me. Shoot me if you dare, 
 I'll never betray my informant." An Indian appre 
 ciates bravery, and despises cowardice. Wi-ne-ma 
 had won the admiration of her people, and instantly 
 a dozen pistols were drawn in her defence. Captain 
 Jack ordered half a dozen of his personal friends to 
 escort "Wi ne-ma out of the rocks, and she arrived in 
 safety at the tent of the Peace Commission, in the 
 camp of General Canby. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE FATAL COMPACT. 
 
 WARNING REPEATED STRATEGY FOILED EVIDENCE OP TREACHERY NO 
 MEKT1NG EXCEPT ON EVEN TERMS HOPE OF PEACE GONE TURNING- 
 POINT DR. THOMAS'S FAITH IN PRAYER RELIGIOUS STRATEGY OF THE 
 
 MODOCS THE COMPACT ENDING IN BLOOD THE UNAVAILING PROTEST 
 GREAT RELIGIOUS FAITH OF DR. THOMAS GENERAL CANBY UNDER 
 RATES MODOC COURAGE WI-NE-MA*S ANXIETY TO AVERT THE BLOODY 
 
 SCENE TRYING COURAGE Tl TOllte TO THE TRYSTING PLACE THE 
 
 MODOCS IN COUNCIL CAPTAIN JACK'S COURAGE ALLOTMENT OF BLOODY 
 WORK. 
 
 UPON "Wi-ne-ma's return she confirmed the warning 
 against meeting the Modocs unarmed. On the day 
 following, Boston Charley came to the camp of the 
 Peace Commission, and proposed a meeting to be held 
 at the council tent, declaring that the Modocs were 
 ready for peace, and that Captain Jack with four 
 unarmed men were waiting at the council-tent As 
 Chairman of the Commission I declined the meeting 
 on the terms proposed, but expressed readiness to meet 
 an even number all armed. 
 
 Half-way up the side of the bluff overlooking the 
 rocks, a signal and lookout-station had been estab 
 lished. While Boston w r as importuning for the meet 
 ing, a message was received from that station, saying 
 
 51 
 
52 THE FATAL COMPACT. 
 
 that there were five apparently unarmed Modocs at 
 the council, but that behind them in the rocks were 
 twenty men with rifles. The evidence of treachery 
 in this instance was so unmistakable that the entire 
 board was convinced. Boston departed, disappointed. 
 
 Foiled in this attempt, the Modocs who were in 
 favor of assassination held a secret council, and laid 
 plans to entrap the Commission, which were suc 
 cessful. The Peace Commissioners were almost in 
 despair, since no meeting could be had on honorable 
 and fair terms. 
 
 General Canby expressed himself satisfied that no 
 peace could be made with the Modocs, that was in 
 harmony with justice, and so telegraphed the authori 
 ties at Washington, also informing them that he had 
 the " army in position to compel surrender." Half 
 an hour's warning would, at any moment, hurl them 
 on to the stronghold. 
 
 General Canby determined to make no attack on 
 the Modocs until the arrival of Donald McKay with 
 his Warm Spring scouts. His reasons were no secret, 
 as he gave them in the councils of the Peace Commis 
 sion. They were, because he wished to save the 
 white soldiers, and he knew the Warm Springs scouts 
 were experienced warriors. 
 
 While waiting for reinforcements for the "thousand 
 men," and we were expecting orders from Washing 
 ton to withdraw as a Peace Commission, I left my post 
 for the first time since the armistice was agreed upon. 
 A short time after my departure Boston Charley 
 again appeared at the Peace Commission tent with a 
 proposition for a meeting. He was shrewd enough 
 
THE FATAL COMPACT. 53 
 
 to take advantage of my absence. Knowing that Dr. 
 Thomas was a " Sunday Doctor" (minister), Boston 
 surprised the good Doctor by informing him that 
 "God had come into the Modoc heart and put a new 
 lire into it ; " declaring that they were ashamed for 
 having attempted intrigue ; that they were ready to 
 surrender, and only wanted assurance of good faith. 
 Wi-ne-ma and her husband were acting as interpreters, 
 and could not give an adverse opinion in presence of 
 the Modoc messenger, though manifesting their dis 
 approbation as far as possible. The compact was 
 made in conformity with the proposition of Boston 
 Charley. 
 
 Upon my return, Dr. Thomas informed me of the 
 unwise compact. He was overflowing with religious 
 enthusiasm, declaring that the prayers of the peace- 
 loving people had been heard, and that " to-morrow 
 will witness the triumph of God." I did not believe 
 the Modocs meant peace, and so stated. The last 
 night of Dr. Thomas in the flesh was partly passed by 
 him in prayer, and the endeavor to reconcile me to 
 the meeting on the morrow. We were discussing the 
 meeting when Boston Charley came in next morning. 
 He came to assure himself that all was right for the 
 hellish purpose. 
 
 1 went to General Canby's marquee and sought to 
 dissuade him from his purpose. To my remonstrance 
 against the meeting he mentioned the blood it would 
 save both races, and while he had not sufficient faith 
 in the warning to satisfy his mind, he evidently had 
 a father's care for the soldiers under his command. 
 He pointed to the two bodies of armed soldiery, and 
 
54: THE FATAL COMPACT. 
 
 said, " The Modocs may be very brave and very des 
 perate, but they dare not break the peace with a 
 thousand men looking on." 
 
 The preparations for keeping the appointment were 
 being made, when Wi-ne-ma and her husband made a 
 last protest against the fulfilment of the unwise com 
 pact. Dr. Thomas was unwilling to abandon the 
 effort. Commissioner Dyar agreed with me that the 
 meeting should not take place. General Canby main 
 tained his views, and gave orders for a watch to be 
 kept at the signal-station ; then, giving some private 
 instructions to his secretary, he dressed in full uniform, 
 without arms, and called for Dr. Thomas. Together 
 they walked off, side by side, towards the peace tent, 
 one mile away. Having failed to dissuade them from 
 going, I had no honorable alternative but to follow. 
 Writing a hasty note to my family, at Salem, Oregon, 
 I prepared to go, and caught the halter of my horse, 
 intending to mount, when Wi-ne-rna, unable to sup 
 press her fears, snatched the halter, and winding it 
 round her waist, threw herself upon the ground, and 
 cried most earnestly, " Do not go. You will be kill. 
 The Modocs mad now. Meacham, you no go." Her 
 entreaty moved me, and I relaxed my grasp of the 
 halter, and calling to General Canby and Dr. Thomas, 
 went to them, and renewed my protest against going 
 unarmed. They were immovable. I then for the 
 first and only time in my life, made use of my frater 
 nal relations to induce them to assent to a promise on 
 my part, as Chairman of the Commission, to withdraw 
 the army, if we found satisfactory evidences of pre 
 meditated treachery. This proposition was emphati 
 cally rejected also. 
 
THE FATAL COMPACT. 55 
 
 Seeing no alternative, I returned to the Commis 
 sioners' tent, handed my valuables to Mr. Fairchilds, 
 and securing a promise from him that if my body 
 should be badly mutilated, it should be buried in the 
 rocks of the Lava-beds, and not sent to my family, I 
 sought again to mount my horse, when Wi-ne-ma 
 caught me by my coat, and endeavored to detain me. 
 
 Firmly refusing to remain in camp, I bade Wi-ne- 
 ma and her husband follow, and rode off to the 
 council tent in the Lava-beds, accompanied by Com 
 missioner Dyar. Wi-ne-ma parted with her hoy, and 
 with steady nerve mounted her horse and joined Mr. 
 Dyar and myself. Mr. Riddle hastily arranged his 
 business affairs, and also joined us on this danger- 
 fraught ride. 
 
 Turn for a moment to the Modoc camp, previous to 
 the murderers leaving for the bloody work. Captain 
 Jack had not yet given his assent to the treacherous 
 deed soon to be enacted. When preparations for 
 leaving camp were being made, he called the blood 
 thirsty savages around him, and sought to dissuade 
 them from the execution of the murderous purpose. 
 
 Hooker Jim (who still lives, a blot on humanity, at 
 Quaw r -Paw Agency) assisted by others, pushed the 
 chief down upon the rocks, and placing a woman's 
 hat upon his head, taunted him with cowardice. 
 
 In view of Captain Jack's record as a warrior no 
 one will ever say he was a coward, hut had he refused 
 to accede to the demands of the cut-throats, and they 
 had then and there enforced the threat of death, it 
 would have been better for himself, better for Gen 
 eral Canby, Dr. Thomas, and myself, better for his 
 
56 THE FATAL COMPACT. 
 
 race, better for the interests of justice, and to-day his 
 name would be enshrined as a martyr, instead of being 
 used as the watchword against his race. Whether he 
 lacked the courage to meet such a fate as presented 
 itself in the persons around him, or whether he deter 
 mined to drink one unholy draught from the goblet 
 of revenge, for insults and wrongs, may not be 
 known, but he threw the shawl to the ground which 
 they had put on him to humiliate him, and dash 
 ing the hat from his head, sealed the fate of himself 
 and General Canby at least. 
 
 The allotment of the bloody work was made, and 
 Old Schonchin was awarded the privilege of " killing 
 Meacham." To Boston Charley was accorded the 
 attack on Dr. Thomas. Black Jim was to have slain 
 Mr. Dyar, while Bancho was to attack Hid die. In the 
 event of General Gillum being at the council, Hooker 
 Jim was to make sure of his death. Other Indians 
 were dispatched with arms to the scene. Such I be 
 lieve to have been the arrangement, the opinion being 
 formed from investigations subsequently made. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 CARNIVAL OF BLOOD. 
 
 THE BETRAYAL DECLARED BY ARMED \VARRIORS CORDIAL GREETING 
 CAPTAIN JACK'S HESITATION THE DEMAND FOR THE REMOVAL OF THE 
 
 SOLDIERS DR. THOMAS'S LAST SERMON HESITATION OF THE MODOC CHIEF 
 
 KAU-TUX ALL READY GENERAL CANBY FALLS DR. THOMAS TAUNTED 
 
 DYAR'S ESCAPE RIDDLE'S FLIGHT COVERED BY SCAR-FACE CHARLEY 
 SCHONCHIN'S BATTLE-CRY MODOC YELL THE THUNDER-STORM WI-NE- 
 MA'S HEROISM LEFT- FOR DEAD ALMOST TOO LATE BOSTON CHARLEY 
 ATTEMPTS THE DIFFICULT OPERATION OF SCALPING A BALD-HEADED MAN 
 
 HIS FAILURE SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY OF WI-NE-MA. 
 
 GENERAL CANBY and Dr. Thomas were the first 
 of our party to arrive. They were greeted by the 
 Indians with extreme cordiality, General Canhy giv 
 ing to each a cigar. Instead of five unarmed men, 
 including Scar-Face Charley, as promised by Boston 
 Charley, in negotiating for the council, we found eight 
 well-armed desperadoes, including the notorious cut 
 throats, Hooker Jim and Black Jim. Captain Jack 
 seemed anxious and ill at ease, and did not exhibit 
 the friendship the others of his party pretended. 
 
 General Canby seemed calm and thoroughly self- 
 possessed. General Thomas did not appear to note 
 any suspicious circumstances, but was endeavoring to 
 impress the Indians with his good intentions. I made 
 3* 57 . 
 
58 CARNIVAL OF BLOOD. 
 
 my election to abide by the consequences. I knew 
 that the horse beneath me was one of the fleetest in 
 the Modoc country, and notwithstanding the rocky 
 trail, could carry me out of danger with a few bounds, 
 which he seemed more than willing to make at the 
 slightest invitation. I made up my mind that Canby 
 and Thomas should not be endangered by cowardly 
 flight on my part. 
 
 "Withdrawing from my overcoat and hanging it 
 upon the horn of the saddle, I dismounted, dropping 
 the rope halter to the ground, leaving my horse free 
 to escape. Mr. Dyar dismounted, leaving his horse 
 free. Mr. Kiddle secured Wi-ne-ma's horse, and we 
 all gathered round the council-fire. 
 
 Before the council talk began I sat down facing the 
 chief, and began the talk by referring to the proposi 
 tion made the day before by Boston Charley, and con 
 tinued by saying that we were ready to complete the 
 arrangement for peace. Captain Jack asked if we 
 were willing to remove the soldiers from the Lava- 
 beds, and give his people a home in the country/ I 
 felt that if his demand was met we could escape, and 
 although General Canby had refused to allow me to 
 make this promise, I thought that convinced as he 
 must be of intended treachery, he would feel justified 
 in assenting to the request. Cautiously turning to 
 him, I asked him to talk. After a moment's waiting 
 he rose, and stood erect. Every eye was upon him. 
 All seemed to feel that if he assented to the with 
 drawal of the army the trouble would be passed over. 
 Whether General Canby realized the situation with 
 all its fearful possibilities, and would not swerve even 
 
DOCTOR THOMAS. 
 
CARNIVAL OF BLOOD. 59 
 
 then from liis purpose; or if lie still thought the 
 Modocs had not the desperate courage to execute the 
 plan, can never be known. If he said the soldiers 
 should he removed, the phantom would pass as a 
 dream. If he said they should not be withdrawn, the 
 phantom must soon hecome a terrible reality. With 
 dignity that was peculiar to that brave soldier, he 
 firmly pronounced his own death sentence, as well as 
 that of Dr. Thomas, by saying that the "soldiers 
 could not be withdrawn" 
 
 Again and again the Modoc Chief repeated the 
 demand for the removal of the soldiers. General 
 Canby having once refused was mute. Turning to 
 Dr. Thomas, who was sitting at my left, I asked him 
 if he wished to talk. The Doctor dropped forward 
 on his knees, and made his last proclamation of peace. 
 He assured the Modocs that he was a friend to them ; 
 that God had sent us to them as messengers of peace. 
 
 The Modoc Chief leaned forward, and touching me 
 on the arm, he once more declared that no peace could 
 be made until the soldiers were taken away. I be 
 lieve that to this time Captain Jack had hoped it 
 wonld be granted, and thereby bloodshed avoided. 
 Schonchin sprang to the seat vacated by Captain 
 Jack, and in loud, angry tones repeated the ultima 
 tum. Wi-ne-ma had thrown herself on the ground in 
 front of Dr. Thomas, and was interpreting Schon- 
 chin's speech, at the moment when Captain Jack gave 
 the signal, " Kau-Tux " (all ready). Almost at the 
 same instant the Modoc yell broke from the rocks, 
 and two Modocs sprang forward, hearing rifles. 
 
 Captain Jack drew a pistol, and shot General 
 
60 GARNI VAL OF BL OD. 
 
 Can by, the ball striking him in the face. "Ellen's 
 man" joined him in the attack. General Canby did 
 not fall until he had run forty or fifty yards, when a 
 shot struck him in the back of the head. His assail 
 ants came upon him, and shooting him again, stripped 
 him of his clothing, turned his face downward, and 
 then left him. 
 
 Dr. Thomas received a shot from the hand of Bos 
 ton Charley. He sank slowly, catching by his right 
 hand. He was permitted to get upon his feet and 
 stagger away a few rods, his murderers taunting him 
 with not believing Wi-ne-ma, jeering him, and ridi 
 culing his religion and the failure of his prayers. 
 Finally pushing him down, they shot him through the 
 head, stripped him, arid turning him also upon his 
 face, gathered up the dripping garments, and joined 
 the other murderers at the council fire. 
 
 Mr. Dyar having his horse for a cover, when the 
 attack was begun, made good his escape, although 
 pursued by Hooker Jim. Mr. Riddle escaped by 
 running, covered by Scar-Face Charley's rifle, who 
 declared that it " was unworthy of a Modoc to kill 
 unarmed men." Simultaneously with the attack on 
 General Canby and Dr. Thomas, Schonchin sprang to 
 his feet, and drawing both a knife and a pistol shouted 
 " Chock-e-la" (Blood), pointed at my head, find dis 
 charged the pistol, the bullet tearing through the 
 collar of my coat and vest. Before the next shot, 
 Wi-ne-rna was between him and his victim, grasping 
 his arms and pleading for my life. I walked back 
 wards forty yards, while my heroic defender struggled 
 to save me. Shacknasty Jim joined Schonchin in the 
 
CARNIVAL OF BLOOD. (51 
 
 attack, and Wi-ne-ma, running from one to the other, 
 continued to turn aside the pistols aimed at me, until 
 I went down. After I fell I raised my head above 
 the rock over which I had fallen, arid at the instant 
 Schonchin aimed at me so correctly that this shot 
 struck me between the eyes, and glanced out over the 
 left eye, which was blinded. A shot from Shacknasty 
 Jim struck me on the right side of the head, over the 
 ear, which stunned me, and I became unconscious. 
 From Wi-ne-ma and Scar- Face Charley I learned that 
 Shacknasty Jim robbed me of my clothing in part, not 
 withstanding Wi-ne-ma' s expostulations; that while 
 Jim was unbuttoning my shirt coliar, one of the 
 other murderers came up with a gun, and pointing 
 at my head, was just in the act of touching the 
 trigger, when Jim pushed the gun up, and said " Don't 
 shoot any more. Him dead. He no get up, I hit 
 him high up ; save the powder." Having taken my 
 coat, pants, and vest, they left me, saying to Wi-ne-ma, 
 " Take care of your white brother." Wi-ne-ma wiped 
 the blood from my face, and straightened my limbs, 
 believing me dead. 
 
 Boston Charley drew a knife which, however, was 
 a dull one, and began the difficult task of scalping a 
 bald-headed man, and what added to the difficulty 
 was the strong arms of Wi-ne-ma, grasping him and 
 hurling him as though he was but a boy to the rocks 
 beside me. But Boston had Modoc persistency, and 
 springing to'his feet, witli his pistol he struck her a 
 blow upon the head, at the same time threatening to 
 shoot her should she again interfere, and resumed the 
 delicate task. Wi-ne-ma, dazed by the blow for a 
 
62 CARNIVAL OF BLOOD. 
 
 moment, in half-bewilderment saw the dull blade 
 cutting down to the bone, while Boston, enraged and 
 impatient, set one foot upon the back of my neck, 
 and muttering curses in broken English, succeeded in 
 cutting a circle almost around the upper part of my 
 head, and had already so far lifted the scalp that he 
 had inserted the fingers of his left hand beneath it, 
 preparatory to tearing it off, when Wi-ne-ma, recover 
 ing her presence of mind, resorted to strategy, shout 
 ing exultingly, " Kap-ko Bostee-na-soldier ! " (soldiers 
 coming.) Boston Charley, without waiting for proof 
 of the announcement, giving his victim a parting 
 kick, left him, as he still supposed, a corpse in 
 Wi-ne-ma's care. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE RESCUE. 
 
 WI-NE-MA'S NARROW ESCAPE TEMPERANCE THE MAIN HOPE THE 
 FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE OF THE MODOC WAR DANGER ON LAND 
 AND WATER WI-NE-MA DEFENDING THE MOTHERS OF THE FIFTY- 
 THREE MURDERED BY WHITE MEN THREATENED OUTBREAK 
 
 QUELLED. 
 
 OPENING his eyes with her fingers, she muttered^ 
 "Him dead, him dead." She straightened his limbs, 
 once more wiped the blood from the mutilated face at 
 her feet, then standing a moment, her eyes caught 
 sight of the Btark body of General Canby; turning 
 half round she saw the blood-stained form of Dr. 
 Thomas ; looking south she saw her cousin and his 
 comrades hastening away, bearing with them the 
 uniform of General Canby and the clothing of Dr. 
 Thomas, and Commissioner Meacham ; looking north 
 she caught sight of glittering bayonets coming to the 
 rescue. The line of bayonets is -coming nearer, and 
 "Wi-ne-ma, mounting her horse, leaves behind her the 
 terrible scene, only to meet the threatening column of 
 coming avengers. Haifa dozen muskets were pointed 
 at her as the line approached, while coarse impreca 
 tions and threats assailed her ears. Her life was now 
 
 63 
 
C4: THE RESCUE. 
 
 endangered. Placing lier hand on her heart, she said, 
 "Shoot me, shoot me if you dare! I am not to 
 blame." Corporal Ross, of Captain Miller's company, 
 sprang to the front and repeated the challenge, say 
 ing, " I will avenge her death." She was permitted 
 to pass through the lines on her return to the Com 
 missioners' camp. 
 
 The rescuers came too late to save the gallant Gen 
 eral or the noble Doctor; already had their limbs 
 grown stiff on the slaty rocks. Schonchin's victim 
 was struggling to get upon his feet, but was so entirely 
 covered with blood from his half-dozen wounds that 
 the soldiers levelled their guns, thinking him an 
 Indian. Colonel Miller commanding the advance 
 shouted- in time to prevent a volley from the soldiers 
 completing the work begun by Schonchin and Shack- 
 nasty Jim. I was placed upon a stretcher, and carried 
 to the hospital in a half-conscious condition. My 
 wounds were dressed, and pronounced not mortal, but 
 dangerous. Wi-ne-ma was among the first to kneel 
 beside the mattress whereon I lay in the great tent. 
 Day after day she, with her husband, watched over, 
 me. Almost by a miracle I was saved in the rocks ; 
 not much less b} r a miracle while in the hospital. The 
 surgeons declared that my temperate habits alone 
 made my recovery possible. 
 
 I was sent to my wife, who awaited me at the mouth 
 of River Lost, having come by rail, stage, and ambu 
 lance, three hundred miles. She could not reach the 
 hospital on account of danger, but was assured that I 
 should be sent to her alive, if she would come with 
 an escort to the place named. While she watched the 
 
THE RESCUE. 65 
 
 little white-hulled boat which bore me over to her, a 
 sudden "blow" came up, which threatened to engulf 
 me in the waters of the Lake. For an hour the oars 
 man, fought the danger, sometimes almost in despair, 
 but the hidden hand which saved me on the rocks 
 calmed the tempest, and saved me again. 
 
 "While a three-days' battle was raging, the Pocahon- 
 tas of the Lava-beds became a Florence Nightingale 
 in the army hospital, among the victims of her cousin's 
 bullets, bathing the burning brows, and administering 
 nourishment prepared by her own hands. The sol 
 diers were assured of her fidelity, and with united 
 voice declared her to be a ministering angel. When 
 the wounded were brought in from the battle-field, 
 Wi-ne-ma was always among the first to reach the 
 side of the stretcher, scanning closely the faces of the 
 wounded. On one occasion a wild cry burst from her 
 lips, for she thought she recognized the face of Cor 
 poral Ross among them. Her paroxysms of grief 
 w r ere pitiful to behold, until reassured that it was not 
 her friend Ross. 
 
 On the morning of the 24th day of April, Captain 
 Thomas prepared to start out to the " Sand Hill" on 
 a reconnoitering expedition. " Colonel Tom Wright " 
 called at Riddle's tent before joining Captain Thomas. 
 W T i-ne-ma offered him a warning against the dangers 
 that hung around the pathway of the party, telling 
 him that he would be attacked. He laughed at her 
 fears. She grew more earnest, declaring that if they 
 went with a small party, or anything less than the 
 entire army, they would all be killed. Notwithstand 
 ing thio woman's predictions on several former occa 
 sions had been verified, her advice was disregarded 
 
66 THE RESCUE. 
 
 by Colonel Wright, and lie left the tent with a care 
 less good-bye, which was his hist farewell to this 
 woman, whose judgment had been demonstrated so 
 often, and so often ignored. A few moments later 
 the column was forming for its own funeral march, 
 unbelieving that their beds for the next bivouac were 
 to be the broken rocks of the Lava-bed. 
 
 Pat McManus, the sutler, was preparing to accom 
 pany this expedition. Mac and his wife were warm 
 friends of the Riddles. "Wi-ne-ma besought Mac to 
 remain in camp, but he refused. His mule was 
 awaiting him outside the sutler tent Wi-ne-ma went 
 quietly to the waiting steed, and slipping the bridle 
 from his head, drove him away. Mac, armed with 
 Henry rifle and Colt navy pistol, emerged from the 
 tent in time to see the bridleless animal scampering 
 away to a band of horses on the hillside. Words 
 would not come to the lips of the enraged sutler. 
 Wi-ne-ma stood with calm face waiting for the storm 
 
 O 
 
 to break. It came at last in a demand to know who 
 it was that had dared to turn loose his horse. The 
 woman who bearded the lions of the Lava-bed in 
 their stronghold, calmly replied, " I turned that horse 
 loose for sake of your wife." 
 
 During the time intervening between the three 
 days' battle and the evacuation of the camp on the 
 llth of Ma} T , the old Modoc women who were cap 
 tured by the army were placed in charge of Wi-ne-ma 
 and her husband, and by some unaccountable influ 
 ence of army red-tape, they were allowed to subsist 
 homeless prisoners unaided by the government. 
 These captured women were often threatened with 
 violence by the soldiers and their allies (the Warm 
 
THE RESCUE. 67 
 
 Spring Indians), and on more than one occasion "Wi 
 ne-ma's presence alone saved their lives. Several 
 efforts were made to induce her to leave her charge, 
 but with that clear, intuitive judgment for which she 
 is noted, she refused, because she knew that the ven 
 geance of heroic white men of low degree would be 
 visited on the poor old Modoc women, whose crime 
 consisted in being the mothers of the fifty-three men 
 who had successfully resisted the army of " a thous 
 and " for so many days. 
 
 A tumult is upheaving the hearts of Wi-ne-ma's 
 people at Yai-nax, who had stood aloof through the 
 war. This was caused by the killing of three reser 
 vation Indians, by white men, in Se-wa-kin valley, 
 under very peculiar circumstances. They were on a 
 hunting expedition outside of the reservation, at least 
 one hundred miles from the seat of war. Some white 
 men were driving a band of cattle across the country. 
 The cattle took fright at sight of the Indian hunters, 
 and stampeded. The white men came up, and took 
 them prisoners, notwithstanding the Indians declared 
 their good intentions. While driving the prisoners 
 before them, the white men discussed in their hearing 
 the propriety of killing them without trial. The 
 Indians attempted to escape, and two of them were 
 shot down ; the other made his way to the reserva 
 tion and told of the tragedy. This created immense 
 excitement, and war-councils were held. Captain 
 Applegate and Wi-ne-ma threw themselves into the 
 breach, and although they could not justify or defend 
 the acts of the white men, they prevailed upon the 
 reservation Indians to remain quiet. 
 
CHAPTEK XL 
 
 BLENDING BRAVE BLOOD. 
 
 PRANK RIDDLE THE HUSBAND OF WI-NE-MA HIS CAREER AS A MINER 
 EXCITING EXPERIENCES WITH GRIZZLIES HIS DEVOTION TO THE 
 INDIAN RACE A SAFE COUNSELLOR CHARKA, THE HANDSOME BOY, 
 SON OF WI NE-MA AND FRANK HIS FACULTY FOR OBSERVATION 
 TRAVELS IN GRKAT CITIES BY INSTINCT HIS COURAGE IN RESENTING 
 INSULT THE WAITING ARMS OF HIS INDIAN GRANDFATHER. 
 
 RIDDLE, the husband of Wi-ne-ma, is a 
 native of Kentucky. His parents were slave-holders, 
 and Frank grew to fifteen years of age without receiv 
 ing much attention from them. Several years before 
 reaching his majority, in western parlance Frank 
 " struck out for himself." Arriving upon the Pacific 
 Coast, in 1851, he first sought employment in Sacra 
 mento City, and subsequently drifted to the mines of 
 Northern California. His lite has been a counterpart 
 of thousands who sought fortune at the point of the 
 pick and shovel and the " Tail of the Long Tom sluice- 
 box." Many thrilling episodes he had passed before 
 we find him surrendering to the bright eyes of the 
 Modoc maiden. This struggle against his destiny 
 was brief, and as we have shown on a former page, he 
 surrendered to this Modoc, and was married under the 
 forms and ceremonies of her people. During his 
 
 68 
 
BLENDING BRA VE BLOOD. 69 
 
 sojourn upon the Western Coast, be lias killed seven 
 hundred and forty -three deer and elk, and one hun 
 dred and thirty-two bears of various species. 
 
 During the efforts for peace with the Modoc Indians, 
 in 1873, Mr. .Riddle was employed as an interpreter. 
 His personal acquaintance with them, and with the 
 difficulties existing between them and the white race, 
 made him the man for the occasion. It is unfortunate 
 that Gen. Canby and Dr. Thomas should not have 
 recognized the real character of Mr. Kiddle, and 
 appreciate as I did his integrity, and good common 
 sense. It would have saved many lives and hundreds 
 of thousands of dollars. 
 
 I have never heard an intimation that Frank Rid 
 dle ever " went back " on a friend or his own word, 
 while his generous nature prompting to give, has kept 
 him impoverished all his life. Mr. Riddle appreciat 
 ing the benefit this extensive travel would be to his 
 wife and boy, consented to join my company on my 
 promise to "do right by him and return him and his 
 family to Yreka." I have found him a reliable man 
 and a true friend even in the darkest hour. He 
 won the confidence and respect of those whom he has 
 met on our tour ; always an affable, plainWestern man, 
 full of interesting reminiscences of frontier life, he 
 has always been well received and kindly treated by 
 the friends of the Indian elsewhere. He is not 
 ashamed to manifest his pride in his Indian wife and 
 half-breed boy. 
 
 "Charka" (the handsome boy) alias Jeff. C. Davis 
 Riddle, son of Frank and "Wi-ne-ma, was born in 1862, 
 at Yreka. He is a remarkable boy, early evincing a 
 
70 BLENDING BRAVE BLOOD. 
 
 fair amalgamation of Kentucky frankness and Modoc 
 courage, while he has been much with white boys of 
 his age in Yreka, he has also spent a larger propor 
 tion of his young life in the "latches" (wigwams) of 
 his grandfather at Yai-nax, is expert with the bow and 
 arrow, already a close shot with a rifle, accustomed to 
 the saddle from his infancy, going often with his 
 father and sometimes with his mother's people, upon 
 the big hunts, he has had rather a thrilling experience 
 for one so young. Inheriting enough of his mother's 
 Indian stoicism, he is never surprised, travels over 
 the largest cities on errands, coming home by instinct, 
 never lost, always pleasant and mannerly, but equally 
 ready to resent insult, he has won his way rapidly to 
 the friendship of those who know him. With his 
 Indian habits of observation and faculty of retention, 
 he is storing his mind with much useful information 
 and themes for story when he again springs from his 
 saddle into the outstretched arms of his illustrious 
 old Indian grandfather. 
 
 One episode of this boy's life would find a place in 
 the stirring scenes of the Modoc war. Almost without 
 a tear he parted from his mother and father when 
 they were leaving camp on the fatal day on which 
 Gen. Canby was killed, although he was but ten years 
 of age, saying to them " If the Modocs kill you, I 
 will avenge you if it takes a life-time/' Taking his 
 father's revolver and field-glass, he climbed partly up 
 the bluff commanding a view of the peace-tent where 
 the ill-starred council was held. "When the first puff 
 of smoke rose above the council, Charka shouted to 
 the soldiers below him, " The Modocs are killing the 
 
BLENDING BRAVE BLOOD. 71 
 
 Commissioners ;" then dropping his glass, he started for 
 the scene of blood in advance of the reserve which 
 had been ordered out. Meeting his father, he de 
 manded to know whether his mother had been killed, 
 vowing vengeance meanwhile. It was with some 
 difficulty he was persuaded from going to the scene of 
 slaughter, nor was he appeased until she appeared 
 coming on her horse. 
 
 Charka has made rapid progress in learning, and 
 although he has been but one month at school, he has 
 in that time learned to read sufficiently w r ell to under 
 stand ordinary news in the morning papers, and to 
 write well enough to make himself understood in his 
 letters. This boy Charka will be heard from some 
 time in the future, in behalf of his mother's people. 
 If we succeed in securing funds for his education, he 
 will be an honor to a despised race. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 AN EXPERIMENT CAPTAIN APPLEGATE A NATIVE OP OREGON HIS 
 ORATORICAL POWERS WAL-AIKS-SKI-DAT HIS CHARACTER YUM- 
 IS-POE-TIS "DAVID AND JONATHAN" SILETZ RESERVATION 
 OL-HATH-E WOOL-WY-HE "NO RESERVATION POLICY. 
 
 WHILE I had no fear that I could control the 
 several elements of Indian character which my com 
 pany should comprise, nor doubting my ability to 
 present them to the public, I, nevertheless preferred 
 to be supported in my lecture enterprise, by some 
 white man whose life was a guarantee of his character, 
 and his knowledge of the subjects to be discussed. 
 
 The opinion among eastern people has obtained, that 
 frontier men are, as a rule, ignorant, uneducated men, 
 whose chief pastime is to hunt, and fish, fight 
 Indians and drink whisky, play cards, gamble, and 
 steal squaws, hack each other to pieces, and waylay 
 the traveller. Feeling the injustice done a brave and 
 worthy class of American citizens, I sought a man 
 who was born outside of the lines of white civilization, 
 in the wilds of Oregon. Among the first emigrants 
 who cut the way to the Pacific coast, was Lindsey 
 Applegate, of Indiana. He took with him his wife, 
 
 T2 
 
PLANTING .AN EMPIRE. 73 
 
 a woman of unusual force of character, as well as 
 personal womanhood. It was one of this truly Oregon 
 family, I invited to assist rne in presenting my lecture 
 company to the public. He was twenty-eight years 
 of age, unmarried, and had never up to the time of 
 starting, been outside of the lines of his native State, 
 Oregon. He is six feet, three inches in height, well- 
 proportioned, with personal presence which secures 
 respect on sight ; possessed of self-respect, brought 
 up in the strictest schcrol of morals by his parents; 
 trained to self-command by a life embellished with 
 dangerous adventure ; an orator by nature, and strongly 
 influenced by his association with the children of the 
 plain and forest ; brave by inheritance, and fearless 
 because of his long participation in stirring scenes ; 
 carrying with him in every action the imprint of his 
 noble mother's precepts; neither swearing, drinking, 
 nor even using tobacco. Such was Captain Applegate. 
 He had long been personally associated with the 
 Indian Department of the government, and at the 
 battle of the 17th of January, 1873, in the Lava-beds, 
 had led a company of Klamath Indians against the 
 Modocs. To his efficiency principally may be accred 
 ited the safe retreat of the demoralized army on that 
 occasion. 
 
 Of all the hundreds of officers whom I have known 
 connected with the civil service in the Indian depart 
 ment, not one of sober, temperate, habits, that has 
 not, and does not espouse the cause of the Indian. 
 Captain Applegate has acquired familiarity with 
 several Indian languages. Two of the north-western 
 tribes have conferred honorary titles upon him. 
 
74: PLANTING AN EMPIRE. 
 
 Captain Applegate selected from the Klamatli 
 agency t\vo Indian chiefs. One of them was Wal- 
 aiks-ski-dat, (tlie left-handed chief who lives between 
 two rivers.) "Wal-aiks-ski dat had early in life evinced 
 great talent as an orator, and had accepted the offer 
 of a better civilization than his own, had embraced 
 " The new religion " and united with many others of 
 his people with the Methodist Church, under the 
 ministration of the Christian agent, L. S. Dyar. Under 
 the new life he had taken, as many Indians do, an 
 American name. He was known as David Hill. 
 
 When David Hill was informed of his election to 
 this great office (that of speaking for his people) he 
 doubted his own fitness, and would have declined, if 
 left to choice, but when the older chiefs insisted that 
 inasmuch as he had the royal blood of the ancient 
 chiefs of his people in his heart and was a growing 
 man, upon whom much of their influence depended, 
 he consented, upon the condition that his bosom friend, 
 Yum-nis Poe-tis, (the chief without beauty,) who was 
 a hereditary medicine-chief should be invited. Cap 
 tain Applegate having known these two young men, 
 for eight years, intimately, accepted the terms. 
 Yum-uis Poe-tis although he had been "Tow-eel" 
 (conscripted by the medicine spirits of departed Kla- 
 mates), as a medicine-man, had also become. a convert 
 to Christianity, taking the name of Tecumpsha. 
 These two young men were known among the Indians 
 as " Ka-o Stin-tos" "The Inseparables," by Captain 
 Applegate as " Damon and Pythias" This singular 
 fact should be noted, since there were some almost 
 tragic events during our tour in which the singular 
 
PLANTING AND EMPIRE. 75 
 
 friendship of these men may be worthy of further 
 consideration. 
 
 Neither David Hill nor Ynm-nis Poe-tis, belonged 
 to the Klamath band who drove the Modoc Chief 
 from the reservation, in 1870. 
 
 David Hill and Yum-nis Poe-tis, having the assur 
 ance of Agent Dyar and of the council of chiefs, 
 that their families shoijld be cared for in their 
 absence, after great religious ceremonies, consecrating 
 themselves, and being loaded with advice from the 
 old chiefs, bade a heartfelt, though ceremonious 
 farewell to the long lines of red-skinned people who 
 assembled to see them start on this, to them, wonderful 
 journey. They had no promise of pecuniary reward, 
 no hope of returning loaded with presents. They 
 had only my promise to take cave of them, and to 
 give them an opportunity to see, and hear, arid talk 
 fur their race. This was the inducement, this alone, 
 and this was sufficient. 
 
 Midway between the mouth of the Columbia River 
 and the southern boundary of Oregon, a passage has 
 been made through the iron rim of the coast-line, to 
 make egress for the water of Siletz and Ya-qui-na 
 Rivers. To this favored spot, in 1856, were taken in 
 chains and under guard, two thousand eight hundred 
 souls, representing fourteen tribes of Indians. They 
 were the survivors of bloody wars, and many of them 
 were scarred, maimed veterans of a dying race. They 
 had been driven to arms at the sight of the bones of 
 their ancestors upturned by the pick of the miner, in 
 others by the sight of maidens despoiled of virtue by 
 contact with a " superior civilisation" Others again, 
 
76 PLAXTIXG AN EMPIRE. 
 
 by the dictation of a religious conscience which Lade 
 them resist encroachments upon their rights. 
 
 Among the Indians who have fought with most 
 successful desperation, were those of the valley of 
 Rogue River, Southern Oregon. So desperate had 
 been the battles of the " Rogue River War" that but 
 a single scion of the royal house remained. This was 
 a nine-year old boy, son of " Old John," named 
 Ol-hath-e. 
 
 Knowing George Ilarney's history, his general 
 character, and having more than ordinary interest in 
 him, I invited him to join my company. Rev. J. II. 
 Fairchild, an agent at Siletz, consented, and Ilarney 
 accepted, bringing with him his wife, Wool-wy-he, 
 (Maggie Ilarney) and their infant son, live months 
 old. Maggie was by birth a " Shasta." She had 
 been carried off by the Rogue Riverers, and was found 
 with them when they were linally captured. Her tribe 
 had never been confined upon a reservation. They 
 numbered about one thousand souls at the first advent 
 among them of the white man. They have not, as a 
 tribe, been on the war-path against the invaders of 
 their country, but they have illustrated the " J\ T o res 
 ervation" policy ; being permitted to mix and mingle 
 at will with white men, they have become diseased, 
 demoralized, degraded, and almost extinct as a tribe, 
 numbering now (1876) thirty-eight souls, a majority 
 of the survivors being half-breed prostitutes, and not 
 one them maintaining the original claim of their 
 fathers to virtue and honor. Such has been the result 
 of leaving Indians to roam without protectors in their 
 native haunts among white men. 
 
PLANTING AX EXPIRE. 77 
 
 This short history of the Shasta Tribe is not alone ; 
 but it proves conclusively that the In'dian cannot hold 
 his own against the white man without some arm 
 stronger than his own to shield him from the power 
 of a " superior civilization." "Wool-wy-he was fortu 
 nate in being carried into captivity, otherwise she 
 would doubtless have long since been buried in the 
 " potters' field " near Yreka, California. Knowing 
 she is the lawful Christian wife of the last of the 
 Ilogue River chiefs, she has learned the art of house 
 keeping, dressmaking and often entertains company 
 in a manner creditable alike to her good sense and 
 to the efficiency of those who have administered the 
 affairs of Siletz agency. 
 
 The following is the mention made of Ol-hath-e 
 in the bill advertising my company. " He came 
 without hope or promise of pecuniary reward" 
 
 OL-IIATII-E, 
 
 (or George Harney), Chief of the confederated tribes of Indians 
 of Siletz Reservation, Oregon, lineal descendant of a long line of 
 Rogue River Chiefs, was captured when a small boy at the Rogue 
 River war, between the United States' forces and the Rogue River 
 tribes of Southern Oregon, and carried to the Siletz Reservation, 
 where he has lived ever since. He is a fine speaker and has acted 
 many years as an interpreter. This office has brought him into 
 close and constant contact with American civilization, he long ago 
 abandoned his aboriginal habits and religion and adopted the cus 
 toms and faith of the whites. He has been complimented by the 
 judges everywhere for his integrity and intelligence, and both by 
 his loyalty and education is a living proof of the folly and wicked 
 ness of the theory that the Indian can neither be civilized nor be 
 made the friend of the white race. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE OTHER SIDE. 
 
 STRANGE LAND AND STRANGE PEOPLE CAPTAIN JACK HIS FIRST BATTLE 
 SCAR-FACE CHARLEY, BEGINS THE WAR TWO DEAD INFANTS IN THE ARMS 
 
 OF THEIR MOTHERS THE BURNING SQUAW VOWS OF VENGEANCE THE 
 
 QUAKER ESCAPES SCAR-FACE WARNING HIS FRIENDS PROTECTS WI-NE- 
 MA VOTES FOR PEACE ATTACKS EIGHTY-EIGHT MEN WITH TWENTY-FOUR 
 ONLY TWKNTY-THREE ESCAPE. 
 
 IN a land of great lakes, high mountains, and long 
 shadowy mornings and evenings, may be found the 
 u Sacred Lands " of Modoc tradition, where it is claimed 
 can be seen the identical sacred stone ("I sees Jo-kol- 
 e-kas ") whereon the Son of God gave his red children 
 His last advice. In this strange land, and among 
 its strange people, I sought out three or four of the 
 members of my lecture company. Each of the three 
 names has found a place in the history of 1873, con 
 necting the bloody chapters of the Lava-beds with the 
 volumes of sanguinary chronicles of conquering rule. 
 
 Ki-ent-poos (" the man of strong words and great 
 deeds") or as he will be known " Captain Jack," will 
 doubtless be ever recognized as the Modoc champion. 
 This singular and ill-fated man was born near the 
 " Sacred Lands " about 1840, of Indian parents. His 
 father being a chief of long lineage in royal line. 
 
 78 
 
THE OTHER SIDE. T9 
 
 The other prominent character is " Chic-chix-us " 
 Scar-facc-Charley (so named on account of a scar 
 extending from his forehead to his chin made by a 
 wagon wheel within which lie fell) to whose history I 
 ask particular attention. Scar- Face Charley was born 
 on Battle Creek, 1850, of JVIodoc parents. His early 
 life was saddened by the death of his father, at the 
 hands of white men. It has been said that the boy 
 was a witness to this outrage. 
 
 Scar-Face Charley was an adherent of Captain Jack, 
 and though lie fired the first shot on theModoc side in 
 the late war, he was known to have been opposed to 
 lighting. When Major Jackson ordered the little band 
 of Modocs under Captain Jack to surrender, on the 
 morning of the 30th of Nov. 1872, this man hesitated 
 because of the manner and tone of the order. It was 
 repeated, accompanied by a drawn revolver; Scar-Face 
 drew his revolver also, and the two pistols made but 
 a single report, so nearly simultaneously were they 
 discharged. This was the beginning of what ended 
 in four dangling bodies on a gibbet, and about two 
 hundred graves of the two races. 
 
 It is recorded in " the Wigwam and War-path," that 
 a body of citizens had assembled on the east bank of 
 Lost River, to witness the execution of the forcible 
 part of the order for removal. While Major Jackson 
 was engaging Captain Jack, on the west bank, these 
 citizens went with him, partly because they desired to 
 witness a tight, partly because they desired to protect 
 the settlers on the east bank of the river, but cer 
 tainly without intention of taking part in the strug 
 gle they believed would ensue. But frontier men, 
 
80 THE OTHER SIDE. 
 
 whether good or bad, are fond of excitement, and 
 though many of them were on friendly terms with 
 the Modocs, indeed were personal, even intimate 
 friends; when from the short distance of two hundred 
 yards, they beheld the forty men under Major Jackson 
 being badly whipped by the little band of fourteen 
 warriors under Captain Jack, they came down to the 
 bank of the river. The few Modoc warriors on the 
 east bank who were mixed up with them, were also 
 spectators, and hearing the call of their chief for help, 
 made an attempt to cross over to the west bank. Up 
 to this time not one harsh word had passed between 
 the settlers and the Modocs. 
 
 Had the settlers been content to let the Indians and 
 soldiers fight uninterrupted, no settler would have 
 been harmed. This is declared by persons who were 
 on the ground. But when they sought to prevent 
 them crossing, the Indians protested against the inter 
 ference, and the indiscreet action of one man, 
 (George Fipucke,) firing a double-barrelled shot-gun, 
 precipitated the fight between settler and Indian. The 
 result of this shot was the death of an infant in its 
 mother's arms. Immediately the fight became general. 
 In the time intervening between the effort to remove the 
 Modocs peaceably, and the disastrous forcible attempt, 
 Scar-Face Charley, Hooker Jim, 'and Miller's Charley, 
 visited every settler in the vicinity and Lost River, 
 and informed them of the possibility of a fight with 
 the soldiers, saying substantially, "You stay at home, 
 you won't be hurt, we can whip the soldiers." If this 
 friendly warning had been accredited and respected, 
 and no settler had been present, or being present had 
 
THE OTHER SIDE. 81 
 
 observed neutrality, not one settler would have been 
 injured, no butchery would have followed, no indict 
 ments would have been found against the Modocs, 
 thereby making peace impossible ; but when the Mo- 
 docs saw two murdered infants clasped in the arms of 
 their frantic mothers, the dead girl, the mutilated 
 woman ; and when added to all this horror, they saw 
 the soldiers pile the mattings of one of their latches 
 over another sick Indian mother, who had been left in 
 the latche under the belief that no white man or soldier 
 would disturb a sick woman, and then apply the torch 
 to the mattings, could even hear the screams of the 
 burning victim^* &nd when the soldiers withdrew they 
 beheld the distorted crisp corpse of this woman, among 
 the ashes of the latche, what wonder that half-sav 
 age men should shout for vengeance. 
 
 These outrages drove the Modocs to madness, and 
 against the advice of Captain Jack and Scar-Face Char 
 ley, they went upon the war-path, seeking revenge. 
 But though they certainly drank it from a flowing cup, 
 it is proof that while outraging humanity, they shed 
 one ray of chivalrous lustre upon the very name of In 
 dian, by abstaining from murder or other outrage upon 
 defenceless white women. One other circumstance 
 should find a place in history, and should be printed 
 in burning letters in front of every desk in the cap- 
 itol of the nation. It is this : among other settlers, 
 was an old-fashioned Quaker, who had located in the 
 Lost River country, with a band of sheep. He was 
 a genuine Quaker of the name of Tripp. This 
 
 * This is confirmed by soldiers who were present. 
 4* 
 
82 THE OTHER SIDE. 
 
 Quaker accepted the warning and kept faith with the 
 Indians. When they went on the wings of wrath 
 against the white race, they passed him by, only 
 Bending a man to tell him he need not fear, that he 
 should not be disturbed. 
 
 Notwithstanding the provocations just recited, it is 
 to the credit of Scar-Face Charley, that he took a de 
 cided stand against killing unarmed men, declaring 
 that it " was unworthy the heart of a Modoc." 
 
 Failing to dissuade his people from illegitimate 
 warfare, he, together with Bogus Charley, guarded 
 the roads leading into the Modoc Camp, and per 
 formed some actions entitling them to credit. The 
 object was to prevent innocent persons falling into 
 ambush. 
 
 On seeing some white men coming, as these men 
 knew, into danger, they walked squarely into the 
 trail and warned them of their peril. Press Dorris, 
 A. W. Watson, John Ballaout,and one or two other 
 men, were arrested and turned back. In two instances 
 Scar-Face Charley, caught the bridles, and forcibly 
 turned the horses about and shouted to the riders to 
 " flee for life." 
 
 Scar-Face, as he is generally called, advised the 
 Modocs against resistance, and postively refused to 
 participate in any illegitimate warfare, always counsel 
 ling for peace. At every meeting among his people, he 
 voted against shedding blood. When Wi-ne-rna went 
 to the Modoc Camp with propositions of peace, he 
 stood by her, and when her life was threatened because 
 she had forewarned the Peace Commissioners against 
 meeting the Modocs unarmed, he boldly declared 
 
SCAR-FACE CHARLEY. 
 
THE OTHER SIDE. 83 
 
 liis determination to protect her. Ed. Fox, of the 
 New York Herald, challenged death by venturing 
 into the "stronghold," that he might furnish the 
 great public benefactor with real actual news, fresh 
 from the Modocs. In March 1873, he performed an 
 act of undisputed courage, which entitles him to a 
 place among the dauntless heroes of any age ; but to 
 Scar-Face Charley he is largely indebted for his suc 
 cess, both in obtaining information and also in what 
 was of more importance to his young wife and daugh 
 ter, as well as himself and the champion newspaper 
 men of the age, that of escaping with his life and 
 blonde locks, intact from the cold steel of Schonchin 
 and Hooker Jim. 
 
 Judge Steele of Yreka, at the peril of his life ac 
 cepted an invitation from the Modocs to visit them in 
 the Lava-beds, Bil-dad of the Sacramento Recorder 
 going with him. Both were brave men, Steele spoke 
 his mind squarely, Schonchin insultingly ordered him 
 to " stop talking." Steele boldly informed the old 
 cut-throat that he would talk ; Schonchin vowed to 
 take his life. Captain Jack, Scar-Face Charley, and 
 Queen Mary, stood guard over Steele, and Bil-dad, 
 through the long dark night. Bil-dad in his report 
 says: "every time through that wakeful night I 
 opened my eyes, I could see Scar-Face Charley sitting 
 erect at the mouth of the cave, watching over us." 
 
 When the vote was had in the Modoc council upon 
 " the assassination," Scar-Face Charley refused to 
 sanction it, and when it was carried over his head, he 
 gave warning that he would avenge the death of AVi- 
 ne-ma or her husband, should they be slain. True to 
 
84: THE OTHER SIDE. 
 
 his word, ho took position near the council-fire with 
 his rifle, and prepared to make good his word. To 
 him doubtless they owed their escape. Dr. Thomas, 
 hut a day before his death, declared that " Scar-Face 
 Charley was the Leonidas of the Lava-beds." 
 
 Major Thomas led a small command of eighty- 
 eight men, upon a reconnoitering expedition after the 
 " three days' battle," of which mention has been made 
 on a former page. They were attacked, and all but 
 twenty-three were slain. The attacking force num 
 bered twenty-four Modocs under command of Scar- 
 Face Charley. The result of that memorable engage 
 ment has been elsewhere given in detail, but it will be 
 remembered that it was here that Capt. E. Thomas, 
 of 4th Artillery, Col. Tom Wright, of 12th Infantry, 
 Lieuts. Cranston, Howe, Harris, and Surgeon B. Semig 
 of the 4th Artillery, were killed. But twenty-three of 
 the entire command escaped. The reason why they 
 were not killed, would scarcely be accredited if stated 
 upon Modoc authority alone, but when supported by 
 the testimony of the surviving soldiers, it stands alone, 
 as Mount Shasta stands above the other peaks of the 
 Sierras. 
 
 Scar-Face Charley being in command, demonstrated 
 his wonderful military genius, by successfully attack 
 ing three times his own force, on ground where the 
 chances were equal for protection from the rocks. Re 
 member, he made the attack. "When the fight had 
 raged for three hours, Scar-Face Charley at sight of 
 the rocks flecked with blue uniforms, and sprinkled 
 with blood, shouted in English, " all you fellers that 
 ain't dead, better go home, we dont want to' kill all 
 
THE OTHER SIDE 85 
 
 you fellers same day." Then calling liis own men 
 away, be permitted the survivors to return to the 
 soldier's camp. This speech of Scar-Face was heard by 
 several of the survivors, who repeated it upon their 
 return. 
 
 Another battle was fought a few days later, in 
 which it has been claimed the Modocs were whipped. 
 This was probably correct, as they lost one man, while 
 the army lost but two Warm Springs scouts. The 
 loss of one Modoc in this battle, was the cause of the 
 breaking up of Captain Jack's army. Fourteen war 
 riors (friends of the dead Indian,) withdrew, because 
 they believed that some unfairness had been mani 
 fested in placing the braves for this battle. 
 
 Scar-Face Charley followed the chief to his last 
 stand, and surrendered at the same time. He was 
 not ironed or imprisoned, but refused to see his chief 
 executed. 
 
CHAPTER XIY. 
 
 FEATS OF INDIAN ARCHEEY. 
 
 THE ORPHAN FRANK MAIIRYING HIS ADOPTED MOTHER FRANK'S EFFORT 
 
 TO AVERT WAR VOTING FOR PEACE SAVAGES READING THE BIBLE 
 
 QUAKER JONES AND THE MODOCS SHACKNASTY JIM IN NEW YORK 
 HIS WONDERFUL FIAT OF ARCHERY. 
 
 CHUM-MUNT, the widower, (Steamboat Frank) was 
 born on Eutte Creek, Siskijou Count}", Cal., in 1852, 
 of Modoc parents who died soon after his birth, leav 
 ing him an orphan without relatives, a waif blown 
 about from one camp to another, until he was adopted 
 by an Indian maiden of seventeen. This maiden was 
 gifted with an extraordinary voice of great compass. 
 From this fact she was called by her people " Steam 
 boat. She was a woman of considerable ability, and 
 seems to have taken great pains with the little orphan. 
 She named him " Frank." Hence he has always been 
 known as " Steamboat Frank." 
 
 When Frank had attained to fifteen years of age, 
 " Steamboat " adopted him as her husband under 
 the usual ceremonies of the tribe. Frank very early 
 espoused the cause of Captain Jack, and was ambitious 
 to become a white man. He was not in the first fight 
 on Lost River. When the news reached Steamboat's 
 
 8G 
 
PEA TS OF INDIAN AR CHER T. 87 
 
 camp, that war had broken out, he with thirteen other 
 men and their families applied to Mr. Fairchilds for 
 protection. Under his advice they sought to make 
 their way to the reservation. The settlers were 
 aroused and being hungry for vengeance were armed 
 and patrolling the country. Fairchilds made three 
 attempts to get the Indians to the Agency, but was 
 met each time by friends warning him of the dangers 
 ahead. This indiscreet, but very natural action, on 
 the part of the settlers, resulted in driving this band 
 of fourteen warriors, into the Modoc camp. Frank 
 was the last to join Jack's band, and did so with 
 reluctance ; but when once numbered among the 
 " fighting" Modocs no complaint was ever made that 
 he was wanting in courage. It is to his credit, that 
 he presistently refused to participate in any illegiti 
 mate acting, steadily voting with his chief and Scar- 
 Face Charley for peace. "When the assassination was 
 discussed he took a decided stand against it. 
 
 The only stain upon Frank's character, as an Indian 
 and a man, is, that he with others deserted his chief 
 and turned upon his trail, leading his pursuers to his 
 hiding-place. He may be entitled to the credit which 
 he claims, that he only wished to save Captain Jack 
 by overtaking him, and inducing him to surrender. 
 
 Steamboat Frank was with the band exiled to Quaw- 
 Paw Agency. He accepted the situation and found in 
 his Quaker agent a real friend, who taught him what 
 he had long desired to know about the Christian 
 religion. Frank joined my company on the same 
 terms that others had. 
 
 Ski-et-tete-ko (left-handed man) Shacknasty Jim 
 was born on Hot Creek, California. His father was 
 
88 fEA TS OF INDIAN AR CHER Y. 
 
 half Shasta a,nd half Modoc. If ever there was an 
 instance, where the saying "blood will tell" was 
 verified, it is in the case of Shacknasty Jim. His 
 father was shot in a light with white men, in 1858, 
 obliquely from behind, through the temporal bone on 
 the right side of his face, the shot destroying the eye 
 ball, and a part of his nose. Turning to another 
 warrior, he snatched his handkerchief, then scraping 
 the eye-socket with his finger, bound up the wound, 
 rushed again into the fight. From that time he was 
 known as "Patch Eye." He was slain by the Shasta 
 Indians in 1862. Such was the father of Shacknasty r 
 Jim. His mother, inherited all the fighting blood of 
 the royal house of Mo-a-do-cus. Her father was a 
 celebrated warrior. He possessed the mysterious 
 power of Ka-okes-a witchcraft. The boy Jim early 
 espoused the cause of Captain Jack, but he was not 
 in the battle of Lost River, November 30th, 1872. 
 They attempted to reach the Agency, were driven 
 back, became enraged, joined Captain Jack, and were 
 among the most desperate warriors of the Lava-beds. 
 On the occasion of the first battle in the rocks " Madam 
 Shacknasty " commanded an important position and 
 held it against the assaults of a company of volunteers 
 throughout the day. The attaching party heard her 
 repeatedly cheering her men, and on one occasion saw 
 her pass, under fire, from one cliff of rocks to another. 
 Such was the mother of Shacknasty Jim. 
 
 Jim was for war, and voted against every peace 
 proposition. He voted for assassination, and volun 
 teered to assist in the terrible work, was present, and 
 acquitted himself as a bloodthirsty savage. He also 
 distinguished himself as a man of great shrewdness 
 
FEA TS OF INDIAN AR CF1ER Y. 89 
 
 during the war. While it is true that he was a savage, 
 he was, nevertheless, a man. lie had been subjugated 
 but not conquered. While he exhibited some traits 
 Of character that were commendable, he had stained 
 liis record as a brave man, by deserting his chief and 
 turning upon his trail. I do not offer him as a speci 
 men of the Fennimore Cooper Indian, but as a fair 
 representative of the savage class of Indians. He 
 joined my company, and generally behaved with 
 propriety. During our entertainments, I sometimes 
 told in the presence of this man, of the part which he 
 performed, in the tragedy of the Lava-beds; which 
 was no more, or less, than tiring three successive shots 
 at me, one of which had cut through the index finger 
 of my left hand, and the further savage act of strip 
 ping me of my clothing while I lay insensible. On 
 one occasion, when we were running behind, and 
 were "papering the house," as the custom is, with 
 lecture people, under discouraging circumstances, 
 Shacknasty inquired as to the receipts, and was vexed 
 to learn that they were small, notwithstanding we had 
 a full house. When the next entertainment was to 
 be given, he came to me and said he would not shoot 
 his bo\v for the amusement of people who charged 
 me for everything and paid for nothing. One of the 
 attractive features of our entertainment, was the 
 archery of the Indians. Expostulation seemed to 
 have no effect on hin|. He sullenly remained in his 
 room, and we were compelled to go without him. 
 We opened the entertainment and had proceeded half 
 an hour; realizing jhow great would be the disap 
 pointment of the audience, I went to Scar-Face Charley 
 and asked his advice as to some plan to secure Jim's 
 
9 FEA TS OF INDIAN AR CHER Y. 
 
 presence. Charley said " It's no use, lie won't come, 
 suppose you shoot him, it's all the same." Looking 
 up into the gallery I saw Jim acting spectator. All 
 the other Indians were in a rage, even the imperturba 
 ble Captain Applegate lost his patience and proposed 
 extreme measures. Walking to the front of the plat 
 form, I began an apolog}-. for my inability to present 
 the archery practice with prospects of success, because 
 " one of my best archers was in the gallery." At 
 the same time pointing directly at Shacknasty who 
 was leaning over the railing above. 
 
 The audience began to clap their hands and stamp 
 their feet. Jim was an Indian, but he was a man 
 and as susceptible to flattery as the average white 
 man. Feeling that the applause was a compliment to 
 his skill as an archer, he arose and came down on to 
 the platform. When the archery practice began, Jim 
 took up his bow and arrows, while the target was 
 being arranged. It had been the custom to hold the 
 target at one side of the platform, and the archers to 
 stand at the other side, thus making shots at very 
 short range. To the surprise of every one, Jim 
 proposed that the target, which was a pine-board 
 about six inches wide, should be held by Captain 
 Applegate, in his hand at the front of the stage, and 
 that the Indians should shoot from the middle aisle 
 among the audience. 
 
 This proposal was received with intense applause. 
 Each man with his bow and arrows went down the 
 aisle half way. Shacknasty still standing on the stage 
 motioned to them and shouted " Back, back, I am no 
 boy" Every eye was upon the target, when the first 
 arrow was sent. It struck a little above the mark. 
 
FEATS OF INDIAN ARCHERY. 91 
 
 The next man planted his arrow within the spot. 
 Then another still closer. At each twang of the 
 bowstring the audience shouted. The most intense 
 watcher, however, was Shack nasty. Scar-Face Char 
 ley stuck his arrow within half an inch of the centre, 
 and a storm of applause greeted him as he strode back 
 to the stage. Each Indian had planted an arrow in 
 the target, and their feathered ends stood bristling 
 towards the audience. Every eye was now on 
 Shacknasty Jim, who seemed fully alive to the 
 occasion, going close to the target and scanning the 
 arrows closely, he made a small white spot in the 
 exact centre, amid a silence that was so intense that 
 every heart almost ceased beating. Xo man ever 
 strode with prouder step or firmer nerve than did 
 Shacknasty Jim walk down that aisle. He did not 
 stop where the others had done, but continued back, 
 back, until he was within a few feet of the remotest 
 part of the long hall, then drawing his arrow and 
 placing it on the string of his bow, he whirled, and 
 almost before it he had stopped, he sped it forth with 
 wicked twang and there in the little white spot in the 
 very centre of the target stood Shacknasty Jim's 
 arrow, still vibrating. 
 
 Shacknasty Jim, in this matter demonstrated that 
 Indian nature does not differ much from human nature 
 in general. But his archery differed so much from 
 ordinary shooting, that lie was an exception even to 
 Indians. Remember that this shot was made at a 
 small white spot in the centre of the mark on the 
 target, and so quickly executed that those who were 
 watching him, scarce saw it done. 
 
CIIAPTEK XY. 
 
 THE MISSION. 
 
 FIRST ENTERTAINMENT NEWSPAPER COMMENTS CROSSING THE CONTINENT 
 
 FINAL ORGANIZATION ROUTE INDIAN FRAUDS COMMKNDATIONS 
 
 LAST APPEARANCE, AT .TMK COOPKR INSTITUTE T11K LOST CHIEF DE 
 TECTIVES AND MEDIUMS ALMOST FOUND THE EFFECTS OF NEWS ON THE 
 
 LOST CHIEF'S PEOPLE. 
 
 HAVING completed the arrangements for the organ 
 ization of my lecture company, I left my home in 
 Salem, Oregon, followed by the prayers of my family, 
 who made great sacrifice of feelings that I might do 
 something for a despised race, at whose hands I had 
 received so many proofs of devotion, notwithstanding 
 I had been almost murdered by them, because of 
 their ill-treatment by my own race. 
 
 We gave the first entertainment in Sacramento 
 City, Cal., Feb. 2d. Our reception was all that we 
 could have desired, in every way. 
 
 The following is the account given by the Record. 
 
 " MR. MEACITAM AND THE MODOCS. Hon. A. B. Meacham was 
 greeted at the Metropolitan Theatre last night by a large and highly 
 intelligent audience. He was introduced by Hon. T. B. McFarland 
 with an appropriate and complimentary preface. Mr. Meacham in 
 turn introduced to the audience George Harney, a Christianized 
 Rogue River chief. Gaorge is a fine-looking man. He held in his 
 arras a diminutive repetition of himself, and beside him stood 
 
 92 
 
THE MISSION. 93 
 
 Maggie, his wife, a Shasta Indian woman of decidedly prepossess 
 ing appearance. Next came two Klamaths, David Hill, Wal-aiks- 
 ski-dat, the coming man of his tribe, and Tecumseh, a medicine 
 man, both now civilized and Christianized. Next came Frank 
 Kiddle, his wife Wi-ne-ma, and their son, Charka. Mr. Mcacham 
 paid a glowing tribute to the devotion, truth, and sagacity of Wi 
 ne-ma, and declared her a heroine of the highest order, reciting 
 her deeds briefly, the audience applauding warmly. Next came 
 Captain O. C. Applegate, a tall, fine-looking young man, a scout, 
 speaking six Indian tongues. Subsequently, when he addressed 
 the audience, he proved to be clear-voiced, easy, graceful, and 
 very intelligent. Mr. Meacham then began his lecture. It was a 
 review of historical facts, clearly recited, logically coupled, and 
 conclusively drawn to a conclusion which placed the whole Modoc 
 war in a new light. His picture of Captain Jack and the tale of 
 his wrongs awoke unbounded applause, but he was no apologist for 
 his savage deeds and brutal actions. His apostrophe to Wi-ne-ma, 
 as she took her life in her hands and three several times tore her 
 self from husband and son, to serve the pale-faces, was on a scale 
 grandly eloquent. His sketch of the Lava-beds, the position of 
 troops, and the scene of the assassination of Canby and Thomas 
 was graphic, and stood out in such bold relief, that every auditor 
 was thrilled, and saw the whole terrible event re-enacted. Mr. 
 Mcacham is a natural orator. His words are rapid, and seem to 
 crowd to his lips from a heart full to overflowing with his subject, 
 and more than earnest in the advocacy of humanity in the treat 
 ment of the Indian tribes. There is nothing sickly, however, 
 about his humanitarian views. lie is eminently practical, but 
 exactingly just. The lecture was a complete success, and not an 
 auditor moved to leave during its fervid delivery, while constant 
 applause attested the public satisfaction. After the lecture he 
 called attention to the power of the medicine-man in the tribe, the 
 strength of the superstition clinging about his office, and showed 
 how that stands in the way, more than any thing else, of the civil 
 ization of the red-man." 
 
 Our journey across the plains by rail was highly 
 interesting to my Indian friends. The first day, but 
 little was heard from them ; but on the second day 
 they relaxed their stoicism, and gave expression to 
 
94: THE MISSION. 
 
 sentiments complimentary to the enterprise of the 
 white men. 
 
 Our first appearance on "this side" was at St. 
 Joseph. Mo., Feb. 13th. At this point we were met 
 by Scar-Face Charley, Steamboat Frank, and Shack- 
 nasty Jim. Mr. James lied path, of the Boston 
 Lyceum Bureau, also met ITS here, and assumed the 
 advance management of the company, placing us 
 successively at Jefferson ville, St. Louis, Terre Haute, 
 Louisville, Lexington, Washington City, Philadelphia, 
 Reading, Norristown, Camden, Elizabeth, Trenton, 
 Newark, and finally in New York City, on the 1st of 
 April, 1875. Throughout the entire tour not one 
 single line of hurtful criticism had been uttered by 
 any newspaper. Unfortunately for our company, and 
 for the Indian race, we had been preceded by '' Indian 
 shows," which were mere speculations, many of them 
 painted white frauds; hence w r e were unable to secure 
 recognition, generally, by the sober, thinking friends 
 of the Indian. 
 
 We would not, and did not, cater for the entertain 
 ment of the mob. The expenses exceeded the re 
 ceipts, and I found myself on the 10th of April 
 several hundreds of dollars in debt, and unable to 
 continue the lectures, notwithstanding I had the fol 
 lowing endorsement of distinguished gentlemen : 
 
 NEW YORK, April 9, 1875. 
 
 "We commend to public confidence Colonel Meacham and the 
 Indians witli him. They are what they represent themselves to be 
 participants in the thrilling scenes of the Modoc war. 
 
 The meetings which Colonel Mcacham hns held, and the address 
 es of himself and the Indians, we have reason to believe have been 
 deeply interesting, and the object Colonel Meacham has in view 
 to benefit the Indians in the Far West, and to arouse the attention 
 
THE MISSIOX. 95 
 
 of the American public to the claims of these neglected people is 
 worthy of the warmest approbation and support. 
 
 CLINTON B. FISK, Prest. U. S. Board of Peace Comm'rs. 
 
 PETER COOPER. 
 
 JOHN M. FERRIS, Cor. Sec. Bd. of For. Miss, of Ref. Ch. 
 
 GEO. WHIPPLE, > Corresponding Secretaries of the Amer- 
 
 M. E. STRIEBY, > lean Miss. Association. 
 
 J. C. IIANCKEY, President N. Y. Universal Peace Union. 
 
 We had about decided to abandon the lecture field, 
 and send the Indians to their homes, when Peter 
 Cooper generously tendered the use of " Cooper In 
 stitute" for an entertainment. A. C. Squires, of 
 Brooklyn, kindly undertook i\\vpro tempore manage 
 ment. The 28th of April was named. Professor 
 I. Jay Watson, and his accomplished niece, Miss 
 Anna A. Watson, volunteered to furnish music for 
 the occasion. We made preparations for a grand 
 affair, hoping to realize sufficient profit to purchase 
 " tickets for home," but advertising, ushers' fees, and 
 incidental expenses absorbed the receipts. 
 
 The company were under a cloud, on account of the 
 sudden disappearance of Wal-aiks-ski-dat on the same 
 day. The friendship existing between him and Yum- 
 nis-poe-tis ; the character and habits of the man ; all 
 together precluded the probability of his absconding. 
 The police were applied to, orders were sent to all the 
 stations, with a description of the lost chief. Day 
 after day passed ; no tidings were received. Detect 
 ives Titus and Thompson were detailed to work up 
 the case. Every nook and corner of the city was 
 searched in vain. 
 
 Some friends suggested that the lost chief might 
 be found through the spirit " mediums." Willing to 
 
95 THE MISSION. 
 
 employ any honorable means to find him. we prom 
 ised to give the mediums the credit should they be 
 successful. Several professionals were consulted, but 
 neither detectives nor mediums could discover his 
 whereabouts. We received intimation that certain 
 parties might find the lost man, " provided the matter 
 was kept out of the papers. 
 
 To this we assented. With extreme care Detective 
 Titus followed the scent, and finally reached a point 
 where a reward was necessary. The offer of $1,000 
 was made in writing. Several meetings with the 
 parties were had. Details were talked of, promises 
 were demanded and given, and we began to believe 
 that we should once more see the "Red-skinned Pat 
 rick Henry" in the flesh. A meeting was appointed 
 at which the final details for the delivery of our chief 
 were to be made. The terms were for me to go alone 
 to a certain house at midnight, taking with me the 
 ransom to be paid, but the party of the second part 
 failed to put in an appearance, and he had covered 
 his tracks so carefully that Detective Titus, with all 
 his acknowledged shrewdness, failed to interview him 
 again. 
 
 Police, special detectives, spirit mediums, rewards, 
 all failed to give us tidings of Wal-aiks-ski-dat, un 
 til we were in despair. We knew that his loss would 
 fall upon his people like a dark shadow. Had the 
 chief died a natural death, or fallen at the hands of 
 an enemy, his people would have mourned for him 
 after the usual ceremonies of the tribe. They would 
 have girded their bodies with the weeping willow, 
 blackened their faces, put away their usual costumes, 
 
BOSTON CHARLEY, 
 
THE MISSION. 97 
 
 and, making pilgrimages to the sacred lakes, would 
 have bathed and fasted, while they prayed and sung 
 their weird, wild songs to the great Ka-moo-kum- 
 cliux, until the land where Wal-aiks-ski-dat was born 
 would have become vocal with the sad music. His 
 wife would have gone, with bowed head, and black 
 ened face, singing to her children of his deeds and 
 virtues, until he had, by some omen, given proof of 
 his happiness in the Spirit Land. 
 
 But when the tidings reached the shores of Klamatli 
 Lake, that "Wal-aiks-ski-dat had been lost, then there 
 would be swift steeds, and signal-fires, and loud lam 
 entations, proclaiming the sad story throughout the 
 land; and a great dark shadow would settle down 
 upon the people, like a cloud, seen in every face. 
 The usual business of life would be suspended. 
 Little groups would gather in the groves, and talk 
 over and over the strange affair. Superstition would 
 bloom in fixed theories. The old men would sit and 
 smoke in gloomy silence; the young men forget their 
 sports ; the maidens fail to paint, and the feather lie 
 hidden in latches; the deer stroll undisturbed in the 
 valleys, grass grow in the beaten trails, and the medi 
 cine-men would offer prayers, seeking wisdom and 
 consolation from the spirits of the wiser dead. 
 
 In despair of finding the lost chief, we prepared to 
 send the Indians home, having through the large- 
 heartedness of some friends at Washington City se 
 cured tickets by railroad. Meantime our hotel bill 
 ran up to $300. I informed the junior proprietor of 
 the hotel of our situation, and of my intention to 
 remain. He seemed reconciled to the necessities of 
 5 
 
98 THE MISSION". 
 
 the case. I prepared the Indians to start at 5 P.M., 
 under charge of Captain Applegate. They had assem 
 bled in the hall with their baggage, and were taking 
 leave of Wi-ne-ma and her husband, when I was 
 summoned to the hotel office. The senior proprietor 
 (who was a French gentleman) saluted me in earnest 
 tones, with " Ko-lo-nel Meezhum, you no takes away 
 ze Injuns until you paze me ze three hunerd dol-lar, 
 zar." Petition, remonstrance, defiance, resignation, 
 were all in vain. I offered him my gold watch, my 
 note, anything anything possible, but he only re 
 peated his speech. 
 
 It required about as much nerve to inform Shack- 
 nasty Jim and Steamboat Frank of the situation, as 
 it had done to meet them under a flag of truce two 
 years previous. Shacknasty Jim was on the war-path 
 in a moment, and proposed to scalp " Mister French 
 man." After some time spent in talking, the Indians 
 returned to their rooms. 
 
 For the fourth time, a " business man " put in an 
 appearance, and offered me " one hundred dollars per 
 night for four weeks, with the probability of a longer 
 time for the use of my company in a variety -theatre." 
 
 Here was a way out of the most embarrassing 
 financial affair of my life. I had failed to reach the 
 hearts of the better class, except in the few instances 
 named in the certificate of recommendation, and a 
 few other persons. Professor I. Jay Watson, upon 
 one occasion, introduced himself, leaving in my hand 
 a ten-dollar greenback. He also sent me 50 on the 
 following day. In like manner, the Kev. G. D. 
 Pike, of the American Missionary Society, introduced 
 
THE MISSION. 99 
 
 himself. Benjamin Tatham sent In6 check for $25 ; 
 Peace Society for $17. I mention these circumstances 
 and use names in a historical way, and trust the per 
 sons alluded to will not feel aggrieved. 
 
 My reply to the man who said he " meant business" 
 was, that "before I would permit these people to go 
 upon a platform where my own children could not go, 
 I would roll our blankets, and foot it through to 
 Oregon. I came here on a mission, and not on a 
 speculation, and God will open the way for our re 
 turn honorably. No, sir ! $500 a night would be no 
 temptation to me, even now in this dilemma." 
 
 The business man left abruptly, muttering some 
 thing about " fanatics." Almost in despair I wandered 
 along Broadway, downcast and despondent. At the 
 corner of Reade Street I met a white-haired man who, 
 in a friendly manner, introduced himself, and inquired 
 the cause of my downcast looks. I gave him the 
 story in brief; how I was sorely pushed for $150. 
 That man's quiet smile was photographed on my 
 memory when he remarked, "Come round to the 
 missionary rooms, 56 Reade Street." I went, at the 
 time appointed, met my friend, who, with the same 
 quiet smile, drew from a package one hundred and 
 fifty dollars, and handed them to me. Thank Heaven 
 for such men they make ns love our kind. 
 
 The joy of the French landlord was greater, if 
 possible, than my own. He accepted the $1 50, giving 
 me credit therefor, and my Indian friends were dis 
 patched for home, leaving only "Wi-ne-ma, her husband, 
 and son behind. 
 
 On the 10th of the following August, Wal-aiks-ski-dat 
 
100 TIIF MISSION: 
 
 arrived at home, on Klamath reservation. Captain 
 Applegate was informed of tlie great event, and 
 mounting his horse, hurried to learn from the lost 
 chief the history of his mysterious disappearance in 
 New York. His story was as follows: 
 
 DAVE HILL'S STORY. 
 
 We were to leave New York on the 30th day of April, and I had 
 become so tired of living in the city that I hardly knew how to put 
 in the time until our departure. On the evening of the 28th we 
 were to have a meeting at Cooper Institute, and after dinner, while 
 standing at a little fruit-stand on the corner of Broadway and 
 Bleecker Street, I saw two men crossing the street, eying me very 
 closely. There was a policeman with them when I first saw them. 
 Approaching, they questioned me until they found I was Dave Hill, 
 when they said they were good friends of mine, and that I was the 
 very man they wished to see. If I would go with them, they would 
 like to tell me something for my good, and would take me carriage- 
 riding out into the city. Not thinking that they were trying to get 
 away with me for any bad purpose, I followed them across Broad 
 way; then they continued moving along down, keeping some dis 
 tance away from me, motioning to me and saying, "come on." I 
 now hesitated and said, " I must get my friend TecumseH." "No," 
 said one, " we have no time to wait for Tecumseh. It is late not 
 long till sundown. We have to tell you some things you must 
 know, or your sun may go down forever."* 
 
 They led me off a few blocks from Broadway, and finding a rather 
 secluded place on the street, they produced a long paper written on 
 one side with a pencil. Then they went on to read from the paper 
 a long list of charges against " Dave Hill, "Uncle of Captain Jack, 
 Captain of Klamath Scouts in the Lava-beds," asserting that through 
 my treachery the Modocs were furnished with ammunition, and 
 that during the fight, on Jan. 17th, I killed a soldier; that on the 
 evidence of the Modocs I had been found guilty of both murder 
 and treason, and that all the arrangements were already made for 
 my execution. "Why," they said, "your sister Tobey Riddle is 
 now one of the principal witnesses against you. and your old-time 
 friend, Captain Applegate, is assisting in the preparations for your 
 death." They read from the paper the names of Link River Jack, 
 
THE MISSION. 101 
 
 Tobey Kelley, One Eye, Link River John, and of other Klamath 
 scouts who belonged to my company in the Lava-beds, accusing 
 them of furnishing ammunition to the Modocs, on the evidence of 
 Modocs, taken at the trial at Fort Klamath. 
 
 The paper also stated that Tecumseh would be taken across the 
 water for exhibition, and that Allan David and all the Klamath 
 Indians would be removed to the Indian Territory in about five 
 months. This all seemed so strange to me that I felt like one 
 dreaming. I could hardly think that the best friends 1 had in the 
 world had turned against me on account of lies told by the Modocs. 
 I said to the two men : " The paper is not straight ; I am not Cap 
 tain Jack's Uncle, nor am I Tobey (Wi-ne-ma) Kiddle's brother. 
 The first was a bad mart, and 1 helped to hang him. The other 
 may be a good friend to the whites, and knows that I have always 
 been, too. I was a captain of scouts in the Modoc war, and did 
 my duty as a friend of the whites. In the Snake war I also helped 
 the whites." They said, "the Modocs are jealous of you because 
 you have always been a true man. They did not like your helping 
 to hang Captain Jack, and they have finally got the authorities to 
 believe 4 the lies they have told about you. Colonel Meacham is 
 determined to have you hanged. We know you are not guilty, and 
 have for a long time been watching about the hotel to get you away 
 and save your life." 
 
 By this time we were in a livery stable, and were soon driving 
 throug"h the city in a carriage with the blinds closely drawn. 
 Finally we came near a railroad station, and the men lifted the 
 curtain and told me to look. Only a short distance away, but not 
 all in sight, on account of fencing or some other obstruction, was 
 what they said was my scaffold, on which I was to be hanged at 
 two o'clock the next day. Through the dim light of the evening I 
 could sse the upper part quite plainly, and that it looked very much 
 like that on which Captain Jack was hung at Fort Klamath. My 
 heart was now so full that I could not speak, and I rode along with 
 them silently, thinking very hard and wondering if it could all be a 
 dream, as they drove back at night through the city. Finally the 
 carriage was halted in a still and quiet part of the city, and I was 
 taken down into a dark cellar, where I was kept closely guarded 
 by one of the men for about a week and a half. 
 
 He then related how he was taken to a railroad 
 
102 THE MISSION. 
 
 depot, carried into the country, kept for five days, and 
 then returned to the cellar in the city, kept a ni<;lit 
 and a day, and then taken to the depot again, and 
 conveyed to Cincinnati. His story concludes as 
 follows : 
 
 Here my keeper left me, giving me forty dollars in money. He 
 had previously given me ten fifty in all. Before bidding me 
 "good-bye," he talked a long while with me about his friendship 
 for me, spoke about his personal danger in saving my life, and 
 warned me about trusting the treacherous white people. 
 
 Having to purchase some clothing, my money was so much re 
 duced that I only had enough to bring me a little way this side of 
 Chicago. There I was compelled to travel on foot until I could 
 find work. Sometimes I had employment in the hay-field, or at 
 chopping wood, and in this way would work until I had a few dol 
 lars ahead, and then ride a few hours on the cars. So I worked 
 my way along until I reached Fremont, on the Pacific Railroad. 
 There I found that the conductors allowed the Indians of the coun 
 try to ride free of charge on the platforms and tops of the cars. 
 
 So I painted myself a little, and being ragged enough anyway, 
 soon looked very little like a "Boston " man. Taking my place on 
 the top of a car, I found it went very well being a Sioux only the 
 dust and sunshine were not very comfortable, and hunger would 
 come now and then, and I would have to get down, wash off the 
 paint, and work awhile for muck-a-muck. But in this way I man 
 aged to get along very well, being first a Sioux, then a Shoshone, 
 then a Piute, and finally a California Digger, when I arrived at 
 Reading. At last I am at home among my own people, after a 
 tiresome journey of nearly three months. I am glad to find that 
 my friends of the long ago are still my friends, but it makes my 
 heart sick to think how many times in the last few months I thought 
 I never should see my people again. 
 
CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 SAGES AND SAVAGES. 
 
 WAL-AIKS-SKI-DAT AT INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA YUM- 
 NIS-POE-TIS' MEDICINE SPEECH AUTHOR'S REFLECTIONS IN WRIT 
 TEN WORDS. 
 
 DURING our tour as a lecture company, on various 
 occasions the Indians delivered speeches, many of 
 them were worthy of preservation. Perhaps the most 
 valuable one of which I have record, was that of 
 "Wal-aiks-ski-dat, at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, 
 on the occasion of our visit, on the 24th of March, by 
 invitation of his honor, Mayor Stokely. My people 
 were deeply impressed with the surroundings, when, 
 informed of the history of this hall. Speeches were 
 made by white men and Indians. "Wal-aiks-ski-dat 
 said: 
 
 " I feel like a very small man in this place. Among 
 my own people I am not a small man. This seems like 
 a sacred place where men ought to think, and not talk. 
 My heart is wandering away to the Great Spirit, and 
 I am asking Him why my people did not hear about 
 the new law that was made here. They were very 
 poor, and had not many liorses, perhaps that was the 
 reason why he did not tell them. 
 
 103 
 
104: SAGES AND SA VAGES. 
 
 My people have lately heard that there was a new 
 law, and they sent me to see about it. If it is a good 
 law, my people want a part of it. I think it must be 
 good, because I see with my own eyes what (lie white 
 man can do with . this law. I am glad in my heart 
 that I have seen the place where this new law started. 
 Maybe I can take some of it back to my people. 
 When I look at the great men who made the new 
 law, they seem to be a long way off from me, and I 
 think I cannot catch up with them. 
 
 The white man lives upon the top of a high moun 
 tain. He can see many things which I cannot. When 
 I look inside of myself, I wonder what makes the 
 difference. I know that my skin is red, but my heart 
 is just like the white man's heart. When I think 
 these things over, I feel like as if I was lost in a dark 
 mountain, and did not know the way out. There are 
 some things I do not understand. I know that the 
 Negro w r as a slave, and that the white men had a biff 
 
 O ' O 
 
 war about it. I know that he is- all the same as a 
 white man now. I see some men that are not like the 
 white men. They were born on some other land. They 
 are Irishmen, Englishmen, Spaniards, Portuguese, 
 and some Chinamen too ; all these men are just the 
 same as the white men. They go where they wish 
 to, and nobody says "No." They vote and build 
 houses. Why is all this? An Indian cannot go 
 anywhere without his agent gives him a paper. 
 lie is just the same as a slave. He is not free. He 
 seems to be a stranger everywhere. Men look at 
 me as though I was a mountain lion. They seem to 
 think that I am a wild man. I am not wild. / 
 
SA GES AND SA VA GES. 105 
 
 am a man. Why do you treat my people as if they 
 were all crazy, and had no sense ? My people are no 
 fools. You know more than we do about these things, 
 and some things you do not. I hear your spirit-man 
 pray. He does riot say anything about the Indian 
 to the Great Spirit. I was in the great law house 
 at Washington, (referring to the Capitol.) I saw 
 Negroes there. I saw every kind of people- there, 
 but Indians. 
 
 I think the laws that are made are not straight, 
 they are crooked. They leave the Indian out. He 
 has no one to talk for liim.^ Do you think this is what 
 the men up there meant ? Did they intend that every 
 body should have a chance to talk except the Indian ? 
 They look like good men (pointing to the faces of 
 the signers of the Declaration on the wall.) Perhaps 
 they see me now. I am not ashamed to look them in 
 the eye. Some men say they are our friends. If they 
 are our friends, why do they not ask us about what 
 we want ? They send men to the reservations and do 
 not ask us if we want them. I went to see the Pres 
 ident. He looks just like any other man. I was not 
 afraid of him. I intended to tell him what my peo 
 ple wanted, but his ear was to small, he could not 
 hear me. I brought all the things in my heart away. 
 
 Then I went to see the Commissioner. He had 
 large ears. He seemed to listen to what I had to tell 
 him, but I looked him in the eye. He did not put 
 the things I told him in his heart. My heart got sick, 
 because I had came a long way with Colonel Meacham 
 to see these men, but they would not take the words 
 I gave them. I saw a colored man talking to the 
 5* 
 
106 SAGES AND SA VA GES. 
 
 Commissioner, and he listened to all the colored man 
 said. I have got my heart full of the things I have 
 seen. Some tilings make me feel sick. When I came 
 here I thought I had a part in all I saw. Now I 
 do not think so. Some things have been told me 
 that are true, and some are not true. It is not true 
 that an Indian can be a white man. Yes he can be 
 like a white man, but the wliite man won't let him. 
 He stands on the Indian's head. He will not let him 
 get up. "When the Indian tries to stand by the side 
 of the white man, he pushes him away. He does 
 not push the Negro away, nor the Spaniard. 
 
 I ask Colonel Meacham why is this ? He told me 
 it was because the Indian could not vote. I can vote 
 if the white man will let me. Some white men say 
 an Indian is wild and don't know how to vote. I 
 would riot vote for whisky. I would not vote for a 
 gambler. I know a good man when I see his eyes and 
 hear him talk. I want the wliite man to get off my 
 head. I want an even start, and if I cannot keep up 
 with him, I must go behind him. But some of the 
 Indians can keep up. I hear about your < big Sun 
 day' that is coming next summer, (referring to the 
 centennial celebration). I know about that too. 
 "When that 'big Sunday' comes, I want to hear your 
 great chiefs talk. 1 want them to change the law so 
 that an Indian can have a chance to travel on the same 
 road with the white man and the Negro. I want my 
 children to have a part in this country. They are in 
 school now, and they can read books. I hope you 
 men who have talked so straight to us will have the 
 law changed, so that all may have an even chance to 
 
SA GES A ND SA VA GES. 107 
 
 own houses, and build great bridges, and make laws. 
 All I have said comes from my heart, and the Great 
 Spirit has heard me talk. He knows that my heart 
 is good, and my tongue is straight. I want your 
 spirit-men (meaning ministers of the church,) to talk 
 to the Great Spirit for my people. I want all good 
 white men to stand by me when 1 try to le a man. 
 I want the soldiers taken away from my country, and 
 the whisky men kept away, and then if we have good 
 agents, we will get along well enough. Maybe some 
 time my people will sing with your people, and we 
 shall all be like one people. You have heard my 
 people speak, when I have talked. You have seen 
 their hearts. I have spoken." 
 
 This speech was received with great applause. 
 Would that it could have been heard by the great 
 masses who compose this government. I do not think 
 it was fully up to this man's ability as an orator ; but 
 it certainly covers all the ground. Here was a man 
 talking who was born in a wild Indian camp, amid 
 the mountains of the Far West. He was pleading for 
 his race in the house where American liberty had its 
 birth, within the very walls where Patrick Henry 
 thrilled his hearers and sent words of patriotism out 
 into the listening ears of the world, which will be 
 repeated as long as the language in which he spoke 
 shall survive, long as human nature shall cry for jus 
 tice. He spoke not for his people alone, but for 
 mankind. This man corning to the sacred spot, fresh 
 from the scenes of debauchery, and still later from 
 the side of the chief magistrate of the nation, with 
 his heart grieved at the indifference of the great chief, 
 
108 SAGES AND SA VAGUS. 
 
 overawed by the wonderful attainments of the white 
 man, by his power, understanding too the white man's 
 boast of honesty and universal brotherhood ; feeling 
 and realizaing how much of it was false; was plead 
 ing for his people after the heroes who stood up 
 against the world for freedom and justice to all man 
 kind, had all been laid to rest. 
 
 It was a scene which moved every heart with 
 deepest emotion, it was one which ought to be re 
 peated every day of the forthcoming celebration, and 
 until this great nation should arise as one man, and 
 demand justice for the Indian. I cannot forego the 
 reflection that in the glory of the coming centennial 
 anniversary, every tongue and ever nation on the face 
 of the globe can take a part in the chorus which will 
 ring out over the continent until its last echo shall be 
 lost on the bosom of the Pacific Ocean, save the 
 Indian alone. To the intelligent Indian it will be a 
 day of deep sorrow, not so much because of the change 
 of civilization, but because his race has been so nearly 
 exterminated, for having manifested the virtues which 
 will be the spirit of every orator's theme that of 
 rebellion against injustice. The millions will shout 
 and shake the world with their exultations, and the 
 whole nation will shed tears of joy and thanksgiving, 
 but the red-man must wait, wait all alone, for God 
 to speak once more before the declaration of inde 
 pendence shall be made good by guaranteeing to every 
 human being equal and exact justice before the law. 
 The great patriotic heart of the American means to be 
 just and to do justice, but the Indian's voice is lost in 
 the presence of aggregated millions, and accumulated 
 
SAGES AND SA VAGES. 1Q9 
 
 power. Be patient Wal-aiks-ski-dat, the God who 
 smiled one hundred years ago upon the brave men 
 standing where you now stand, still lives, and he will 
 yet hear the cry of every despised race upon the face 
 of the globe. 
 
 Yum-nis-poe-tis (the chief without beads,) was the 
 medicine-man of my company. On every occasion 
 lie explained the manner of curing sickness, giving 
 the authority under which he acted, reciting the old 
 traditions of his people, about the origin of medicine 
 men. He represented that as far back as the race 
 existed, from the first they knew of the Great Spirit. 
 I had especial reasons for having an Indian to 
 present this phase of Indian life. I knew that 
 very few men understood the inside life of the Indian, 
 and I knew that his religion controlled him more than 
 do the religious pretentious of any other people. I 
 believed and still believe that want of a better under 
 standing of Indian religion was and is the greatest 
 drawback to his adoption of our civilization. That ie, 
 if the white men understood him better, and exercised 
 more charity in their treatment of the Indian, regard 
 ing his religion as sacred to him, granting him credit for 
 honesty in actions which are controlled by his relig 
 ion, many difficulties which arise might be avoided. 
 Who ever heard of a white man standing up in 
 the face of the world and declaring that the Indian 
 had any right to his religious practices and beliefs. 
 We have fearless advocates for every other race, 
 and every other creed and form ; but the Indian 
 being uneducated, having no written forms or creeds ; 
 making no proselytes ; having no recognition as a 
 
HO SAGES AND SAVAGES. 
 
 citizen ; no rights before the law ; regarded as an alien 
 even on the soil which gave him birth ; denied par 
 ticipation in the franchise of the citizen ; regarded as 
 an equal only when trading for his lands ; denied even 
 a voice in selecting his own guardians; considered 
 fair spoil for the sharp practice of the white man ; 
 his estates confiscated for pretended violations of 
 treaty stipulations ; cowed by the exhibition of power 
 which he is made to feel when he pleads for his 
 rights; intimidated by the display of a civilization 
 which projects among his people the vilest practice of 
 morals ; beguiled by the soft speech of pretended 
 friends ; betrayed by those who are set over him with 
 out his consent ; having no appeal to the powers that 
 be; witnessing the partiality shown to every other 
 form of man in preference to his own ; compelled to 
 see rising on his hunting-grounds the empire of the 
 white race whose intrigue has taken advantage of his 
 ignorance of common law ; while trusting to the 
 honor of his conqueror to stand over the debris of 
 his wigwam, and gaze sadly at the remains of his 
 family, among the smoking ruins; to see the uptorn 
 graves of his fathers, with their whitened bones car 
 ried by the howling wolf in triumph to his hiding- 
 place ; sees his race melting before a new civiliza 
 tion singing, "peace on earth and good will," while 
 destroying the weaker from its own greed of gain. 
 Does my reader wonder that the Indian strikes back, 
 and in fury with hopeless despair, throws himself upon 
 the advancing bayonets of a professedly God-fearing 
 nation ? 
 
 Are we sure we have a better civilization than the 
 
SA GES AND SA VA GES. HI 
 
 man who believes in a God, who through his medi 
 cine-men tells him to defend himself when his pre 
 tended friends betray him and rob him without 
 justification ? Is it just the thing for the descendants 
 of the revolutionary sires, to exultingly defy every 
 principle of right in the exercise of power won by 
 our shrewdness over a weaker race ? These reflections 
 have crowded themselves into this chapter because 
 the subject of the medicine man of the Indian sug 
 gests them. Could Yum-nis-poe-tis have made his 
 speech and his plea for justice to the people of the 
 United States, as he made it to those who attended 
 our lectures, he would have wrought a change for the 
 better in public sentiment towards his race. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 THE BIBLE AND TRADITION. 
 
 TIRST PAIR THE FORBIDDEN TREE THE DELUGE THE GREAT 
 PEACE-MAKER HIS MIRACLES HIS PREACHING KEY TO INDIAN 
 RESISTANCE AUTHENTICITY OF TRADITION. 
 
 THE Indian guards his religious traditions, with so 
 much reverential care, that only after long years of 
 patient research, have I been able to obtain satisfactory 
 data on this subject. 
 
 To Wi-ne-ma, I am indebted for the following. 
 From her character, and the supporting evidence 
 obtained from old men in other days, I am satisfied 
 that she gave me the history as it has come down for 
 many generations, by tradition, to her people. 
 
 Ka-rnoo-kum-chux (God), or the Great Spirit, after 
 He made the world, all the animals felt lonely. He 
 then made a man out of very fine earth and placed him 
 before a great fire to dry. He went away and left 
 him until the next morning. On his return, God saw 
 the man walking on four feet like a bear. lie lifted 
 him up and told him to raise his eyes. The man did 
 so, and God told him he need not walk on all his feet 
 any more, but might walk on two, as lie did, and that 
 if he would do as He bid him, he would make his 
 
 112 
 
THE BIBLE AND TRADITION. H3 
 
 front feet grow slender and long so he could handle 
 the bow. Then God took him into a beautiful valley 
 surrounded by mountains, and told him he might live 
 there as long as he obeyed him. He showed him the 
 trees which bore fruit. Those which did not bear 
 fruit were for bows and arrows. The fruit-trees were 
 all of them stoned fruit, like the wild plum. God 
 told the man that one tree was for his own use, and 
 that he must not touch that tree on any account. The 
 man promised to obey. God then left him for several 
 days. 
 
 When He returned, the man was crying and 
 said he wanted somebody for company. God said He 
 was sorry for him, that if he would lie down and 
 sleep very sound, He would bring him a friend. The 
 man obeyed. While he slept, God took a bone from 
 each upper arm, and one bone from each thigh and 
 made a woman. When God had finished the woman 
 lie set the body before the fire to dry. Sometimes He 
 smoothed with his hand to make it more beautiful 
 than the first. When it was well dried, He blew his 
 breath between his hands at it, and immediately it 
 began to talk very fast. God hid himself to see tha 
 man wake up. The man ran and put his arms around 
 the woman, and kissed her. When God saw this, He 
 laughed aloud, arid the man was ashamed. God told 
 the man that "he must never Jdss her again in 
 His presence" It is a fact that a pure Indian never 
 kisses his wife in the presence of other people. The 
 pair were very happy until the woman went alone for 
 fruit. She met what appeared to be a man, but was 
 not a man, yet could talk like a man. This creature, 
 
114: THE BIBLE AND TRADITION. 
 
 which the Indians insist was "spooks" (the devil) 
 told the woman that he could show her better fruits 
 than she had found, and led her to the tree which was 
 for God's own use. The woman had been told by her 
 husband, not to touch that tree, but " spooks " told 
 her it was a mistake, this was not God's tree ; so the 
 woman plucked and ate the fruit, and carried some to 
 her husband. 
 
 As soon as she tasted the plums, she felt like as 
 if she were a god herself, and made two aprons 
 to cover her round the waist, nearly to her knee, 
 because God always wore such aprons. When she 
 came to the man, he woke with a cold feeling, and 
 began to scold. He told her that she had stolen from 
 God, and God would punish them. He refused to 
 eat the fruit, and would not arise until the woman put 
 her aprons over him and went to find more leaves to 
 make her new ones. God came again and was angry. 
 He asked what all this meant. The man excused 
 himself, and God forgave him, but told the woman 
 that He had made her man's equal, but since she had 
 been eating stolen fruit she was not worthy, so she 
 must be man's servant all the days of her life. Then 
 man assumed control over her and has had it ever 
 since, and ought to have. She has always been his 
 servant and has done his bidding. 
 
 After the human family had become numerous, 
 they began to kill each other off. They say that God 
 came in person to the red people then for a long time, 
 but would not see those who had become black-skinned 
 people. 
 
 The Modoc tradition, recites the history of the 
 
THE BIBLE AND TRADITION. H5 
 
 Deluge, that it was sent to destroy the human family, 
 except, one pair; that before the Deluge the people 
 were very much larger than the present race. They 
 are represented in this tradition to have been twelve 
 to fifteen feet in height, and of proportionate weight, 
 hence were very destructive. God had warned them 
 against killing each other, threatening to destroy them, 
 but this warning was disregarded. Selecting the 
 smallest man and the smallest woman of all the people, 
 lie bade them go to the top of a very high mountain, 
 taking with them a pair of crows, a pair of hawks, a 
 pair of white rabbits and one pair of white deer; and 
 they obeyed the command. 
 
 The waters rose up round the mountain, covering 
 all the land about it, and destroying every living thing, 
 save the small man and woman, and the birds and ani 
 mals which they had taken to the mountain-top. When 
 the waters began to reach them, the man and woman 
 were frightened and began to make a canoe. God 
 came and talked to them, and said if they would trust 
 in Him lie would not permit them to be drowned. 
 He caused a wall of spirits to form round the moun 
 tain-top, which held back the waters, although it rose 
 high above them. Such is the tradition regarding 
 the Deluge. 
 
 When the waters subsided the small pair were 
 started out on a peace plan, but as they multiplied, 
 contentions arose, and wars followed. God talked 
 often with them in person, endeavoring to make them 
 live in peace. He promised to send his own Son to 
 them as a peace-maker, telling them that if they 
 received him and kept the words he gave them, 
 
116 THE BIBLE AND TRADITION. 
 
 lie would no more cover the earth with water. He 
 bade each man to many as many women as he could 
 take care of, and that all women might raise children 
 without shame, that none should be widows. 
 
 At the appointed time there was one woman who 
 came, and no one knew where from. She had no 
 mother, no father, she was not like other women 
 although she was red-skinned. She said she was the 
 daughter of Ka-moo-kum-chux," that her father often 
 met her and talked with her. Ka-moo-kum-chux told 
 her to rub her body with ashes and that she would be 
 like other women. She did as he commanded. He 
 then scraped some fine powder from a shell of many 
 colors and gave it to her to drink in water. God 
 willed that she should bear a son. She told the people 
 that she was very happy now because God had prom 
 ised that she should bear a child. He bade her not to 
 look in the face of any man. When her time of sickness 
 had come, He commanded her to go away from other 
 women all alone. She did as she was told, and her 
 babe was born in a wigwam. She laid it in a canoe 
 made of cottonwood bark and covered it with a deer 
 skin robe. She then sat down beside the canoe, and 
 waited for Ka-moo-kum-chux. When he came, she 
 did not look up, but he went to the canoe and lifting 
 the deer-skin he smiled and put bis hands upon the 
 child's forehead, and pressed it back, saying, this is 
 my child, and this shall be a sign of my children. 
 Mar-cha the mother went among the people, and 
 told them it was God's Son, and named him I sees 
 (Peace-Maker). "When I-sees was about ten years 
 old, aa he was playing with other children, the spirit 
 
THE BIBLE AND TRADITION. 
 
 of God came upon him, he took fresh earth between 
 his hands and it turned to a white powder like flour. 
 The old chiefs and wise men came to see him. He 
 took water and pouring it from one cup to another 
 turned it to blood. Other boys became jealous of his 
 power and sought to kill him. His mother took 
 him to the mountains, and hid him, until he was 
 grown, when some pretended friend betrayed him, 
 and his enemies took him to the shore of a lake. A 
 great many people came from a long way off to hear 
 him talk, the people were hungry and could get noth 
 ing to eat. They asked I-sees where to catch fish. 
 He pointed to a canoe on the shore of the lake, and 
 told them to go and get all they wanted. The people 
 did not believe until he commanded the fish to come 
 into the canoe, and soon it was full. The people began 
 to cook, and eat. As fast as they could take fish 
 from the canoe, other fish would leap in. So the 
 canoe was all the time full to its brim. This con 
 tinued as long as the people remained on the shore of 
 the lake. 
 
 One day Jesus for this is undoubtedly their his 
 tory of Jesus made a horse sick, and the horse died. 
 Jesus commanded the horse to rise, and he arose 
 sweating and foaming. While the people were 
 wondering how he had cured the horse, and while a 
 great many eyes were upon him, he turned the same 
 horse into a rabbit. They brought to him people who 
 had been blind from birth, and begged him to cure 
 them. 
 
 Jesus made a mark with white chalk round the 
 eyes of the blind, then dipping his hand in ashes and 
 
118 THE BIBLE AND TRADITION. 
 
 pressing them together, He nibbed out the chalk- 
 marks by placing his hands upon the blind eyes and 
 throwing them outward. This was repeated many 
 times. Meanwhile he was asking God to help him. 
 Holding a thin cloth over the patient, he iilled his 
 mouth with water, which he Hew upon the cloth and 
 thus sprinkled the lace of the blind. He bade the 
 blind to rise, and immediately they were shouting 
 with joy. The deformed were brought to him and 
 were made straight, the lame were cured, and the sick 
 were healed. 
 
 According to this tradition the " Son of God " came 
 to the red-men of this continent. They claim that 
 he came to the ancestors of the Modocs and taught 
 them manjr things; that he went away with his 
 molher, and that his enemies killed him by shooting 
 him with arrows; that, although he was killed a long 
 way from them, they knew when it was done, and 
 were angry. While they were preparing to go upon 
 the war-path to avenge, his death his mother's spirit, 
 although she was still alive, came to them and told 
 them, that he was not really dead, that when his ene 
 mies shot him with arrows, she took his body and 
 buried it under a heap of broken stones. That after 
 two days she left him, and on her return she found 
 his body was gone. She thought some one had stolen 
 it and went about crying, when Jesus appeared and 
 talked to her. 
 
 He came again to the Modocs, and showed them 
 where the arrows had pierced him. He called all the 
 red-men together, and taking a stand on a low hill 
 where broken stones were abundant he motioned to 
 
THE BIBLE AND TRADITION. 119 
 
 the stones and commanded them to become a wall like 
 a house ; soon a great wall arose round the people. 
 Jfc is asserted with much earnestness that this stone 
 wall is still in existence. According to this tradition 
 it is located in the sacred lands, east of Yai-nax, in the 
 southern part of Oregon. I have long known some 
 thing of the "sacred lands" of the Modocs and 
 Klamaths. 
 
 He also performed other miracles, such as making 
 water to flow from dry ground; soon it became a 
 burning steam. Then Jesus blew his breath upon it, 
 and it was made cold water. He instructed the peo 
 ple how to make the tu-le grass into houses and 
 into wearing-apparel. lie told them that he was 
 going away, but would come again and bring peace 
 on earth ; that whenever they saw a great light in the 
 north they might know that he was appearing to 
 some of the people. 
 
 " It is claimed that the " Great Peace-Maker" prom 
 ised to point out the medicine-men for the people, and 
 that he would always help them if they were faithful, 
 He further taught them to retaliate on their enemies as 
 a means of protection and in vindication of their 
 rights. That as they saw him go away, so might all 
 his children go ; that he would not leave his body on 
 earth, that they should not leave theirs, that the spirit 
 would not leave the earth until the body was burned 
 to ashes. 
 
 HIS ASCENSION. 
 
 "While he yet spake to them, the rock whereon he 
 stood begun to smoke, and soon it became a flame of 
 
120 TUB BIBLE AND TRADITION. 
 
 lire, which hid him from the people. The flame 
 slowly lifted from the rocks, and rose upward, grow 
 ing larger and brighter, until it made the world light 
 as sunshine. The flame of fire continued to rise 
 until it turned to a star and went out of sight, away 
 in the north. 
 
 Let us consider how much of the tradition is 
 supported by other evidence than Indian story. The 
 consideration of the subject may give us more respect 
 for Indian character. It is an incontrovertible fact, 
 that everywhere the Indian is found in covering for 
 both male, and female, which agrees with the tradi 
 tional aprons made of fig-leaves. It is a singular fact 
 that the bones of the upper arm and also the thigh 
 bones are single. He accounts for the hands instead 
 of four feet. He shows his authority for making 
 woman his slave or servant. He accounts well for 
 the deception which the devil practiced upon our 
 Mother Eve. His tradition as to the mother of Jesus 
 is no more wonderful than the conception of the 
 Virgin Mary as found in the Bible. The birth of 
 the Saviour is told with as much clearness as that of 
 Mary, the Virgin wife of Joseph, being compelled to 
 sleep in a stable. In proof that this tradition had its 
 origin in the birth of Jesus, it is a habit well known 
 to every person of experience and observation of 
 Indian life, that the women universally go alone and 
 remain alone when a child is born. The traveller in 
 the Indian country, asks what the little house apart 
 from other lodges means, but he seldom gets infor 
 mation, unless he is known to be friendly. 
 
 The mark said to have been placed upon the infant 
 
THE BIBLE AND TRADITION. 
 
 Peace-maker by flattening tlie forehead, is honored to 
 this day by many of the western tribes, who place 
 a board upon the forehead of the new-born babe, 
 which is continued until the head is in shape known 
 as " Flat-Head." Three of my Indians composing 
 "The Meacham Lecture Company" of 1875, were 
 Flat-Heads. The first miracles of the Saviour, turning 
 water to blood, feeding the multitudes upon the shore 
 of a lake, by commanding the fish to leap into the 
 canoe, is as acceptable to the Christian devotee, as the 
 other. Making the horse sick and raising him from 
 the dead at the same hour, does not tax the Christian 
 believer's faith more than the raising of Lazarus 
 after decomposition had begun. The manner of his 
 death is rational and probable since " no bones were 
 broken" as the death upon the cross. His burial by 
 his mother beneath the broken stones, is not incon- 
 sistant with the fact of his resurrection ; no more so 
 than the removal of the great stone at the door of 
 the sepulchre. It is in evidence that the Indians 
 believed this tradition, and honored it by piling stones 
 upon the grave of their dead. All over America these 
 stone piles may be found. The traveller asks what 
 these piles mean, but he seldom gets an answer from 
 the Indian, because the Indian believes, in fact he 
 knows, that in nearly every instance he would be 
 laughed at by the scoffing white man. 
 
 That Jesus appeared after his death, with arrows, 
 and pointed to the scars made by them, does not call 
 for more faith than the proof required by doubting 
 Thomas. Commanding the broken stones to take 
 places in a wall, is no more trying to Christian faith, 
 
122 THE BIBLE AND TEAD1TON. 
 
 than the rending of the great vail in the temple. 
 Making the water to flow from the ground, is as 
 possible as Moses making it flow from a rock. 
 
 Setting it on fire, is not inconsistant with " The 
 burning bush," or Elijah's fire trials with Ahab. His 
 mother appearing to them before he had risen from 
 the pile is as reasonable as the arrest of Paul on the 
 way to Damascus. His ascension, was as tangible 
 and as consistent with his power, when according to 
 Indian tradition they saw him rise before their eyes 
 and in a cloud of fire pass beyond mortal sight ; as the 
 Bible history. Their belief that he went thus, so 
 that all the world could witness the ascension, is a 
 beautiful thought. That he comes somewhere when 
 the red lights appear in the north, is one of the 
 grandest thoughts that could be conceived by mortal. 
 
 The origin of this tradition may be a question in 
 which historians might take especial interest. I shall 
 not enter into a discussion of this subject, further 
 than to say that I have failed to find any tradition or 
 other evidence of white men having been among the 
 Modoc Indians prior to 1844. It is enough for the 
 purpose I have in view that of securing respect for 
 the Indian Race to know, that for uncounted gene 
 rations they have lived under the laws of God, as given 
 them l>y this tradition. 
 
 "Live in peace with all people. Feed the hungry. 
 Clothe the naked. Divide what you have with your 
 neighbor. Do as you agree to, and compel others to do 
 the same" is very nearly the Indian's understanding 
 God's law, as proclaimed by the " Great Peace-MdJcer." 
 
 The Indian believes that the penalty for disobe 
 dience, begins in this life, and follows into the next. 
 
THE BIBLE AND TRADITION". 123 
 
 They believe that those who obey the laws will live 
 forever in a beautiful spirit-world, where God and 
 His Son come often, and their light shines in one 
 perpetual day. Those who disobey God, will be 
 consigned in a far-off, cold, dark land until tliev have 
 
 O 77 , 
 
 themselves atoned for all their crimes, and then be 
 permitted to come into God's presence. " The Son 
 of God is regarded as a Law- Giver and Peace-Maker ', 
 hot as an atonement. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 now HEROES ARE MADE. 
 
 THE MODOC'S PHYSICAL MANHOOD EARLY TEAINING HINTS USEFUL TO 
 
 CIVILIZED PEOPLE INCIDENTAL APPEAL FOR JUSTICE HOW HEROES 
 
 ARE MADE MEDICINE-MEN HOW SELECTED BRINGING OUT UT-TI-NA 
 
 HIS FAILURE. 
 
 IF tlie civilized world was astonished at the won 
 derful courage and success of the Modoc Indians in 
 the Lava-beds, it was in part because so little was 
 known of them previous to the war of 1872 and '73. 
 They were not larger men physically, in fact they 
 were rather below the average size of the Indian 
 tribes of America. The average height would not 
 have exceeded five feet nine inches, and w T eight about 
 one hundred and sixty pounds. They were rather 
 darker in color, had large dark eyes, straight black 
 hair of unusual fineness, small hands and feet, straight 
 1 imbed. Not one of them was a half-breed, as has been 
 asserted by newspapers. That they were universally 
 different from other Indians, there is no doubt, but 
 not on account of mixing with white blood. They 
 were pure Indians. The following article furnished 
 the Boston "JZeacon" Dec. 1765, will give a correct 
 idea of the manner in which these strange people 
 trained their children. 
 
 124 
 
HO W HEROES ARE MADE. 125 
 
 Two years have passed since the bugle-call led the soldier from 
 the banquet of blood in the Lava-beds of Oregon. 
 
 A marble shaft stands above the lamented Canby, and the monu 
 ment which marks the final resting-place of Dr. Thomas sets 
 calmly upon the summit of Lone Mountain, San Francisco. The 
 tall rye-grass bends above the sleeping soldier at the foot of the 
 bluff near the stronghold of the Modocs. The widows of the 
 slain still shade their sorrows beneath sable mourning. The 
 orphans wear saddened faces at mention of Modoc's name. The 
 remnant band of savage heroes shout back their anguish to the 
 bleak winds of their prairie home in a land of exile. The maimed 
 victims of both races hobble on, seeking to forget the past. The 
 Modoc Chief lives only in the ignominious roll of outlaws. The 
 government of the United States continues to treat the red-man as 
 a child of some foreign creator ; refuses to recognize his man 
 hood, save as a contracting power whom to outwit is justice ; forgets 
 the terrible lessons of the past; refuses to concede to him the 
 rights and courtesies extended to every other race upon the globe ; 
 ignoring his religious convictions and ceremonies ; demanding of 
 him attendance upon councils nominated without consultation with 
 his representatives ; expecting him to accede to propositions made 
 to him unsolicited on his part; and seeking to intimidate him with 
 the presence and display of glittering bayonets. 
 
 The present outlook at the relations between the government and 
 the Indian race recalls the Modoc war and the possibility of another 
 tragedy. Commissioners are sent to the Black Hill country, to 
 treat with the owners of the soil from whence they sprang. Days 
 and weeks have passed, and yet no treaty is made. Unwilling to 
 grant what they demand confidence because they are conscious 
 of good intentions on their part, the commissioners remember the 
 treachery of the Modocs, but forget the treachery of their own race 
 which went unwhipped of justice and were rewarded for similiar 
 crimes. The result cannot be foretold. We can only await events. 
 Meantime we remember the causes which led to the Modoc war 
 and tremble for the issue. Now it is not probable, should war 
 ensue that it would result in giving to the world such an example 
 of heroism as did the Modoc war. That war has no counterpart in 
 written history, or living tradition. When reviewed, at this date, 
 we see how the civilized world looked on and wondered at the 
 success of the little band of braves numbering but half a hundred, 
 
126 HOW HEROES ARE MADE. 
 
 while it wept over the victims of their courage and their treachery. 
 The question still comes up, " Was it true that a half-savage man 
 with so few followers did resist successfully the efforts of such an 
 army? What was the secret of his success?" The query could not 
 be answered hy any one gathering his store of facts from the 
 enemies of the Modocs. 
 
 That they did successfully withstand the repeated assaults of an 
 army of twenty times their own number, is declared by the upheav 
 ing graves above a hundred soldiers and half the number of slain 
 citizens. The answer of the second question is, that they were 
 fighting for manhood's privileges, which had been denied them, on 
 equal terms with other races. They had stored away in their hearts 
 a long train of wrongs which had suffered. They had made three 
 several attempts to live in peace upon Klamath Reservation, and 
 had failed. They had been pushed into a war against their wishes 
 and had committed unparalleled crimes for which they were under 
 indictment. They had witnessed the partiality with which the 
 laws of the white man were administered. They had known of no 
 single instance in which the common prejudice against their race 
 had not prevented justice from having untrammelled action when 
 they or their race were before the courts. 
 
 They were in hopeless despair when they retired to the Lava-beds. 
 They had no faith in the assurance offered by the peace commission 
 ers of a fair trial before a jury of their peers, so long as the public 
 sentiment of the American race, as declared by the press, was in 
 favor of extermination. They had no assurance that those who 
 had committed crimes against them would be dealt with justly. 
 They were sustained by their medicine-men, who promised them 
 protection and exemption from danger by the bullets of the soldier. 
 They were entrenched in a great natural fortress and in desperation 
 they awaited the attack. Still with all this to sustain them, it does 
 not tell, why, and how, they endured so much, and accomplished 
 so much. Certainly the rocks of the Lava-beds did not protect 
 them in the first battle on Lost River, when they were attacked by 
 three times their own number, nor at Dry Lake, when they attacked 
 a much larger force. The truth is that they were superior fighting 
 men. They had been educated to war. They were of rebel stock 
 originally. The founder of the tribe was a descendant from a long 
 line of chiefs, and being a man of great wisdom and sagacity he 
 had set apart certain lakes as sacred, whose waters would cleanse 
 
110 W HEROES ARE MADE. 127 
 
 from all disease ; springs which give strength ; mountains in whose 
 fastnesses " the Great Spirit," and the spirits of successful warriors, 
 held councils ; and where the living warrior could have audience 
 and learn wisdom. He ordained certain wild animals, as sacred, 
 and not to be slain, such as the white rabbit, the white deer, and the 
 sage-hen, during certain seasons of the year. He commanded his 
 followers, at certain times, to abstain from the flesh of unresisting 
 animals; some kinds of birds were also proscribed; the meadow- 
 lark, was never eaten, and pains were taken to kill them and 
 destroy the nests. They were believed to be traitors, and bearers 
 of news to enemies. 
 
 The women were required to perform such labors as best devel 
 oped physical strength. They fasted, and bathed in the sacred 
 lakes ; they abstained from the use of all kinds of meats for five 
 days in each moon. The married women went upon the hunt, and 
 the war-path with their husbands ; they stripped the pelt from the 
 deer, the antelope, and the grizzly bear; nursed the warrior, 
 dressed his wounds, and in the event of his death, they prepared 
 his body for "the burning" and assisted in the ceremonies with 
 apparent stoicism ; even the mothers of unborn babes, would look 
 and act with seeming indifference on such occasions, showing no 
 grief, except when the customary seasons of mourning were ac 
 knowledged by the tribe. The infants were lashed to boards, and 
 taught patience and endurance of pain, care being taken with them 
 to make them straight in limb and feature. If a babe had a small 
 nose, the mother spent hours of patient labor in pulling and shap 
 ing it ; if too large it was put back by constant pressing, and when 
 fancy or fashion required, the style was changed by the manipula 
 tions of the mother's hand. Hence the appearance of " Scar-Face 
 Charley" who was declared by white men to belong to some other 
 race, because of his " Koman nose " while the fact is he is a full- 
 blooded Modoc, whose mother had, in his infancy, by patient 
 pinching and pulling, succeeded in raising it up until he had almost 
 lost the appearance of an Indian, except in color. If a child had 
 crooked limbs, they were straightened by the occasional pressing 
 cf the mother's hand ; if the eyes were too round, they were 
 lengthened by the mother with her finger and thumb, placed upon 
 the eye, and then spread apart until the eyelid assumed the desired 
 shape. Hence it is that Modocs almost universally have a sleepy 
 appearance, with long, languid eyelids, this giving that peculiar 
 
128 HO W HEROES ARE MADE. 
 
 expression of eyes to the Modoc women which have made them 
 celebrated for their beauty. If the ears of a child did not suit the 
 whim of the mother, they were stretched out, or bound down, to 
 meet her wishes ; and so with the hands and feet. 
 
 On leaving the board the child was taught to ignore crying, or 
 other manifestations of pain. It was inured to startling scenes, and 
 thrilling adventures. Horned toads, and bugs with fangs, were 
 placed upon its arms, or neck, until it could bear such tests 
 unmoved. When not able to walk alone, it was lashed upon a 
 horse, and the animal turned with the caravan on journeys, the 
 child riding for hours without a word from any one, with the horse 
 sometimes running at full gallop. As soon as the boy could hold 
 the weight of a bow and arrow, they were put into his hands, and 
 he began training for life. As they advanced in age, and size, the 
 training advanced also. Images, representing enemies, were 
 placed before him, upon which he practiced his archery. By the 
 time he was half-grown the constant example around him had 
 inspired him with ambition to be a brave, and to fit himself for 
 the honors he went alone to hunt, or to the sacred springs, and 
 lakes, where he fasted, bathed, and prayed. If, perchance, he was 
 fortunate in slaying the cougar, or bear, he was at once admitted 
 to the councils as a man ; failing in this, if he succeeded in killing 
 the spotted rattlesnake, and had eaten its heart uncooked, he 
 could then join the braves on the war-path. He courted only the 
 young woman who exhibited courage and self-control. He cared 
 for no girl who was timid, or who could not witness without a 
 scream the most tragic scenes. To make a proper counterpoise 
 for all this severity in training, feasts and dances were common, 
 when the natural exuberance of youthful spirits found opportunity 
 for exercise. Even so with the emotions of sadness and grief. 
 Seasons of fasting and mourning were recognized, when the long 
 pent-up sorrows found vent. 
 
 Religious ceremonies were conducted with great decorum, bwt 
 nearly always accompanied with dancing, on which occasions all 
 parties indulged the taste for paints and feathers, the richer or 
 more fortunate wearing the feathers of the "sacred eagle "the 
 poorer ones, the feathers of the hawk and birds of lesser note. 
 Another and perhaps the most potential influence was the power 
 of the medicine-man. 
 
HO W HEROES ARE MADE. 
 
 The medicine-man of the Indian, is not selected 
 in the same manner as are the medicine-men of the 
 white race. He does not choose the profession as an 
 easy way to make a living; he knows too well the 
 fearful responsibility of his position. He has seen 
 the medicine-man too often slain on account of his 
 failure to cure. Hence, the position is one not sought, 
 but as they believe is forced upon them by the Great 
 Spirit. The indications of the selection appear at 
 various ages ; sometimes in childhood, sometimes in 
 middle life, and again in old age. The first intimation 
 of being tow-ed is by bleeding at the mouth, or by 
 becoming crazed, with jerkings and twitchings of the 
 muscles. "W hen these manifestations appear, the tribe, 
 or band, is notified and a council is called, on which 
 occasions the older doctors officiate. It is one of great 
 importance to all the people, inasmuch as the medicine 
 man has so much power. The candidate is very 
 solicitous, because of the fearful responsibility in 
 volved in assuming the office. He dare not resist the 
 spirit, as doing so, would imperil his life forever, 
 present and future. Hence he comes to the examin 
 ing council with trepidation, something like the man 
 in civil life called of God to preach the gospel comes- 
 when he hears those words which have driven thou 
 sands of men into the ministry, " Wo is me if I preach 
 not the gospel." Such a conviction has the Indian 
 medicine-man, and though he may not hear those 
 same ominous words, he feels them with as much 
 reality, and obeys with as much faith, as ever candi 
 date for ministerial orders went before a board of 
 deacons and elders. 
 6* 
 
130 nOW HEROES ARE MADE. 
 
 When the council is convened the preparations 
 are completed by the older doctors making prayers, 
 and offering sacrifices, killing white-haired dogs and 
 hanging the skin upon a pole, which is raised above 
 the council. On the top of the pole are placed the tail- 
 feathers of the great Medicine Hawk, which is called 
 the " king hawk," because of his mastery over all 
 other birds. 
 
 The skins of the white weasel, the otter, the mink, 
 and black-fox, all of which are said to be " sacred," 
 are also hung upon the pole. These sacred skins are 
 supplied by the older doctors, or the friends of the 
 candidate, and they are his after the ceremony is over, 
 if he shall be found to be a doctor of the right kind ; 
 for with these people, some of them are called of the 
 good spirit and some of the bad spirit. The authority 
 under which they act, is a matter of great concern 
 to all parties and more especially to the candidate; 
 himself ; for should he prove to be called of the evil 
 spirit, his ministry is of short duration, ending his 
 life as soon as the authority is clearly recognized, 
 unless he escapes. It may be easily tinderstod why 
 "The bringing out" of a medicine-man is a great 
 event. That my reader may better understand the 
 ceremony, I herewith present a full report of the 
 " bringing out " of young Ut-ti-na, a half Modoc and 
 half Pitt River Indian, who had found himself among 
 the former, when he was called to the ministry, as 
 related by an eye witness. 
 
 The candidate was not more than eighteen years of 
 age. He was, however, a full-grown, well-developed 
 man, of more than ordinary stature and physical 
 
HO W HEROES ARE MADE. 131 
 
 strength. This fact made bis " coming out " a matter 
 of vast importance. For several days young Ut-ti-na 
 had been bleeding at the mouth and nose, and other 
 wise showing by unmistakeable signs that he was 
 " tow-ed," by some great spirit ; that is to say, he was 
 "marked for a medicine-man." When this fact 
 became known, the chief, Captain Jack, called the 
 medicine-council. The medicine-pole of the tribe was 
 brought out. The " watchmen " of the band appeared 
 with the usual insignia of office a cap made of fawn- 
 skin. The chief, gave the order, and the pole, sur 
 mounted by the feathers, skins, and the flag of the 
 flag of the tribe was raised. The Modocs have long 
 had a national flag. It consisted of two colors red, 
 and white, in separate parts. In peace, both colors 
 are on the pole, when at war the red alone. The 
 pole was raised, stakes were driven into the ground at 
 short intervals, and a rope stretched round, forming 
 a circle twenty feet in diameter. The men now 
 formed round the rope, facing the pole ; next, the 
 women behind the men, (all standing). When all 
 was in readiness the " cnrley -haired doctor " of Lava- 
 bed fame, led the candidate into the circle. He was 
 closely wrapped in a blanket, nothing but his face 
 being visible. lie was placed in position facing to 
 the pole. 
 
 The Doctor now retired to midway between the 
 centre and the rope, and stood a few moments in 
 silence, suddenly raising his hands and covering his 
 face one of the watchmen fired a signal gun. The 
 Doctor saying " we are here to test the power of the 
 young Ut-ti-na who has been called to serve a Great 
 
132 SOW HEROES ARE MADE. 
 
 Spirit." The orator of the tribe, rehearsed this speech 
 in a loud voice. The response of u aye, aye," from 
 the men forming the circle signified approval. The 
 Doctor made choice of nine men to assist him in the 
 services, the remainder sat upon the ground. The 
 Doctor now called upon the Great Spirit to assist him 
 in the work to be performed. Each sentence was 
 repeated by the orator. Stopping suddenly he broke 
 out in a medicine-song, in which the whole assembly 
 joined. Clapping his hands the song was stopped as 
 abruptly as it was begun. Another prayer w r as made 
 and repeated, calling upon the Great Spirit. Then 
 another song and another prayer. The Doctor went 
 round the circle in a slow dance, mumbling in a low 
 voice. When he had made the circuit three times, 
 the candidate dropped the blanket and started round 
 behind him, joining in the songs and prayers. The 
 dance and song went on for half an hour, when the 
 Doctor again clapped his hands, signifying that a 
 spirit had come to him. It was the part of his 
 assistants to guess the spirit. The first said, " a dove ;" 
 the Doctor who was standing with his face upturned 
 and covered with his hands gave no response. " A 
 fawn," said another ; no motion came from the Doctor ; 
 so on through the line of assistants, all eyes watching 
 the Doctor's hands. Had any o'ne of them guessed 
 the spirit seen by the Doctor, he would have clapped 
 his hands as a signal that they were right. If they 
 guessed any one of the sacred birds, or animals, such 
 as are harmless and non-resisting, and it had been the 
 spirit seen by the Doctor, it would have been to them 
 proof that the candidate was called of good spirits, 
 
110 W HEROES ARE MADE. 133 
 
 and lie would Lave been put to other proofs. If of 
 the vicious birds or animals, it would have indicated 
 that he was called of bad spirits and was a dangerous 
 man. 
 
 ISTo one having named the right spirit, the dance 
 and prayer and songs were renewed, and continued 
 until the Doctor clapped his hands. Then each 
 assistant guessed again, some one named the " wood- 
 rat," the Doctor clapped his hands. Another song 
 and prayer was begun, asking that some other spirit 
 appear. Again the Doctor clapped his hands and an 
 assistant said, a wolf," the Doctor gave the signal of 
 assent. Thus the ceremony went on until ten dances 
 had been performed, each with the same exactness 
 and propriety; the candidate meanwhile dancing" and 
 praying with great fervor, lie knew that his life 
 was at the mercy of the Doctor, and dependent 
 entirely upon his integrity. In this instance the 
 candidate had been a favorite with the people and 
 was in reality a nephew of the officiating Doctor, but 
 he knew the Doctor w r ould not swerve from what he 
 believed to be the. truth; indeed he dared not show 
 the least partiality to his kinsman, for he would be 
 held responsible for the young Ut-ti-na's success in 
 the practice of medicine. When the ten dances had 
 been celebrated, and the decision based upon the 
 spirits as seen by the Doctor had declared that Ut-ti- 
 na was called of "bad spirits" he was crestfallen, and 
 hurried away. There was another who felt the dis 
 appointment with even greater force than Ut-ti-na. 
 This, was the now celebrated "Queen Mary," sister 
 of the chief. She was then in young womanhood 
 
134 HO W HEROES ARE MADE. 
 
 and unmarried, and betrothed to Ut-ti-na. Intense 
 as are the Modocs in their passions and affections, no 
 word of complaint was heard from the lips of the 
 disappointed young Modoc belle. She knew that 
 Ut-ti-na's fate was sealed, and with the stoicism of an 
 Indian maiden, she bade him flee. The council was dis 
 solved, and the people were again in their lodges, 
 when Ut-ti-na gave a signal so low that none but her 
 ears caught the sound. The last meeting with Ut-ti- 
 na was related by her afterwards. 
 
 Ut-ti-na besought her to await him, that he would 
 go to some strange people, and seek to hide from the 
 spirits who had beguiled him, failing in this, he would 
 go to the sacred lakes and by fasting, bathing, and 
 praying, he would endeavor to secure the help of the 
 good spirits, and when once more among his people 
 he would claim her for his wife. No tears were shed, 
 no cries were heard, but thus the condemned young 
 Ut-tina and the Modoc princess parted to meet no 
 more, not even in the hereafter, unless indeed the 
 princess should fall short of getting to the " happy 
 lands." The Modocs believe there are several planes 
 of spiritual life. 
 
 Ut-ti na went to another tribe, but the spirits, as 
 he believed, followed and constantly called him to 
 officiate. At last he obeyed, and the result of his 
 practice being several deaths he was killed by the 
 stranger band as an evil doctor. I am not writing 
 romance, neither stories to amuse, but to preserve 
 from oblivion the characteristics of a strange people. 
 Had the officiating Doctor who conducted the cere 
 monies when young Ut-ti-na was on trial seen, or 
 
110 W HEROES ARE MADE. 135 
 
 professed to have seen, "good spirits," it might have 
 changed the destiny of this people. Ut-ti-na was a 
 man of great promise, and had be succeeded to the 
 medicine office it is more than probable that he would 
 have been the adviser of the Modocs in the late 
 troubles with the government. 
 
 Whether the Doctor was honest and actually did see 
 spirits of any kind, is not the question now. I leave 
 that for those whose scientific investigations of spir 
 itual phenomena enable them to lose themselves and 
 their readers in mysteries, that, so far, have baffled 
 the wisest heads. It is sufficient to state that these 
 people had as much faith in these manifestations as 
 their more enlightened brethren have in the calling 
 to the sacred office of those who furnish spiritual 
 nourishment to the millions who worship God in 
 palaces. It was their religion. The temptation to 
 be dishonest was great, no doubt, and whether the 
 uncle of young Ut-ti-na sacrificed him to his own 
 jealousy, is a question of doubt to enlightened minds, 
 but to the Modoc there, was no doubt as to his 
 sincerity. 
 
 Under favorable report the ceremonies would have 
 been continued for live days and nights with short 
 intermissions. At the end of that time the young 
 doctor would have gone alone to the Sacred Moun 
 tains, where with praying, fasting, and bathing he 
 would have sought wisdom from the great spirits who 
 had called him to this high office, and after remaining 
 seven days, performing numerous feats of physical 
 strength, piling up rocks and logs while constantly 
 murmuring prayers he would have returned to his 
 
136 'HO W HEROES ARE MADE. 
 
 tribe and assumed the official insignia of liis office, 
 beneath the medicine-pole which he would have 
 brought with him from the mountains. 
 
 This pole would have been of mountain fir, as no 
 other would have answered the purpose. It would 
 have been carefully stripped of twigs and bark, pol 
 ished very smoothly, and painted in several colors, 
 white, red, blue, and sometimes black, with curious 
 figures to suit his own fancy. Then, ornamenting it 
 with the skins and feathers which were used upon 
 his trial, the feathers of the sacred hawk being above 
 the others, the pole would have been raised beside 
 his own lodge. He would then have begun the month 
 of probation, during which time he would have eaten 
 no meat of any kind, dancing several hours each day 
 round his own medicine-pole, sometimes supported by 
 the women and the orator. At the end of that time 
 the people would come again together, and with great 
 circumstance he would have been admitted to the 
 profession as a regular medicine-man. 
 
 This ceremony would have been conducted under 
 the direction of the doctor who sat in judgment upon 
 his election in the first place. The people would have 
 made it the occasion for feasting and dancing, and 
 the whole affair would have concluded by Ut-ti-na 
 taking the princess for his wife. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SAVAGE PRAYERS AND CHRISTIAN BULLETS. 
 
 FLFTY-THREE RED SKINNED SPARTANS TWO HUNDRED CHRISTIAN 
 SOLDIERS THE COMMAND TO SURRENDER REFUSAL SAVAGES 
 PRAYING TO THE GOD OF THE CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS THE SOLEMN 
 COVENANT MEDICINE-MAN OF THE MODOCS ANSWERED PRAYERS. 
 
 THE battle of the seventeenth of January 1873, 
 was fought, and the two hundred soldiers and volun 
 teers who made the attack on the Modoc stronghold 
 were driven back, leaving a number of dead and 
 wounded among the rocks. Telegraphic messages re 
 ported " Two hundred warriors in the Lava-beds Im 
 pregnable fortress Several warriors known to have 
 been killed A drawn battle More troops needed." 
 
 Let us for a few moments contemplate this battle. 
 Here were fifty-three Indians, men and boys, sixteen 
 of whom were under indictment for having sought to 
 avenge the wrongs w T hich had (as they believed) been 
 inflicted upon them. They had fled from the settle 
 ments and taken refuge in this wild pedegral. They 
 brought with them their families, many of whom 
 were decrepit old men and women. They realized 
 the situation fully. They were not wild, uncivilized 
 men. They had associated much with white people, 
 
 137 
 
138 PSA YERS AND B ULLETS. 
 
 and had adopted many of the customs of the white 
 race ; they had for years been driven from pillar to 
 post, while seeking recognition of their manhood. 
 There was not one drunkard among them. There 
 was not one whose credit among white men would 
 not have obtained for him any reasonable amount of 
 goods. Not one of them had ever been arrested for 
 crime. 
 
 They had vices, it is true, and they were half- 
 savage still, but the other half of many of them was 
 made up of the vices they had acquired by contact 
 with white men. They w r ere high-blooded fellows, 
 some of them gamblers, and were in one sense des 
 peradoes, who shrank from no encounter with those 
 of their own or other races ; but the majority of them 
 were ambitious young men, many of them under 
 twenty years of age. They were all of them religious 
 in their way that is, they believed in the religion 
 taught them by their fathers. They had faith in 
 their medicine-men. The women of this little band 
 were really more advanced in civil life than the men. 
 They dressed as white women dress on the frontier 
 perhaps a little behind the latest styles. 
 
 Such was Captain Jack's band of Modocs in the 
 Lava-beds, when General Wheaton in command of 
 four hundred men surrounded the stronghold, on the 
 16th of January, 1875. He sent in his messenger (a 
 Klamath Indian) with the order and advice to the 
 Modocs to surrender, thus to save themselves from 
 extermination ; the messenger being instructed to 
 inform them of the presence within a few miles of 
 the army, of its number and armament, and its ability 
 to annihilate the entire band. 
 
PRAYERS AND BULLETS. 139 
 
 Doubtless General Wheaton would have been 
 startled had he heard Captain Jack's reply, informing 
 the messenger that he had counted every man, that 
 he knew many of the volunteers personally, and knew 
 just where every company had encamped for the 
 night. General Wheaton, as many of my readers 
 will do, would have laughed at the declaration, 
 especially when informed, as they might, and would' 
 have been, had the chief condescended to do so, that 
 his medicine-man had counted the army while in a 
 trance, and under the influence of Ka-okes (medicine- 
 making). That Ka-moo-kum-chux had placed at his 
 command a band of Indian skokes (spirits), and that 
 he the medicine-man had sent these skokes in de 
 tail to ascertain the strength of the approaching army 
 and the whereabouts of every company. 
 
 Since the outbreak, in November preceding, the 
 medicine : men of the band had been in almost constant 
 Ka-okes, and, as they assert and believe, the spirits 
 had kept them informed of every event in connection 
 with the efforts of the government to compel sub 
 mission. When General Wheaton's command was 
 made known, it did not create demoralization or sur 
 prise. Captain Jack was not absolute in power, but 
 rather a representative chief. He submitted the 
 proposition of General Wheaton to the council, and 
 wisely urged acceptance. The medicine-men were 
 among those under indictment. They believed they 
 could not have a fair trial; that they would be con 
 victed. Hence they were desperate, and took decided 
 stand against surrendering. 
 
 It seems almost incredible, considering all the 
 
14:0 PRAYERS AND BULLETS. 
 
 circumstances, that this band of fifty-three men should 
 have refused, by a large majority, to surrender, be 
 cause the medicine-man proposed to make Ka-okes 
 (prayers) which would call the spirits about them 
 sufficiently powerful to protect them against the 
 bullets of the soldiers. Yet incredible as it may seem, 
 his speech settled the fate of this band of Modocs, 
 and one hundred and fifty other lives. At midnight 
 of the 16th of January, General Wheaton was in. 
 formed of the refusal to comply with his demand. 
 He completed the plans for the attack indeed, they 
 had been previously arranged which were, that 
 Colonel Barnard should " move up" before daylight 
 of the following morning, with half the investing 
 army, from the south, while General "Wheaton, with 
 the other half, was to " move down " from the north 
 side, and by pre-arranged signals the two divisions 
 were to form a junction, encircling the stronghold. 
 After Wheaton's messenger left the Modoc Camp, 
 the medicine-men called the people to the Ka-okes. 
 We have great reverence and sympathy for a band of 
 Christians gathering round an ordained minister of 
 God under such circumstances, but mankind generally 
 do not feel either sympathy with, or reverence for a 
 band of savages so-called crowding round their 
 medicine-man while he calls on God for help ; arid 
 yet who shall say that the Modocs in the Lava-beds 
 may not find audience with God, as well as those who 
 go to Him .in more costly raiment of words and 
 forms. The red-man bows his head, clasps his hands, 
 and pours out his heart with as much earnestness, 
 honesty, and faith as any devotee bends before sacred 
 altars in palaces or burnished temples. 
 
PRA TERS AND B ULLETS. 
 
 The medicine-man in the Lava-beds proclaims that 
 he is going to offer prayers. His herald repeats it in 
 a loud voice, and then we see by the glare of the sage 
 brush fire the dusky forms of men, women, and 
 children, creeping from their caverns. What a meet 
 ing to contemplate. The gray-haired men and women, 
 the stalwart braves and younger w T omen, the children 
 too, of a doomed race, come now to their rude altar, 
 and join in the prayers and petitions to the same great 
 spirit that the civilized man worships. Is there any 
 thing in human life akin to this scene, outside of a 
 savage camp, where all hearts are in the same mould, 
 and w r here every worshipper has faith in minister and 
 prayers? No dissenting voices ; no doubting w r ords ; 
 no jealous fears; no differences in religious belief. 
 True, they were in part abject images of God, and 
 many of them were reeking with what the civilized 
 w r orld calls crime, and what was crime, measuring 
 human actions by written law ; but they were of one 
 accord ; had one aim, one faith, and one voice. 
 
 The Christian would have felt shocked, to hear this 
 savage shouting, " Kap-ka, Ka-moo-kum-chux (Come, 
 Great Spirit), and the herald repeating it, and then 
 from the one hundred and fifty-nine red mouths, 
 the prayer repeated, until the very caverns answered 
 back the echo, " Come, Great Spirit." To hear the 
 medicine-man cry aloud, " Kap-ka, I-sees " (Come, 
 Son of God), and the one hundred and fifty voices 
 repeat it over and over, while they keep time in a 
 solemn dance round the kneeling medicine-man, who, 
 with head bowed, and hands clasped, was framing the 
 next prayer, " Kap-ka, Ditchee Skokes " (Come, good 
 
142 PRAYERS AND BULLETS. 
 
 spirits), " Kap-ka, Nan-ook ko-la-ka-ho sti-nos " (Come 
 all, into our hearts). " Come into our heads, and help 
 us to think; into our eyes, and help us to see; into 
 our ears, and help us to hear; into our arms, to make 
 us strong; help us to hide from the sight of our ene 
 mies; send strong spirits to stand by us and turn away 
 the soldier's bullets ; send bad spirits to blind the sol 
 dier's eyes to make him shoot crooked ; make him 
 weak, make him cowardly. Give us strong spirits to 
 tell us how to fight." 
 
 The medicine-man makes a signal, and silence 
 reigns. He rises to his feet, and makes a short speech, 
 saying that " Ka-moo-kurn-chux is here. I-sees is here. 
 Dit-chee skokes are here. Our 'prayers have reached 
 their ears; they have come. If all the people will 
 join their hearts, now strong with the presence of 
 good spirits, we will pray for a cloud to come down 
 and hide us from the soldiers." 1 ' A loud shout of 
 approval bursts from every lip. Again the medicine 
 man drops upon his knees arid bows his head, as he in 
 frenzy rubs his hands, and draws his breath through 
 his teeth, while he frames the prayer, " Ka-moo-kum- 
 chux, sne-kotch-na Lo-was-Yan-na nan-nook-ux wal- 
 chot-ka" (Great Spirit, send a dark cloud over these 
 rocks). The herald repeats in a loud, earnest voice, 
 and the people take up the prayer, and with vehement 
 dance and gesture, sing it over and over, growing 
 more earnest each time the medicine-man shouts, until 
 the most intense enthusiasm pervades the entire 
 assembly. 
 
 Suddenly the medicine-man springs to his feet, 
 claps his hands, and all is still. Every eye peers into 
 
PRAYERS AND BULLETS. 143 
 
 his face through the flickering light of the medicine- 
 iire. He speaks, and says he lias proof that the 
 prayers have been heard " the spirits are here, God 
 is here, his Son is here. The great war-chief will be 
 directed how to fight. Every man must obey him." 
 
 Each warrior is assigned a position. The ammuni 
 tion is divided among them. The medicine-man 
 retires to a cavern, calling the old men and women 
 and the children to join him in making medicine, 
 while the younger women are detailed as water-car 
 riers, with the assurance of the medicine-man that 
 skokes will shield them. 
 
 The medicine-man, selecting eight poles, which had 
 been consecrated, or according to Modoc belief, " Ka- 
 oked" (imbued with divine power), planted them 
 round the stronghold, forming a circle about one 
 hundred yards in diameter, the " line of death." The 
 warriors were stationed inside this " line of death," 
 and were ordered in no case to go be}'Ond it. Not a 
 shot was to be fired until the signal should be given 
 by the chief. 
 
 Let us look now in the two camps of the American 
 Christians' army. "While the Modocs were making 
 medicine, the soldiers were impatiently wearing away 
 the night in story-telling, or boastful promises of an 
 easy victory on the morrow. No sound of prayer is 
 heard. Had any man been brave enough to pray 
 aloud in that camp, he might have been placed under 
 guard as a maniac. True enough, several little knots 
 of soldiers and volunteers were preparing for the 
 morrow by taking internally spirits modestly called 
 by some pet name, such as "lightning-bug," or 
 
144: PR A YERS A ND B ULLETS. 
 
 " tangle-leg," and it is doubtless true, also, that among 
 both officers and men there were prayers offered, but 
 they were very quietly said, perhaps mumbled beneath 
 the blankets of the devotee. 
 
 The sentinels walk the rounds, and answer each 
 other's challenge. General Wheaton's orderly taps 
 him on the shoulder, and the brave soldier springs to 
 his feet. It is three, A. M., the memorable 17th of 
 January, 1873. The signal-rocket is sent into the 
 heavens, notifying Colonel Barnard to move up from 
 the south. The long roll sounds, and the men " fall 
 in line." " Forward ! " commands Wheaton, and the 
 hopeful line starts for the Modoc stronghold, four 
 miles away. Barnard answers from the south, by 
 rocket, that he is in motion. Every signal tells the 
 Modoc Chief of the army movement. The sun be 
 gins to throw tall spears into the eastern sky. The 
 hollow caverns are echoing to the prayers of the curly- 
 haired doctor. Fifty-three yellow-skinned men, with 
 limbs divested of unnecessary garments and tightly 
 bandaged, 'are lying flat among the rocks, waiting the 
 attack. Signal answers signal, and the two civilized 
 armies are surrounding the " Modoc lion," who waits 
 and watches each signal, when suddenly, from the 
 mountains, west, a heavy fog creeps in between the 
 armies, and covers the brave band. 
 
 [My dear reader, do not throw down this book in 
 disgust, until you have read the current literature of 
 January, '73, together with the official report of Gen 
 eral Wheaton, of the battle.] 
 
 The signals cannot now be seen. The army officers 
 are confused. The guides are not certain as to the 
 locality of the Modocs. The howitzers are taken 
 
SCHONCHIN AND JACK IN CHAINS. 
 
PRAYERS AND BULLETS. 145 
 
 from the backs of the mules, and prepared for action. 
 The order to fire is given, and the report mingles with 
 the prayer of the medicine-man. Barnard answers 
 now with the howitzer. " Forward ! " shout human 
 voice and silver bugle. The four hundred men an 
 swer with a belt of living fire, pointing to the centre. 
 Not a shot from the Modocs. The investing line 
 centres amid the dense fog, firing and shouting de 
 rision. They near the "line of death. " No answer 
 yet. " Charge," shouts "Wheaton, and the steady step 
 is broken with a wild hurrah. Suddenly, above the 
 battle tempest is heard the "dusky lion's" roar, 
 " Ot-we ! " (Fire !) and then from cavern and crevice 
 bursts a stream of leaden hail, mingled with defiant 
 yells. The circling line of bristling bayonets breaks, 
 and moaning soldiers lie now where boasting brag 
 garts stood. Back back they fly, leaving the rocks 
 flecked w r ith writhing uniforms of blue ; now advance 
 and then recede. The wavering line contracts and 
 then expands, the moans of the dying giving em 
 phatic power to each new command. The prayers of 
 the exultant medicine-man mingle with the dying 
 soldier's piteous cry. The fog still hangs above the 
 rocks while the battle rages. The sun, weary of the 
 sad sight, hides behind the western mountains, and in 
 pity closes the day, that the survivors may escape the 
 avenging bullets of exultant braves. Hark ! what 
 means the bugle now? Ah ! 'tis " Retreat ! " the silver 
 notes are mingling with the musketry. The fog lifts 
 slowly up. The roar subsides, and fifty-three warriors 
 leap to the crested rocks, and shout derision at their 
 retreating foes. 
 7 
 
146 PR A YERS AND B ULLETS. 
 
 The history of man furnishes few, if any instances, 
 where proportionate numbers have fought with such 
 results. Viewed from a religious standpoint, it stands 
 alone. That the medicine-man made the proposition 
 to protect the Modocs, and to cause a " cloud or fog " 
 to come over the Lava-beds, there is no doubt. Gen 
 eral Wheaton's report of the battle mentions the 
 " fog which settled over the Modoc Camp, hiding the 
 Indians, while it afforded no protection to our forces." 
 
 Does the reader wonder at the faith of the Indian 
 in his inedicine-man ? Here is a bit of religious his 
 tory worthy the attention of all good men, and with 
 out doing more than announce my readiness and 
 ability to make good, in the smallest detail, this won 
 derful story of Indian religious faith, I respectfully 
 ask Christians to give it a few moment's thought 
 before placing in power any man who shouts " exter 
 mination to the Indian races." 
 
CIIAPTEB XX. 
 
 WAITING SPIRITS OF THE DEAD. 
 
 DEATH OF CHE-LA-KA CEREMONY OP CREMATION THE WAITING SPIRIT 
 WAVING FAREWELL RESPONSIBILITY OF MEDICINE-MEN INDIAN SYM 
 PATHY IN A DARK HOUR PICTURE OF BORDER LIFE SUMMONING THE 
 WITNESS. 
 
 AMONG the Modocs, cremation has been practiced 
 for untold generations. They claim that it is one of 
 the commands of God, that the body shall be de 
 stroyed, otherwise the spirit of the dead will linger 
 around and hover over it. Not only the body must 
 be burned, but also the wearing-apparel and other 
 personal property, even the lodge of the deceased 
 must be destroyed. 
 
 Mr. Riddle relates the circumstances of the death 
 and burning of a member of the royal house of Modocs. 
 Tit-che-kaitch-ko-na Che-la-ka Nis-ko-ka (pretty girl 
 with cross eyes,) was a daughter of Lock-e Snow-itch- 
 us O-pi, sister of Ki-ent-poos. She was twelve years 
 of age, very intelligent, and being a niece of the 
 chief was regarded as the future queen of her tribe. 
 When Che-la-ka became sick, a medicine-man belong 
 ing to the tribe was called upon to heal her. He 
 refused. Another was called, who accepted the invi 
 tation, with a full knowledge of the refusal of the first. 
 
148 WAITING SPIRITS OF THE DEAD. 
 
 If he had succeeded in restoring the child to health, 
 it would have been a triumph for him and placed him 
 above his rival. When he failed and the child died, 
 then it was believed that the first had " tow-ed " her ; 
 hence his refusal. Immediately upon the death of 
 Che-la-ka, the lodge was destroyed. Men were des 
 patched to the royal chi-pi-no, (burning place,) to 
 prepare the funeral pyre. Pine-logs were brought 
 for this purpose from the mountain three miles dis 
 tant. Meanwhile the entire band formed on horseback 
 around the "burning lodge. Ki-ent-poos bearing the 
 body in front of him led the way, others taking place 
 in the line in single file in the order of their rank and 
 relationship. Special heralds were sent in advance to 
 announce the coming procession, and to remove 
 obstructions should any occur. In this order, the 
 Bad mourners rode a distance of twenty miles in 
 silence. Arriving at the chi-pa-no the body was 
 placed upon a blanket near the pyre. The mother 
 threw herself upon the ground at the head of the 
 corpse. The personal effects of Che-la-ka were placed 
 upon the blanket. The presents of friends, which 
 were chiefly strings of beads, were wound round the 
 limbs and body. The face was covered with gold and 
 silver coins, then the blanket was wrapped closely 
 round the body and bound with cords. 
 
 When all was ready, the mother arose, and taking 
 her child in her arms, pressed it tightly to her bosom 
 for a moment, and then gently laid it upon the pyre. 
 The entire company were seated upon the ground in 
 a circle round the chi-pa-no. Two men on either 
 side awaiting the signal to apply the torch. The 
 
WAITING SPIRITS OF THE DEAD. 149 
 
 solemn silence of the few following moments was 
 broken by a wild cry of grief from the mourners. 
 The chief rose slowly and pronounced the signal " ot- 
 we" (all ready). The four torches were applied to 
 the dry pine-logs. All was still save the crackling 
 fire under the burning discolored body of the dead. 
 Again every voice joined in a chorus of grief. The 
 medicine-man sprung to his feet, and amid the wail of 
 the mourners, offered pra}-ers and invocation to the 
 Great Spirit, asking him to send good angels to guide 
 Che-la-ka to the spirit-world. He exhorted the 
 mourners to be faithful to the laws of God, and 
 promised them reunion with the dead in the spirit- 
 land. 
 
 The mourners believed that the spirit of the de 
 ceased lingered over the pyre until the body was 
 consumed, and looking steadily into the air above, they 
 believed they beheld her smiling approval, that the 
 law had been fulfilled. The mother gathered the 
 debris of the pyre, and buried them with her own 
 hands ; then motioning toward the spirit said : " Cliow- 
 ot-kan Che-la-ka." (Farewell Che-la-ka). 
 
 There is something beautiful in thus parting with 
 friends in definite time and special form, as though 
 they were starting upon a pleasant journey. It brings 
 their grief to a fixed period. While I would not 
 endorse all the beliefs, customs, and ceremonies of the 
 Modocs, yet I cannot but appreciate the consolation 
 it must be to realize by faith, that the souls of our 
 departed hover around us while we pay the last 
 honor to the casket which it once occupied, and then 
 at a definite time by living and dead acknowledged 
 
150 WAITING SPIRITS OF THE DEAD. 
 
 to leave us in a way made tangible by religious cul 
 ture to seek its everlasting abode in company of other 
 dead ones who have been deputed to convey it hence. 
 It is also the belief that the soul of the departed can 
 not leave us while we weep and lament, that every 
 mention of the name calls it back; but that if we 
 bring all our grief, and pour it out before the waiting 
 spirit, and then forever hide sorrow in our hearts, our 
 friends will leave us and find the new home, have duty 
 assigned them, perhaps may be appointed by the 
 Great Spirit to watch over us in this life. 
 
 In May of 1872, a brother whom I loved as the 
 twin of my soul, was killed by a falling tree. I carried 
 him to our home in my arms, and held him to my heart 
 nntil his own ceased to beat. The blackness of des 
 pair settled over me. Friends came and offered 
 sympathy, among them an Indian chief wrapped in 
 blankets. He had known my brother and loved him. 
 The chief threw his great brown arms around me, 
 and pointing up, he bade me look and see the man of 
 the glad heart, (the name the Indian gave my brother). 
 " He is waiting for you to cease weeping. He cannot 
 go away so long as you call his name. He sees you. 
 He is unhappy- because you are so sad. His mother 
 is waiting to show him to the spirit-land. Let the 
 man of the glad heart go now, and he will come again 
 and help you watch over his little children." 
 
 Tell me not that God has given to any race all the 
 tenderness of heart and nobility of soul. Tell me 
 not that the Indian is an incorrigible, blood-seeking 
 savage, devoid of God-like attributes, or that the 
 white man with a Christian civilization holds a patent 
 
WAITING SPIRITS OF THE DEAD. 
 
 right to all the grandness and goodness of which 
 humanity is capable. Were I an outcast broken in 
 health, wounded in spirit, bankrupt in earthly goods, 
 friendless, helpless, hopeless, and alone in the world, 
 I would as soon, oh ! sooner, expect to find a welcome 
 in the humble lat-che of the red-man, in the wilds of 
 the West, than in the palaces of plenty, where pride 
 tramples upon the heart-broken and poverty-stricken. 
 I should expect to find sympathy and soothing words 
 for my wounded spirit, friendship so disinterested 
 that it did not boast of its sacrifice. 
 
 I should expect to have moccasins put upon my 
 feet, my wants supplied, to be nursed and cared for 
 in a way so simple and unpretentious, that it would 
 not chill my bones because of the giving and doing. 
 Religious consolation I might find, coming from God, 
 upon the supplication of the Indian medicine-man, 
 not perhaps made in rounded phrase and well-polished 
 elocution, but offered in simple earnest prayer which 
 none but God would hear. 
 
 If I then betrayed my benefactor's confidence ; if 
 I robbed him of his goods or brought dishonor upon 
 his household, I should expect that he would execute 
 the law upon me. Then over my justly mangled 
 body, my country and my race would vow revenge, 
 and to make good the vow, an army of men would 
 overrun the lands of my benefactor, lay his home in 
 ashes, murder the very women who had made the 
 moccasins for my feet, and carrying their long hair 
 in triumph upon the points of their bayonets, would 
 make him who was a confiding, peace-loving God 
 fearing man, a very demon, a more than savage, a 
 
152 WAITING SPIRITS OF THE DEAD. 
 
 human ghoul, until even his name would become syno 
 nym for merciless slaughter ; until the world should 
 shrink at its mention, and exult over his death and 
 the extermination of his race. 
 
 There, my dear countrymen, is a photograph, true 
 to the life of many a scene along the border-line. 
 Are you proud of the picture ? If you impeach its 
 fidelity to ten thousand negatives taken by the record 
 ing angels of God, then summon from the plains and 
 mountains every credible witness. Let them testify. 
 Summon from beneath your busy feet the bones of 
 the dead, and call back the spirits which once warmed 
 the very soil from whence you reap your bread, and 
 let them testify. If you are doubtful still, call upon 
 God to open the heavens that you may read the record 
 there. 
 
CHAPTEE XXI. 
 
 EXPENSIVE EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 THE HUMANE POLICY ON TRIAL THE TRANSFORMATION THE CLOUD 
 ROLLED BACK THE THREE APPEALS RESULT OF CARELESS WORDS 
 WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THE MODOC WAR ? 
 
 WHEN General Grant became President of the 
 United States, the friends of humanity watched with 
 anxiety for his proclamation in regard to the wards of 
 the government. He lifted the cloud by declaring in 
 favor of a " more humane policy ; one looking towards 
 the civilization and Christianization of the Indians." 
 From the hour of his first inauguration to the present, 
 he has been beset with schemes and plans. In his 
 anxiety to do justice to the Indian, he has listened to 
 various petitions. First, it was claimed that the mili 
 tary department was best qualified for the work, 
 because the American army-officer is supposed to be 
 a peace-maker. A large army was in organization. 
 Hundreds of officers were worthy of continued sup 
 port. Provision must be made for these gallant 
 leaders. Giving the military department the control 
 of the Indians would make provision for a few hund 
 red of them. 
 
 The gratitude of the nation was in active exercise, 
 7* 153 
 
154: EYPENSIVE EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 and yet it was alive to the necessity for economy. A 
 reduction of the army was inevitable. The proposi 
 tion to place army-officers in charge of Indian agencies 
 was urged. 
 
 President Grant's declaration of a " humane pol 
 icy " had caught the eyes and warmed the hearts of 
 the followers of Penn. Coming to the capitol under 
 broad-brim and straight coat, they asked for the care 
 of the Indian. They urged the success of "the 
 Friends " with them. Their suggestions were in 
 liarmony with the " humane policy." To an outsider 
 it would appear as though, to satisfy the demands of 
 the war people, and also recognize the peace policy, 
 the President determined to give each a trial. The 
 wards of the nation were to be the material upon 
 which an experiment was to be made with the two 
 policies, one of them represented by the heroes of 
 battle, the other by the friends of peace. One went 
 to the work fresh from fields of carnage, covered with 
 glory won at the cannon's mouth. The other from 
 the meeting-houses of the Friends, singing beneath 
 the shadows of their broad hats, " Peace on earth and 
 good will to men." 
 
 Generalities are for demagogues, where no respon 
 sibility can be secured. The convincing evidence 
 before a jury is that which comes directly to the point, 
 and cannot be impeached. It would be easy labor to 
 gather up from written statements and reports statis 
 tics on this subject, sufficient to fill volumes. Such 
 is not my purpose, but rather to deal in plain facts 
 that can be substantiated. " The military policy " 
 and the " Quaker policy " were put on trial in May 
 
EXPENSIVE EXPERIMENTS. 155 
 
 of 1869. Let them be adjudged by the record each 
 has made. 
 
 Klamath Indian agency (Oregon) was at that time 
 under the management of Lindsey Applegate, an old 
 pioneer, who had been on the frontier for thirty years. 
 He thoroughly understood Indian character, habits, 
 customs, and peculiarities. He was in every way 
 qualified for the position, being strictly temperate iii 
 his personal habits and moral in his character. He 
 had assumed the control of this agency soon after the 
 treaty was made under which it had been established, 
 in 1864. The Indians were then long-haired, wild 
 men and women. They were pure in their lives, in 
 a moral point of view. Applegate devoted his time 
 to his charge, calling his own sons, three in number^ 
 to his assistance. These young men were worthy 
 sons of good parentage. The wilderness was broken. 
 Long lines of rail fence rose by brown-skinned hands, 
 at the command of white men's brains. The ca-mas 
 flowers gave way to waving maize and blooming bar 
 ley. The wild race-course became the highway to 
 church and school. The deer-skin robes dropped from 
 warrior forms, and citizen costumes kept away the 
 chilling cold. Houses sprang upon the ruins of fall 
 ing latch-es. Paints and feathers were thrown away, 
 and brighter faces grew beside the cabin windows. 
 The old council-fires went down, and on the embers 
 civil law in majesty arose. The darkness rolled back 
 from Klamath land, and the native came seeking light 
 of his guardian. Hereditary right to rule yielded to 
 the will of the people's heart in fair election shown. 
 The old trails were turned into roadways by rolling 
 
156 EXPENSIVE EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 wheels and civil commerce. A new day dawned, and 
 with long-drawn breath the sachems gave up the old 
 laws for new, and began afresh the race of life. Such 
 is but a fair picture of Klamath reservation when the 
 two policies were u put on trial." 
 
 Previous to 1869, Fort Klamath had been under 
 command of army -officers, who were indifferent to 
 the agent's protestations against interference with his 
 people. Already there were evidences of shameful 
 civilization through soldiers' agency, among the Kla. 
 math children. Some* of the mothers, with unblushing 
 pride, claiming that their half-breeds were entitled to 
 fatherly protection by the officers of the fort. 
 
 The United States' army is sometimes disgraced by 
 bad men in high office. These cases are exceptions, 
 and Fort Klamath was unfortunate in being some 
 times under command of officers who dishonored the 
 uniform they wore, by associating with Indian women 
 of ill-fame. The policies were put on trial just at a 
 time when Agent Applegate was rejoicing that the 
 accomplished Christian soldier, Captain A. C. Good- 
 ale, had been placed in command at Fort Klamath, 
 because he was assured that in him he would find a 
 co-laborer in his efforts to protect the Indians from 
 outrage. 
 
 A young man who had won honorable promotion 
 in the Rebellion, and wore a Captain's shoulder-straps, 
 presented an order for Klamath Agency. Applegate 
 had no appeal. His people had none. They pro 
 tested against the change, but the protest was 
 unheeded. 
 
 The old pioneer parted with the Indians as a father 
 
EXPENSIVE EXPERIMENTS. 157 
 
 would with his children. The Indians were de 
 pressed ; they felt the " dark cloud coming over them 
 again." The soldier tyee (agent) assumed mechanical 
 command. He had no heart for the Indian. He was 
 liable to be ordered away in a week or a month. He 
 sought to acquit himself only as an automaton in the 
 hands of the military engineer at head-quarters. Why 
 should he do more? The position came to him un 
 sought. He knew nothing of Indian character; he 
 did not care to know. That he performed his duty 
 honestly in the financial management of the agency, 
 has not been questioned. That he felt the contempt 
 for the Indian so nearly universal among officers of 
 the army, is certainly true. 
 
 The Modoc Chief, Captain Jack, belonged by treaty, 
 to this reservation. In 1865 he left it, because of the 
 refusal of Superintendent Iluntington to recognize 
 him as a chief, in accordance with the terms of the 
 treaty. Late in December, 1869, he was restored to 
 Klamath Reservation, and a home allotted him. This 
 was done by the consent of all parties interested. He 
 accepted it under the promise of protection against 
 the stronger bands. He was formally placed in charge 
 of the "soldier-agent" in January, 1870, and imme 
 diately began making substantial improvements, look 
 ing to permanent settlement. A band of Link River 
 Indians living also upon the reservation became 
 envious of his success, and taunted his men into 
 madness. Captain Jack appealed to the soldier-agent 
 for protection. He was sent away with a proposition 
 to " try another place." This he accepted for the sake 
 of peace, at the sacrifice of his improvements. Again 
 
158 EXPENSIVE EXPERIMENTS. 
 
 he went to work. Again lie was annoyed, by the 
 Klamaths claiming the land. 
 
 He appealed a second time to the agent, and was 
 offered " another place." It is almost incredible, in 
 view of his subsequent record, that Captain Jack 
 entertained this proposition to try " still another 
 place," but it is in evidence that he spent two days 
 seeking for some unclaimed spot, and finding none, 
 he appealed for the third time to the soldier-agent. 
 This time he was met with a command forbidding 
 him to come into the presence of " the agent," and 
 insultingly informed that if he " came again, he would 
 he put where he would not cost the government any 
 more trouble." 
 
 With this threat ringing in his ears, he returned to 
 his camp, collected his people, recounted the treat 
 ment hejiad received at the hands of the agent and 
 Indians, and submitted a proposition to his band to 
 leave the reservation. The proposition was thor 
 oughly discussed. Even the coming future, full of 
 probabilities of blood, was held up before the coun 
 cil. They did not act hastily ; they were deliberate. 
 They looked the future full in the face. They were 
 anxious for peace. They could not feel secure in their 
 labors without the protecting care of the agent. This 
 had been denied them. In full appreciation of the 
 responsibility, they assumed it, with pledges to stand 
 by their chief to the end, and the entire band left Kla- 
 math reservation forever. 
 
 Let justice be done to every man according to his 
 own deserts. Hence it is right to say that the impo 
 sitions and taunts of the Klamath Indians upon the 
 
EXPENSIVE EXPERIMENTS. 159 
 
 Modocs were not countenanced by their chiefs. But 
 they were in transit from the old to the new order of 
 things. While the old law gave almost absolute power 
 to the chiefs, the new law made them only executors 
 of the popular will. Under the old law, the Klamath 
 Chief could and would have prevented any inter 
 ference with the Modocs. Under the new law, he 
 was in that chaotic state incident to forming civilized 
 men out of crude material. Hence, unsupported by 
 
 jraei*tjtWtt4- I*A~ 
 
 his agent he was powerless. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 CHURCH, STATE, AND ARMY. 
 
 WHAT HAS BEEN DONE BUILDING FALSE HOPES RESULTS OF ONE 
 CHANGE WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR IT THE PROPOSITION TO 
 TRANSFER THE INDIANS TO THE MILITARY DEPARTMENT SOLICI 
 TUDE OF AGENTS AND INDIANS. 
 
 FOB the purposes of this chapter it is sufficient to 
 say that the Modoc Chief refused to return to Klamath 
 upon the demand made by Superintendent Odeneal, 
 in November, 1872.* The military at Fort Klamath, 
 who had been waiting for eight years, at an enormous 
 expense, for " something to do," were called out, and 
 the result was the battle of Lost River, November 
 30th, 1872. 
 
 Now, I submit that had Agent Applegate remained 
 in charge of Klamath Agency, or had he been relieved 
 by a man wearing a " broad-brim," or any other rep 
 resentative of the peace policy, Captain Jack would 
 have been protected, instead of insulted, and would 
 have remained, and no war would ever have occurred 
 between him and the government. This is the opin 
 ion of every well-informed man in the Modoc country. 
 
 * For a full and unabridged history of subsequent events culmi. 
 nating in the Modoc war, the reader is respectfully referred to 
 "The Wigwam and War-path." 
 
 160 
 
O re :T 
 
 5S.3 
 
 -.a 
 
CHURCH, STATE, AND ARMY. 161 
 
 Another declaration is made with emphasis, i. e., 
 "That had no soldiers been employed to forcibly 
 return him in 1872, no war would have ensued." 
 
 Again, had not the soldiers of the army captured 
 horses belonging to the Modocs, in violation of the 
 armistice established by the Peace Commissioners, in 
 March, 1873, the mission would have been successful ; 
 and, again, had the captured horses been returned 
 upon the demand of Captain Jack, and the army 
 remained as stationed at the beginning of the peace 
 negotiation, or had it beon withdrawn, as it should 
 have been, no treachery would have been copied from 
 the white man, and no assassination would have 
 shocked the moral sense of mankind. 
 
 The case is plain : it needs no comment. There 
 stand the stubborn facts. They will not down at the 
 bidding of national or personal pride, nor to save the 
 feelings of any man, or set of men. The sad sequel 
 to the removal of a peace man to make a place for an 
 army-officer, marks one of the darkest pages of our 
 history as a nation. 
 
 I do not believe that the Quaker is the only worthy 
 representative of peace. Neither did President Grant 
 think so. The Congress of 1870 passed a law pro 
 hibiting officers of the United States' Army from 
 holding civil positions. The President tendered to 
 other church organizations the privilege of nominating 
 officers for the several agencies not already given to 
 the Friends. The army-officers were withdrawn, and 
 in their stead were sent men selected by the churches. 
 A new order of things began on every Indian agency. 
 No soldier with musket walked the rounds with 
 
162 CHURCH, STATE, AND ARMY. 
 
 salutations, presenting polished instruments of death, 
 continually reminding the Indian of his captivity, 
 and forbidding his approach to his pretended pro 
 tector. No more blasphemous mule-drivers herding 
 free-born captives, teaching them the vices of the 
 soldier. " No more the midnight bacchanalian song 
 mingled with the wild devotion of the medicine-man. 
 No more did the army-wagon carry to the Indian 
 Agencies, the mysterious barrel of " fire-water." No 
 more were the fairest Indian maidens installed as 
 mistresses in the agent's quarters. This picture is not 
 intended to convey the idea that all army-officers 
 were such as it represents ; but that it does portray 
 more than one Indian Agency even in Oregon, is the 
 meaning. There were officers who reflected credit 
 on the army and the nation. Major Boyle, U. S. A., 
 Captain W. "W. Mitchel, U. S. A., at Umatilla and 
 Warm Springs Agencies, entered upon their work 
 with Christian zeal, and performed their duty faith 
 fully, as I believe ; but within my own knowledge 
 they were rather exceptions to the rule. That there 
 were others who did well and honorably, I doubt not, 
 hence I qualify my remarks by making such exception 
 because it is right to do so. I speak of army-officers 
 coming under my own observation. When the war 
 men were recalled and the peace men filled the 
 vacancies, the change began by establishing " a day 
 of rest," religious truths, Sunday-schools, and day- 
 schools. The whisky-drinking mule-drivers gave way 
 to sober, moral teamsters, the uniformed farmer to 
 the plain husbandman, who came to the work from 
 conviction of duty. 
 
CHURCH, STATE, AND ARMY. 163 
 
 The angry mechanics no longer shove the inquiring 
 native from the workshop lest he should spoil the 
 implements bought with his own money. The songs 
 of praise rose now where drunken revelry once 
 reigned. The Indian chief became the agent's guest, 
 and in religious devotion his brother too, The sad, 
 anxious faces of the old men began to brighten, the 
 lone warriors, wrapped in a blanket, sitting in gloomy, 
 sullen, silence, counting once the stately steps of 
 officers, became a willing learner, his heart opened 
 and seeds of hope and comfort dropped into the 
 warming soul, the musket was allowed to rust, the 
 bow forgot its bend, the arrows, lay in broken frag 
 ments, wild sports were supplanted by the primer and 
 chart, new aspirations everywhere gave token that a 
 new ambition filled every heart,' maidens forgot to 
 paint and learned from the agent's wife the curious 
 art of living with higher aims than to be mere beasts 
 of burden. 
 
 Christian sympathy bound the white and red in 
 harmony complete. The warrior, man and maiden, 
 taught by example, moved to newer tunes, with steady 
 step, towards the opening hour, when they might 
 boast of better homes. Where distrust alone had 
 been, confidence became a living thing. The cloud 
 rolled off, and sunburst followed angry storm. Kindly 
 smiles drew response from every face, and God was 
 pleased at the wonders wrought by human heart and 
 hand in name of Peace and Love. 
 
 Such was the picture under the " humane policy " 
 until misguided statesmen in Congress sought to 
 break the charm and roll back again the pall of death. 
 
164 CHURCH, STATE, AND ARMY. 
 
 "How long, oh Lord, how long," shall these red 
 children of the forest arid plain, be driven alternately 
 from hope to despair ? How long shall they be the 
 sport of thoughtless statesmen and debauched repre 
 sentatives of a nation's power. 
 
 How changed the scene in one short, half year. 
 Where hope was springing, with tendrils creeping 
 up to the white man's plane, doubt and distrust 
 revives in the half-whitened heart. The embers of 
 the old council-fires are fanned into a flame, and 
 dusky forms gather round them, filled with alarm. 
 
 Shall the few peaceful years, under kind treatment 
 become a dream. Every day the chiefs come to 
 the agent's office to inquire if honor and good faith 
 are real things in the white man's life ; or has the 
 Indian been permitted glimpses of better law,' only 
 that his misery shall be doubled when the soldiers 
 come again. 
 
 The agents watch the wires, to know themselves 
 if God has permitted statesmen to snatch the red- 
 man's destiny from his friends, by placing him again 
 under the military department of tire government, 
 as proposed in the House Bill of the " Centennial 
 Congress," to know whether they shall be compelled 
 at the command of church and state, to part with 
 those who have become as confiding children, and in 
 sorrow leave them to new teachers schooled in the 
 art of war. 
 
 Arguments were found against the " humane plan " 
 of treating our Indian tribes. The argument may 
 be well sustained in point of facts in rare cases. 
 Corruption and fraud may be sometimes found beneath 
 
CHURCH, STATE, AND ARMY. 165 
 
 lips which do reverence to God. The churches have 
 doubtless made mistakes. Unworthy men, superan 
 nuated old imbeciles, and even incompetent honest 
 men, may have beeji appointed to agencies, supplant 
 ing worthy efficient men, who were not members of 
 any church, or who were not in fellowship with any 
 particular religious organization. Great hardship has 
 been put upon both agents and Indians in such cases. 
 There are undeniable facts, but did not the same and 
 even more mistakes occur under the civil service plan, 
 when agents were appointed as a reward for political 
 services in electing men to power. Are the profes 
 sional politicians more honest than the men selected 
 by religious organization ? Is it evidence of venality 
 for a man to belong to such societies? Again, has 
 the record of the army been entirely clear of fraud ? 
 What assurance has the Indian or his friends, that 
 they will be more honestly dealt with? Has the 
 army-officer when held to the same accountability as 
 the citizen by investigating committees, been found 
 above reproach? Is it true that the only way to 
 insure honest, upright men, is to educate them at 
 government expense? To teach them the art of de 
 struction, only that they may perform duty as mes 
 sengers of peace and love to a people whom some of 
 our greatest generals proclaim unworthy of respect, 
 and whom to murder by wholesale, entitles the slayers 
 to higher rank and better pay ; for instance, the 
 Piegan, the Chivington, or Camp Grant massacres. 
 
 There are reliable, efficient, noble, God-like men 
 in every department of life. These virtues are not 
 confined to church, or state, or army ; they belong to 
 
166 CHURCH, STATE, AND ARMY. 
 
 the humaii family without regard to race, color, sex, 
 or condition of civilization. Let it not be said of this 
 nation at the close of its first century, that honest 
 men can be found only in warriors' ranks, that civilian 
 and churchman must yield the labors of peace, love, 
 justice, and humanity, to those educated to carry fire 
 and sword into the wilderness, for the destruction and 
 extermination of a race whose crimes have been fol 
 lowing the example of our fathers, in resenting the 
 arbitrary abuse of exultant power. 
 
 The solution of the Indian problem will be found 
 whenever a policy founded upon justice shall be 
 inaugurated, entrusted to a separate department of 
 the government, free from political or army interfer 
 ence, executed by men selected on account of fitness, 
 who shall be exempt from the accursed political 
 dogma " that to the victor belongs the spoils," held to 
 strictest accountability, and subject to removal only 
 by impeachment. When this is done so that it cannot 
 be undone, and the officers of the department are 
 clothed with power to protect the Indian under the 
 civil law of the land, and the barriers to the citizen 
 ship of the Indian are removed, and he stands upon 
 the same plane with every other man, alike responsi 
 ble to law, and equally entitled to its protection, then, 
 and not until then, may we hope for peace with our 
 native tribes. When the army of the United States 
 shall become what it ought ever to be, the executive 
 servant of the people, called into requisition only 
 when humane measures have failed, then it may fulfil 
 its mission never as a humane civilizing power. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 A Member of Congress on being questioned by one of the friends 
 of the Indian about his vote upon the passage of the bill transfer 
 ring the Indians to the military department, replied, " I was out 
 when the bill came upon its final passage, and did not vote, but 
 would have voted for it had I been present, because I could not 
 see the use of supporting the agents out there, and keeping a stand, 
 ing army to protect them. That's just the reason why that bill 
 passed." Those who demand that justice be done the Indian, and 
 are jealous of the honor of their country, are respectfully referred 
 to the reports of commissions and committees for the last few years 
 for information. They are worthy of perusal. The following ex 
 tract is from the report of J. W. Daniels, United States' Indian 
 Agent to the Sioux : 
 
 "I would respectfully state that a system of police was organized by my 
 request. Twenty-five men were selected by the chief and his counsellors, who 
 were appointed by my approval. They were to perform the duties of police 
 among the whites, besides they were not to allow any liquor, by Indian or 
 white, to come upon the Reservation ; and whenever found on their land, to 
 destroy or bring it to the Agency to be condemned. I found these men willing 
 under all circumstances to perform any duties required, and in my opinion 
 fully as efficient as twice their number of United States' soldiers. 
 
 " Until this police force was organized, hostile parties from the Missouri 
 used to be raiding on the frontier, and running off horses under the guns of the 
 fort ; while since then they have not been seen or heard of. The duties these 
 men perform do not interfere with their farming. They take a pride in it, as 
 the system is a part of one that existed in their tribal state, when the chief 
 had braves ; only now they are used to keep peace, and advance civilization, 
 instead of going on war- parties and taking scalps. 
 
 "I had this police-force for two years, and during that time no drunkenness 
 was seen on the Reservation. There was no disturbance or trouble of any 
 kind ; and when liquor was taken from white or Indian, it was immediately 
 brought to the Agency and destroyed. They were kind, firm, and decided. 
 Yours, etc., J. W. DANIELS, U. S. Indian Agent." 
 
168 APPENDIX. 
 
 Extract from the Annual Report of the Commissioner 
 of Indian Affairs, for the year 1868. 
 
 ************ 
 
 3d. Our true policy towards the Indian tribes is peace, and the proposed 
 transfer is tantamount, in my judgment, to perpetual war. 
 
 4th. Military management of Indian affairs has been tried for seventeen 
 years and has proved a failure, and must, in my judgment, in the very nature 
 of things, always prove a failure. 
 
 5th. It is inhuman and un-Christian, in my opinion, leaving the question of 
 economy out of view, to destroy a whole race by such demoralization and 
 disease, as military government is sure to entail upon our tribes. 
 
 6th. The conduct of Indian affairs is, in my judgment, incompatible with 
 the nature and objects of the Military Department. 
 
 7th. The transfer to the War-Office will be offensive to the Indians, and in 
 the same proportion injurious to the whites. 
 
 8th. In the report of the 7th of January last, the Peace Commission, after 
 full examination of the whole question, unanimously recommended that In 
 dian affairs should be placed, not in the War Office, but upon the footing of an 
 independent department or bureau. 
 
 9th. The methods of military management are utterly irreconcilable with 
 the relation of guardian and ward. 
 
 10th. The transfer, in my opinion, will entail upon the Treasury a large 
 increase of annual expenditure. 
 
 llth. The presence in peaceful times of a large military establishment in a 
 republic always endangers the supremacy of civil authority, and the liberties 
 of the people. 
 
 OUGHT NOT THE BUREAU TO BE ERECTED INTO AN INDEPENDENT DEPART 
 MENT ?