Spirit in the Rock: The Fierce Battle for Modoc Homelands

The Modoc fought the U.S. Army in what would be the most expensive Indian conflict in American history. The hostilities were fierce, bloody, and unjust. In this riveting narrative, Modoc warriors, army foot soldiers, and cavalry officers share their stories. Spirit in the Rock captures the war's dramatic battles, betrayals, and devastating end, but also delves into its underlying causes and the secret schemes by the Applegate family and others to seize Modoc ancestral territory. In addition, the account illuminates ways Native American traditions and spirituality influenced events.

For generations, the Modoc homelands, along what is now the California-Oregon border, provided abundant water and food sources. Indigenous families migrated seasonally throughout the region until large numbers of immigrants began to arrive. As the population of settlers increased, disputes over native lands intensified. By April 1870, the Modoc were forced to live on a crowded, distant reservation with their rivals, the Klamath. Led by a charismatic young chief called Captain Jack, they fled to their original Lost River village and refused to return. Despite ongoing peace negotiations, the cavalry launched a surprise attack just before dawn on November 29, 1872. The stunned band awoke to chaos. Survivors escaped to a natural stone citadel--nearby lava beds--and that stark landscape became the setting for the 1873 Modoc War.

ISBN-13: 9780874223507

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Washington State University Press

Publication Date: 08-16-2017

Pages: 340

Product Dimensions: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.90d

Compton, Jim: - Jim Compton was a well-known journalist retired in Seattle. He graduated with honors from the Columbia University School of Journalism and twice received Fulbright Scholarships in Eastern Europe, most recently to teach investigative reporting in Romania. He was NBC correspondent in London and Cairo, covering Europe, Africa, and the Soviet Union. He later created and hosted The Compton Reportan award winning weekly prime time television news program that ran for ten years on the Seattle NBC affiliate. He won numerous journalism awards, including the Columbia-DuPont Silver Baton for outstanding documentary. He was a member of the Seattle City Council from 1999 to 2006. Mr. Compton died suddenly in March 2014, two months after completing the manuscript for this book. Stafford, Bill: - As a small child Bill Stafford received a camera as a gift, and photography became his lifelong hobby. When an Air Force jet crashed a few blocks from his home in Wantagh, New York, twelve-year-old Bill rode his bike to the crash site and took photos that appeared on the front page of the New York Daily News. While in high school, he worked for a professional photographer. He honed his skills in the Nassau County Camera Club and received their Photo of the Year award. In both high school and college, he was the photographer for the newspaper as well as the yearbook.