Description Centered around Tule Lake along what is now the California-Oregon border, the Modoc homelands offered abundant food sources and water. Indigenous families migrated seasonally throughout the region until Oregon Trail immigrants began to arrive. As the number of homesteaders increased, tensions between native peoples and the newcomers intensified. By April 1870, the Modocs were miserable, forced for a second time 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 Lost River village and refused to leave. Despite ongoing peace negotiations, the cavalry launched a surprise attack just before dawn on November 29, 1872. Terrified Modoc families awoke to chaos. Those who were able escaped to the nearby lava beds—a natural stone citadel. The Modoc War had begun. The most expensive Indian conflict in American history would be 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, unsavory schemes by the Applegates and others to seize Modoc ancestral territory, and how Native American traditions and spirituality influenced events. Jim Compton (1941–2014) was a prize-winning broadcast journalist and author who produced documentaries and served as a correspondent for television programs including PBS News Hour and NBC News. In Seattle, he was a commentator, host, and producer for KING-TV and a city councilman. Illustrations / maps / notes / bibliography / index / 340 pages (2017)
