The Placer herald., 1873-04-26
official Paper of Placer county
IIlE MUDOC AR.

giving day, is yet going on, and the chances
are even that a year hence Modoc warriors
will be at large numbering innocent settlers.
In the frontier settlements, the fact has al
ways been known that regular soldiers can
not, effectually, fight Indians. The cause of
this may be found in the fact that there is
too much discipline in the army-too much
red tape, and that it is always preceded and
followed by a band of thieves. In the Mo-
doc case, the army was trammeled by a
Quaker, peace, thief policy that destroyed
its effectiveness at every move. The Modocs
number about fifty warriors, and the average
number of soldiers pitted against them has
been at least 600; and for five months has
this administration, mongrel war and peace
policy kept these soldiers, at an expense of
fully million dollars, hanging around the
Lava Bed, and the result is, three white men
killed for every Indian, and large number
of settlers, and women and children murdered,
and the Modocs at large. A company of
Oregon or California volunteers of sixty
frontier men, under their own officers, would
have settled this whole matter with the Mo-
docs in thirty days, by delivering their heads,
or them alive, safely on any reservation
named The latest news leaves the impress
sion that the army has lost the Modocs, who,
like the lrshman's flea, when it got its fin
ger on them, "they were not there" There
is no doubt but the war was forced, because
the agents, in collusion with settlers, robbed
the Indians of their homes, their fishing
hunting and pasture lands, and attempted to
coax them on barren, frigid, sterile reserva-
ton. They resisted, the army was sent for
to drive them, and they fought, rather than
leave the homes where their fathers lived
and died and thus the war began; and now
in five months, we have lost more people
than the Modocs had warriors originally.
The worst feature is, that we are not only
losing soldiers and citizens, but we are dis
gracing the American army all over the
world. A London pictorial newspaper now
has a sketcher and correspondent at the
Lava Bed. Fancy this John Bull writing
up the history of the Modoc war and taking
views of the battle fields where fifty Indians
deied 700 Americans and actually killed
two to our one and then retreated safely
and scattering it all over Europe. This will
make all European nations look upon the
American army with contempt. 25,OOC
American shoddytes are booked for Europe
this Spring, and they must meet these
pictures and statements there with no power
to deny their truth, and yet our soldiers are
as brave as any in the world, and have only
been disgraced by an mpotent and corrupt
policy. The news, up to this writing (rhurs
day., leaves the impression that the Modoc
have left some old men and boys in th'
Lava Bed to keep up fent of fighting
while the warriors have escaped to SOM
.fastness in the mountains and are preparin,
to protract the war indefinitely, making
raids On innocent settlers and selling thei
lives at the greatest cost in white seal p
possible. If these suppositions are correct
then their influence may be such as to create
general Indian war on the borders of Oregon
and California, that may cost much blooc
and money. And all this because Quakel
agents and settlers collude to rob the Indians
of their ancient homes.