The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-08-23
.LAVA=BED GHOSTS
A Weird Experience in
the North.
WHAT TWO SPORTSMEN SAW.
The Canby-Thomas Massacre in
Vision.
UNCANNY SOUNDS OF THE NIGHT
Are the Bleak Beds Where the Mo-
docs Made Their Last Stand
Really Haunted by Specters 2

press last Friday after a three weeks
vacation spent amid the scenes of his
early adventures, when Northern Cali
| fornla was a wild and rough country, and
rings of smoke eurled up from the miners
campfires instead of from the brick and
mortar chimneys of the towns and hamlets
of later days, and ere the Warwhoop of
the westward-ho-ing red man had given
place to the shriIl screech of the iron
horse.
There were three Of us in our party"
| continued Mr.. Bagges, land we spent the
greater part of our time in roaming
through the wild sections of the country
looking for big game. But things are
nothing like what they were twenty years
ago. The faint of civilization is discern
ible all through the district over which
snow capped Mount Shasta casts its
shadow. 1t has wonderful resources,
hough, has that country, which are not
yet develoDe ed"
What about your eXperience?" was
asked.
'.Oh, yes. That occurred in the lava
beds In ModOc County. / was in the
Modoc campaign of 1873, you know, and
saw most of the Incidents of that war
This was the first chance ] had had since
then to revisit the scenes of those exciting
times, and determined to take advantage
OF It, had some difficulty in persuadiDg
my friends to accompany me into the desc
late beds, but finally won them over
10 tell the truth, the lava-beds coun-
try is not an inviting one. IL is cherries
and desolate. For miles the dull. reddish.
yellow stretches of irregular land reach.
Vegetation is sparse and the land is in
oented with assures large and small.
Some of these crevces are only few feet
In width, over which a man can leap,
while Others are more than hundred feet
wide. They are as deep as they are wide
and are connected by long subierranean
passages. 1t was these passages that gave
the Modocs The advantage over the SOL
diers which they held for so long. They
knew the ms and outs of the beds as accu-
rately as local ward politician knows
the topograpy of his particular district.
'Just before we entered the beds an old
settler near Goose Lake told us of a le-
gend that is current in the vicinity TO the
effect that certain sections of the bleak
lava beds are haunted by the spirits of the
Indians who once roamed through them.
ana considered them a home and refuge
safe from the entertainments of the white
man. Men who had spent nights in the
beds told of having heard uueartblv
sounds. such as shrieks and warwhoops.
All the noises made by the Indians in
their festival dances or their war fan
dangos were heard, and some even went
so far as to say they had seen gnostlike
phantoms fitting about them in the gloom
OF the night and could feel the rush of
cold wind caused by the passage of their
forms.
1--WE were not deferred by these weird
tales and pushed on with our outfit. |
wanted TO get to tie scene of the Canby
massacre. l was with the soldiers that
were stationed at the time only a short
distance from the fatal spot where General
Candy and Dr. Thomas were so cruelty
butchered by Captain Jack and his band
of cut-throats. l can never forge. the
wild rush the soldiers made when thew
learned OF the treachery of the Indians,
and the frantic zeal born of horror and in
dignation with which we chased after the
human butchers, who had scattered and
lodged around in the mystic msZes of the
sublerranean passages like squirrels in
their burrows.
THE spot is a wild one now as then. It
IS In sort of basin-like depression and
can be overlooked by any one standing on
the surrounding higher ground. 1t was
here that the soldiers had their signal men
stationed while the fatal conference was
10 progress.
''We reached the place rather late in the
afternoon and decided to camp there for
the night. l described to my friends the
scene of the bloody massacre as it had
been told to me by Riddell, the interpie
ter, and his Indian wife, Toby who
were in ii, but escaped. and guided the
soldiers to the spot i showed them where
General Candy stood when he refused
Captain Jacks request that the soldiers
be Withdrawn from the beds, and how
Jack gave the signal. 'Kaw-tux' (aII ready)
aud then shot the noble general in the
face. / pointed out where Candy fell,
about fifty yards away. after another shot
had struck him. Then there was the spot
EnP 10 hOA
pleading with the Indians in the name of
God TO come to peaceable terms, when
the cOwardly Boston Charley opened fire
upon him. In another spot was where
United States Commissioners Mescham
was shot by ShackDastv Jim, and after
ward partially scalped by Boston Charley.
He survived the wounds, though. DR.
Dyar, RiddelI and Winemab, or Toby
his wife, escaped-the first two on their
horses, and the last because she was a
M0doc. ! described. too, how the troops
came up, and the horror that thrilled us
when We saw the stripped and mutilated
bodies of Candy, Thomas and Meacham.
"Well, got considerably worked up by
the recital of the events which came back
to my memory with startling yividness,
and / could see that my friends were also
affected by the horrible details, and one OF
them even said:
~ wish. Frank, you had waited until
morning before telling US all that
However. after supper these feelings
passed away somewhat, and after chatting
awhile around our fire we lay down in our
blankets 10 sleep. l lay quite a while
gazing at the glitteriDg stars of the night,
and IN spite Of myself queer feeling of
nervousness came over me, and the events
that l had been describing to my friends
came back to me with vividneSs that was
startling. / thought of the queer noises
OF the night that others had heard, and
wondered II there was any truth ia their
tales.
Now comes the experience. / was not
asleep. remember seeing the stars glim-
mering above me when on a sudden a
weird sound like the wailing of a mOurner
struck my ears. 1t swelled into a sort of
dlrge-like shout. and / remem bered it dis !
tlncily as an Indian death dlrge for | had
heard many OF them in the early DAYS !
rear came over me and / tried to cry out
10 my friends, and to reach out to awaken
Inem, put L was powerless TO do either |
Wlld and weird was the chant, now graf
Ing harshly on the ear in cultural Sob |
olngs, and then changing into almost an
ear.splltiing shrillness. Mind you. through
It all could see the stars shining above !
me ana seemed awake, though powerless. |
Finally the chant died away, aud after a |
moment oil silence loud aud piercing veil |
rang out. 1t was followed by others of
a siekening horror and then the stars
faded from my sight, a dun. yeIowish |
light spread itself over the spot, aud / saw |
every feature OF the place where we were |