The Battle of Lost River in November 1872 was the first battle in the

Modoc War The Modoc War, or the Modoc Campaign (also known as the Lava Beds War), was an armed conflict between the Native American Modoc people and the United States Army in northeastern California and southeastern Oregon from 1872 to 1873. Eadweard M ...

in the northwestern

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The skirmish, which was fought near the Lost River along the

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

–

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

border, was the result of an attempt by the U.S. 1st Cavalry Regiment of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

to force a band of the Modoc tribe to relocate back to the

Klamath Reservation Klamath may refer to: Ethnic groups *Klamath people, a Native American people of California and Oregon ** Klamath Tribes, a federally recognized group of tribes in Oregon *Klamath language, spoken by the Klamath people Places in the United States ...

, which they had left in objection of its conditions. In the subsequent war,

Captain Jack Captain Jack may refer to: People * Calico Jack (1683–1720), a pirate in the 18th century * Captain Jack (Hawaiian) (died 1831), Naihekukui, commander of Kamehameha's fleet and father of Kalama * Captain Jack (fl. 1830s on), Kaurna man in c ...

of the Modoc and 53 warriors held off more than 1000 U.S. soldiers for 7 months in the area of the present-day

Lava Beds National Monument Lava Beds National Monument is located in northeastern California, in Siskiyou and Modoc counties. The monument lies on the northeastern flank of Medicine Lake Volcano and has the largest total area covered by a volcano in the Cascade Range. ...

. Part of this was named

Captain Jack's Stronghold Captain Jack's Stronghold was a holdout of the Modoc people that is located between Tulelake and Canby, California. The stronghold, which is now part of Lava Beds National Monument, is named for Native American chief Kintpuash who was also kn ...

in his honor.

Description

In the 1860s, the Modoc had been removed from their traditional home near the Lost River in California to the newly established

in Oregon. The more numerous Klamath were traditional enemies, and the peoples had conflicts on the reservation. In 1872,

Kintpuash Kintpuash, also known as Kientpaush, Kientpoos, and Captain Jack (c. 1837 – October 3, 1873), was a chief of the Modoc tribe of California and Oregon. Kintpuash's name in the Modoc language meant 'Strikes the water brashly.' He led a ...

(Captain Jack) led his band of about 100 Modoc back to their traditional home on Lost River. White settlers had moved into the area during their absence and complained to the government about the returning Modoc, asking that the Indians be forced back to the reservation. On November 27, Bureau of Indian Affairs Superintendent T. B. Odeneal requested Major

John Green John Michael Green (born August 24, 1977) is an American author, YouTube content creator, podcaster, and philanthropist. His books have more than 50 million copies in print worldwide, including '' The Fault in Our Stars'' (2012), which is ...

, commanding officer at

Fort Klamath Fort Klamath was a military outpost near the western end of the Oregon Trail, between Crater Lake National Park and Upper Klamath Lake in Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The Fort Klamath Site, about a mile southeast of the present communi ...

, to furnish sufficient troops to compel Captain Jack to return to the reservation. On November 28, Captain James Jackson, commanding 40 troops, left Fort Klamath for Captain Jack's camp. Reinforced by citizens from Linkville (now

Klamath Falls, Oregon Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city was ...

), the troops reached Jack's camp on the Lost River about a mile above Emigrant Crossing (now Stone Bridge, Oregon) on November 29. Wishing to avoid conflict, Captain Jack agreed to go to the reservation. The situation became tense when Captain Jackson demanded he and his warriors disarm. Captain Jack had never fought the army, and was alarmed at this command, but finally agreed to put down his weapons. The rest of the Modoc were following his lead, when warrior Scarfaced Charley and an unidentified army sergeant reportedly got into a verbal argument, pulled their revolvers, and shot at each other, both missing. The Modoc scrambled to regain their weapons, and fought a short battle before fleeing toward the border with California. After driving the Modoc from camp, Captain Jackson ordered his troops to retreat to await reinforcements. The casualties in this short battle included one U.S. soldier killed and seven wounded, and two Modoc killed and three wounded. On their way to the Lava Beds south of

Tule Lake Tule Lake ( ) is an intermittent lake covering an area of , long and across, in northeastern Siskiyou County and northwestern Modoc County in California, along the border with Oregon. Geography Tule Lake is fed by the Lost River. The eleva ...

, a small band of Modoc under the leadership of Hooker Jim killed 18 settlers on the afternoon of November 29 and morning of November 30. This attack added to calls for the US Army troops to be reinforced and the Modoc suppressed.

References

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