In November of the same year occurred the first outbreak of the Modoc Indians and a score of settlers and a few soldiers had been killed.  Governor Grover had ordered out two companies of volunteers under General John E. Ross, a veteran of the Rogue River war, to assist the regular army in quelling the insurrection.  The outbreak, only for the butchery of the citizens along the Lost river and Tule lake, was not regarded as at all serious, as a few weeks would suffice to crush or destroy the savages.  But as weeks rolled on and still no surrender, nor even a fight, the Governor became uneasy, since he could not understand the delay.  Finally, early in January, Judge Prim arrived from Jackson county and had a conference with the Governor.  It was scarcely 9 o’clock in the morning when Mr. Gilfrey, private secretary to the Governor, came to my office with a message that Governor Grover wished to see me at his office at once.  When I arrived there I found the Governor, Judge Prim and General John F. Miller in consultation.  The Governor explained to me that there were stories of needless waste of time, that the Indians had not been attacked, though there were 450 men within a few miles of their camp, that hints of graft were afloat.  Would I go in company with General Miller and when could I start?  I replied that I would go and by the eleven o’clock train if General Miller was ready.

Perhaps here is a proper place for a short history of the Modoc Indians; their long series of murders and massacres—­a series of appalling crimes that have given to their country the name of “the dark and bloody ground of the Pacific.”  Of all the aboriginal races of the continent the Modocs stand pre-eminent as the most fierce, remorseless, cunning and treacherous.  From the day the white man first set foot upon his soil the Modoc has been a merciless foe with whom there could be no peace.  The travelers through his country were forced to battle for their lives from the day his country was entered until the boundary was passed.  Trains of immigrants, consisting of men, women and children, worn and weary with the trials and hardships of the plains, were trapped and butchered.  The number of these victims mount up into the hundreds and constitute one of the saddest chapters in the annals of American pioneers.

Chapter VIII.

History of the Modoc Indians.

Voltaire describes his countrymen as “half devil and half monkey,” and this description applies with equal force to the Modoc tribe of Indians.  In general appearance they are far below the tribes of the northern country.  They did not possess the steady courage of the Nez Perces, nor the wild dash of the Sioux, but in cunning, and savage ferocity they were not excelled even by the Apaches.  In war they relied mainly on cunning and treachery, and the character of their country was eminently suited for the display of these tactics.