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 between 1872 and 1873. The fighting was in response to the California genocide, when agents of the United States government assisted by private citizens began the systematic killing of thousands of indigenous peoples of California in the mid-19th century. Many brutal acts against the Modoc were carried out against native populations were encouraged, tolerated, and perpetuated by state authorities and militias.

After being relocated by force to the Klamath Reservation, Kintpuash, also known as Captain Jack, eventually led 52 warriors along with 150 Modoc women and children back to their traditional lands around the lava beds south of Tule Lake (present-day Lava Beds National Monument). In response the United States Army was sent to bring the native Americans back to the reservation. The group resisted taking refuge in an upland area now known as Captain Jack's Stronghold. In April 1873 at a peace commission meeting with US Army officers, Kintpuash killed General Edward Canby and Rev. Eleazer Thomas, and wounded two others, mistakenly believing this would encourage the European Americans to leave.

Instead the US Army was reinforced. Some Modoc surrendered but Captain Jack escaped. Eventually he and the last of his band were captured. Jack and five warriors were convicted of murdering the two peace commissioners. Jack and three warriors were executed and two others sentenced to life in prison. The remaining 153 Modoc of the band were sent to Indian Territory (pre-statehood Oklahoma), where they were held as prisoners of war until 1909, settled on reservation land with the Shawnee. Some at that point were allowed to return to the Klamath Reservation in Oregon. Most Modoc (and their descendants) stayed in what became the state of Oklahoma. They achieved separate federal recognition and were granted some land in Oklahoma. There are two federally recognized Modoc tribes: in Oregon and Oklahoma.

Eadweard Muybridge photographed the early part of the US Army's campaign.