The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1873-05-02
THE MODOC WAR.
Terrible Slaughter Of U. :. Troops.
Three Officers Killed.

The thrill of horror which swept over the
country at the news of the cruel murder Of
the gallant General Candy and DR.. Thomas,
y. by the treacherous Modoc Indians, has scarce
J, Ny grown faint, before it is followed by news
Il, a terrible massacre oftwenty three Uni
So States officers and troops, and the wound
a.s #s of eighteen or twenty more by the same
! End of savages, in the lava beds of Oregon
''7n1'On Saturday morning, April Goth, re-
connoitering party left camp, proceeding in a
direction leading to the Modoc stronghold.
Not an Indian was to be seen and the fact
was sigma He'd to the camp. Before proceeding
much farther, however, the Modocs opened
fire upon the troops, from their hiding places,
and the latter sought such shelter as was af
forded by crcvices in the rocks out of which
they were picked off by their unseen enemy.
-, Additional troops were at once sent forward
tretchers for the wounded. Three officers
Il ,9 a IS SsSaptain Evan Thomas, who
n ..5ethe detachment Lieutenant AL
.4iowe and Lieutenat Thomas Wright.
y when Captain Thomas found himself and
his men surrounded by their willy and treach-
erous foe, he sought to cheer his soldiers,
urging them to sell their lives dearly, saying
"Men, we are surrounded we must fight and
die like men and soldiers"
The attack seems to have been so sudden
and unexpected, and the enemy so skillfully
concealed that nothing was left to the troops
but to seek shelter wherever it could be found
! The Indian loss must have been slight, if
indeed they lost any Some of the Modocs
are armed with Spencer repeating rifles, and
know how to use them, too, with deadly eff
feet.
1t is to be feared that this success of the
Modocs may afford encouragement to other
tribes, at present peaceable, and that gen
eral uprising of the savages will take place
n The Indian question, at the best, is Il trou
blesome one to deal with, and will be so just
l rs long as dishonest agents are permitted to
appropriate to their own benefit two-thirds
of the amount allowed to the Indians When
the mode of communication between the In.
dans and the government was through the
officers of the regular army, a much better
state of affairs existed. They were fairly and
honorably dealt with, and were made to know
and feel that every outrage committed by
them would be visited with swift and severe
punishment. 1t is not surprising that they
Should feel aggrievcd at being robbed by their
" Sretended protectors, and should apply the
y y6f1y arguments they know how to use, the
0Srie and tomahawk.
sA The sooner the management of Indian af
A4airs 10 .r-iSmmitted to the army officers or to
honest civilians, the better it will he not only
for the bold pioneers who have gone forth to
subdue the wilderness, but also for the Indians
B themselves instead of making treaties with
them, as though they were separate, indie
Il pendent nationalities, let them be treated as
sSSards of the nation, which in fact they are
( &Yhere kindness fails with Them let them he
made TO know and feel the power of the GOV
eminent to enforce its requirements