The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-11-14
NODOC INDIANS
At HOME AGAIN
Captain lacks Warriors Dead;
Mercy for the
Children.

J SItitStA OfAH
Washington. Nov. 1S="And the chill
dren of Israel wandered in the wilder
ness for forty years, until all Of that
! generation which came out of Egypt
were dead. And then they were al
lowed to enter into the Promised
Land"
| II was thus. so say the Old Tesla
ment and the Talmud, that the errlng
! Isrealites were dealt with in the olden
/ time. And il was thus, almost TO the
| lapse of years, that the government OF
| the United States dealt with the MOdoc
/ Indians For nearly forty years the
/ MOdocs pinned and wasted, far from the
Promised Land OF home ana liberty
/ And now, when all Of the generation
with which the government Waged war
are dead, the ModOcs have crept back
unhindered TO their ancient home.
Little has been said about the return
/ of the MOdocs- The interior depart
ment and the Indian bureau have not
blaZoned their action abroad. A few
] lines in the official records, few
/ paragraphs in the report OF the de-
/ partmenL a few remarks by the agents
at the points which the Indians Ieft
and those TO which they have gone,
few changes in the tables of Indian
! population for the year-and That IS
all. That is the sum total OF the at
tentiOn officially paid TO the closing
chapter of a mighty drama-one or the
most thrilling stories that the great
west has produced.
Back 40 Oregon.
The official announcement says that
/ 'inasmuch as the original Modoe pris-
Oners transported from oregon 70 IN
dian territory in 1873 are now all dead,
and as there seems 10 exist no Iur-
Their enmity among the Inhabitants or
their former homes, either TO the MO-
doc tribe or 10 It's being repatriated,
the band of AOdOcs now at QuapaW
agency, Okla, will be returned, as eN- 1
pediently as possible, 10 klamath
ing been made with the Indians of that
agency for the placing OF these No
docs upon allotted lands"
That is all the government has TO
say about il. and that is the way IN
which the chapter is officially closed /
Thirty-seVen years away from the /
mountains and The lakes thirty-seNen /
years away from the land where the !
old tribe royed and fought and died /
like warriors thirty-seVen years. dur I
ing which the captiVes who were car
ried TO the far-Off reservation nave /
persisted 10 a man. And now a straS-
Cling few, their children, come back /
TO the heritage of their fathers.
story OF the NIOdOes.
The story of the MOdOcs is an epic /
written in blood and flame. II seems /
homogeneous that the last act should |
have so tame an ending.
When the white man first swept /
into southern Oregon and northern |
California he found the MOdocs, never /
strong in numbers. but of splendid
fighting stock living IN the land or /
lakes and hills that lies on the border
of the two states. The MOdocs We're
an OffshOOt of the cOnQuerlng Time \
race that swept down from the north 4
a thousand years ago. That Onru5n .
of northern hunters carried clear TO
Mexico. The Apache, Navajo and LII
pan were its southern champions; the
klamath, HOOpa and Modcc were lett
behind in oregon and California.
Fighters grim and great, men or
athletic frame and iron courage, the
M0dOcs were also people of dark
and gloomy character. Ihey Were IN
like most Of the other California
tribes, far different from the merry
WintOOns and the amiable, legend
telling KahrOks who surrounded them.
They mad a stern and unhappy myth
OlOgy of their own; they looked at
life in a serious and sullen fashion,
and they seemed to have but one real
love and one real tsougat 10 STIR
their souls-love of their native ter
ritory.
One Faction Objected.
After much fighting between the
white man and the ModOcs portion
Of the tribe agreed in 1864 10 give up
the stretch OF land they considered
their own and 10 be herded with the
klamath on the latter nations big
reserve. The change was not at all
displeasing 10 the portion Of the tribe
which accepted the agreement. kla-
math reservation is ike the ModOe
country, a land of lakes and hills and
even more pleasant than the region
they were asked 10 leave. one rae
ton OF the MOdOcs, headed By hiehL-
pOOs-knOWn TO western lore as Cap
tain Jaek-objected strongly TO the
transfer.
This branch OF the Modocs, number
ing probably not over go persons
a "A
leave their lava beds and leaping rivers.
They went to the Klamath reserva-
tion under protest and ere long MADE
the protest stronger by declaring that
they could not live in amity with the
KientpOos begged permission TO re-
turn whence he came. The govern
ment received his plea with red tape
and some more red tape. kientpoos
made further protest which was duly
placed on record. Then KientpOOs and
his men took action, cutting the Cor
dian knot in the Indian way. They
fled from Klamath reservation. jumped
back 10 their former home-and The
war was on.
OverpIayed Their Hand.
The story OF the fight Kientpoos-
made against the power Of nation
has often been told. The MOdOcs
whipped everything the government
sent against them and week after
week fought for their Independence.
AT last peace COMMISSION was ap-
pointed 70 deal with the Modocs. and
here the warriors of Kientpoos over
played their hand. They murdered the
headed by General Candy.
and from that. day their doom was
sealed.
Uncle Sam sent new forces, and the
Modocs, retiring 10 that hell on earth.
known as the lava beds, cheerfully shot
them TO pieces from the shelter of the
rocks More soldiers came, and also
Warm Spring Indians, old enemies OF
the Modoes, melted by prospects of re-
venge and White mans pay. The Mo-
docs continued TO whip everything that
came near them, but hunger did its
work and al last the tribe surrendered.
keintpOOs and his councillors were
duty hanged on Klamath reservation
Then his tribe, l40 strong, Were shipped
to QuapaW agency. Here they We're as
signed 10 reservation and set 10 learn
the arts Of civilization. They learned
them, too They became Christians.