Battle of Sand Butte

Battle of Sand Butte
	Part of Modoc War (Indian Wars)
Date	26 April 1873
Location	South of Captain Jack's Stronghold, California
Result	Modoc victory
Belligerents
Modoc	United States ; Warm Springs Indians
Commanders and leaders
Scarface Charley ; Kientpoos	Donald McKay ; Evan Thomas † ; Thomas Wright †
Strength
20-30 warriors	~70 soldiers; ~12 Indian scouts
Casualties and losses
none	35 casualties

Last updated April 12, 2024

The Battle of Sand Butte between the Modoc Indians and the United States Army was a part of the Modoc War in California. On April 26, 1873, a force of ~70 Army soldiers and ~12 Warm Springs Indians scouts went looking for a group of Modoc who had escaped a previous assault attempt by the Army. Mid-day, the Army and Warm Springs Indians were ambushed at the base of Sand Butte, and nearly wiped out by 20 Modoc warriors. The Modoc victory lead to further public calls for their extermination.

Background

In the spring of 1873, during the Modoc War, the U.S.' War Department authorized Donald McKay, a mixed-race mercenary who was leader of the Warm Springs Indians,^[1] to recruit 100 of his tribe to fight the Modoc people in California. In the 1860s, McKay had fought against the Northern Paiutes with a band of Warm Springs Indians. In April 1873, General Edward Canby ^[2] and a reverend named Thomas were killed by the Modocs,^[3] and in response, the U.S. Army and Warm Springs Indians attempted to capture a Modoc base, the Stronghold, near Medicine Lake Volcano. They planned an assault on the Stronghold on April 18. On the 17th, hours before the assault, most of the Modoc abandoned the Stronghold. The next day, when the Army and Warm Springs Indians arrived, the Modoc that were present were women, the elderly, and the wounded. The women were given to the Warm Springs Indians, and the elderly and wounded were burned.^[4]^[5]

Prelude

On the morning of April 26, about 70 Army soldiers left their camp next to the Stronghold, Gillem's Camp,^[6] and went south, hoping to find the Modoc. They assumed the Modoc were hiding east of the hill Sand Butte, which was four miles south of the Stronghold. They wanted to bring a mortar battery to the butte's summit so they could easily fire at the Modoc. This early morning party was led by Captain Evan Thomas and Lieutenant Thomas Wright. During the walk, they were spread out in a line left-to-right.^[4]^[7]

The Modoc in the area were led by Kientpoos (who killed Edward Canby^[8]) and Scarface Charley, and numbered at 20 to 30. They carried rifles. They could easily tell where the patrols were, as they were fully visible and making noise. They formed a parallel line to the patrols, and stayed out of sight as they walked up from behind. Around noon, the patrols stopped at the base of Sand Butte (to the east) to eat, rest, and watch the arrival of Donald McKay and his troops. The area was flat grassland surrounded by ridges on all four sides, and was 200 feet below the top of Sand Butte.^[7]^[9] McKay and a dozen scouts met with the patrols at noon.^[9]

Battle

Scarface Charley

Kientpoos

Soon after the patrols were resting, the Modoc got into position. Kientpoos and Charley's group went to an area of trees at the northern face of Sand Butte. They were flanked by two other squads to their north and south, and a few others were to their west at an overlook ridge. No matter which way the patrols would run, they would be under gunfire from the Modoc at high ground.^[7]^[9]

After the patrols finished their lunch, Thomas ordered three soldiers to take up a picket position on top of the ridge. When those soldiers started going up the butte, the Modoc realized they would be spotted, and started firing at the pickets. Back at Gillem's Camp, the sound of gunfire was heard, and some became worried, but considering the Army's numbers, they assumed the patrols would win the battle at any moment. Many patrols fled, and in the confusion, some of them attacked the Warm Springs scouts that were coming to help them. At 1:30 p.m., some patrols got back to Gillem's Camp, and warned about the Modoc ambush. They were so panicked, their reports were considered unreliable. Eventually, the camp's namesake, Gillem, ordered a unit stationed at the Stronghold to go to Sand Butte, but they were arriving as dark came. The patrols started building low rock walls for protection, and planned to stay the night. More patrols reached Gillem's Camp at midnight, and they were directed to the Stronghold, where they found Warm Springs scouts who would go back to Sand Butte to help the army rescue the patrols. The scouts could not find their way in the dark, and the rescue was put off until the next morning. At the end of the battle, Scarface Charley allegedly told the soldiers, "All you fellows that ain't dead yet had better go home. We don't want to kill you all in one day". The next day, the rescue mission found the soldiers' bodies. The army had 36 casualties, and five officers, including Evan Thomas and Thomas Wright, were killed.^[7]^[9]

Aftermath

The Modoc escape from the Stronghold and the victory at Sand Butte turned the public's sentiment further against them, and there were greater calls for their extermination. Various newsletters, including Harper's Weekly and Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newsletter, portrayed the battle in illustrations which evoked "Indian savagery". Harper's illustration was titled "Modoc Scalping and Torturing Soldiers". Frank Leslie's illustration, which showed an Indian scalping an army soldier while a vulture is perched nearby, was titled "The Two Vultures", and captioned, "'To the victor belong [sic] the spoils', thinks the Modoc murderer who interrupts the feathered savage in his post-mortem repast".^[9]

Related Research Articles

Lava Beds National Monument is located in northeastern California, in Siskiyou and Modoc counties. The monument lies on the northeastern flank of Medicine Lake Volcano, which is the largest volcano by area in the Cascade Range.

Edward Richard Sprigg Canby was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. He served as a military governor after the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Captain Jack's Stronghold</span> Archaeological site in California, United States

Captain Jack's Stronghold was a holdout of the Modoc people that is located between Tulelake and Canby, California. The stronghold, which is now part of Lava Beds National Monument, is named for Native American chief Kintpuash who was also known as Captain Jack. During the Modoc War in 1873, Captain Jack along with 53 Modoc warriors, and numerous women and children in a band of 160, managed to hold out against the United States Army which outnumbered them by as much as 10 to 1 for several months.

Kintpuash, also known as Kientpaush, Kientpoos, and Captain Jack, was a chief of the Modoc tribe of California and Oregon. Kintpuash's name in the Modoc language meant 'Strikes the water brashly.'

The Modoc War, or the Modoc Campaign, was an armed conflict between the Native American Modoc people and the United States Army in northeastern California and southeastern Oregon from 1872 to 1873. Eadweard Muybridge photographed the early part of the US Army's campaign.

The First Battle of the Stronghold was the second battle in the Modoc War of 1872–1873. The battle was fought between the United States Army under Lieutenant Colonel Frank Wheaton and a band of the Native American Modoc tribe from Oregon and California, led by Captain Jack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scarface Charley</span> Chief of the Modoc tribe in California

Chikchikam Lupatkue-latko, known as Scarface Charley, was a chief of the Modoc tribe of Native Americans. He took part in the Modoc War of 1872–1873 in California, and is considered to have fired the first shot at the Battle of Lost River. On April 26, 1873, Scarfaced Charley led a victorious attack against a patrol of 63 soldiers. He killed all five of the officers in the patrol, as well as twenty others. It is widely written that he stopped the slaughter and told the soldiers, "We've killed enough of you, now go home."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Modoc people</span> Native American people originally from northern California and Oregon

The Modoc are an Indigenous American people who historically lived in the area which is now northeastern California and central Southern Oregon. Currently, they include two federally recognized tribes, the Klamath Tribes in Oregon and the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma, now known as the Modoc Nation.

The Battle of Lost River in November 1872 was the first battle in the Modoc War in the northwestern United States. The skirmish, which was fought near the Lost River along the California–Oregon border, was the result of an attempt by the U.S. 1st Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army to force a band of the Modoc tribe to relocate back to the Klamath Reservation, which they had left in objection of its conditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toby Riddle</span> Native American Modoc woman (c. 1848 – 1920)

Toby "Winema" Riddle was a Modoc woman who served as an interpreter in negotiations between the Native American Modoc tribe and the United States Army during the Modoc War. She warned the peace commission of a possible Modoc attack, and she saved the life of the chairman Alfred B. Meacham when the 1873 attack took place.

The Second Battle of the Stronghold was a battle during the Modoc War between a band of the Native American Modoc tribe and the Army of the United States, in northeastern California. The battle began on April 15, 1873, and ended on April 17, 1873. The Army succeeded in forcing the Modoc to abandon their fortified position at Captain Jack's Stronghold in the Lava Beds, but failed to capture the band.

The Battle of Dry Lake, also known as Sorass Lake, was the first decisive victory of the United States over the Modoc Indians in northern California in 1873. The battle led to the splintering of the Modoc bands, and was the last major battle of the Modoc War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Green (Medal of Honor)</span> United States Army officer (1825–1908)

John Green was a United States cavalry officer who received the Medal of Honor for his bravery and leadership at the First Battle of the Stronghold during the Modoc War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alvan Cullem Gillem</span> Union Army general

Alvan Cullem Gillem was a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Although Southern-born, he remained loyal to the Federal government and fought in several battles in the Western Theater before commanding occupation troops in Mississippi and Arkansas during Reconstruction. He later played a prominent role in the Modoc War in 1873.

The Modoc Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Modoc people, located in Ottawa County in the northeast corner of Oklahoma and Modoc and Siskiyou counties in northeast California. The smallest tribe in the state, they are descendants of Captain Jack's band of Modoc people, removed in 1873 after the Modoc Wars from their traditional territory in northern California and southern Oregon. They were exiled to the Quapaw Agency in Indian Territory, where they were colocated with the Shawnee people from east of the Mississippi River.

<i>Drum Beat</i> 1954 film by Delmer Daves

Drum Beat is a 1954 American CinemaScope Western film in WarnerColor written and directed by Delmer Daves and co-produced by Daves and Alan Ladd in his first film for his Jaguar Productions company. Ladd stars along with Audrey Dalton, Charles Bronson as Captain Jack, and Hayden Rorke as President Ulysses S. Grant.

Donald McKay was an American scout, actor, and spokesman. He is best known as the leader of the Warm Springs Indians during the Modoc War and American Indian Wars.

William Cameron McKay (1824–1893) was a scout in the Snake War and Modoc War, a Captain in the U.S. Army, a member of the Warm Springs Scouts, and a physician and surgeon.

President Ulysses S. Grant sympathized with the plight of Native Americans and believed that the original occupants of the land were worthy of study. Grant's Inauguration Address set the tone for the Grant administration Native American Peace policy. The Board of Indian Commissioners was created to make reforms in Native policy and to ensure Native tribes received federal help. Grant lobbied the United States Congress to ensure that Native peoples would receive adequate funding. The hallmark of Grant's Peace policy was the incorporation of religious groups that served on Native agencies, which were dispersed throughout the United States.

Guillem's Graveyard was a United States Army Graveyard built in 1872 for the US troop that were killed in the Modoc War. The Modoc War was fought from 1872 to 1873. Guillem's Graveyard is in Siskiyou County, California. The Guillem's Graveyard is a California Historical Landmark No. 13 listed on June 1, 1932, one of the first California Historical Landmarks. The Guillem's Graveyard was the Military Graveyard of Camp Guillem. Camp Guillem was the U.S. Army command post for the Modoc War around the camp. A small group of Modoc defended their land for almost two years. Knowing the land, they held off troops ten times their size. After six months of sporadic battles and surprise attacks the US Army won, but with about 100 Troops killed and buried at Guillem's Graveyard. At its peak, in spring of 1873, Gillems Camp had 600 troops stationed at the outpost. Many of the Troops were new immigrants. The remote out post was often low on food and medical supplies.

References

↑ McNally 2017, p. 132, 175-176.
↑ McNally 2017, p. 68.
↑ McNally 2017, p. 207.
1 2 Cothran 2014, p. 59.
↑ McNally 2017, p. 15.
↑ McNally 2017, p. 181.
1 2 3 4 McNally 2017, p. 249-260.
↑ McNally 2017, p. 202-207.
1 2 3 4 5 Cothran 2014, p. 59-61.

Sources

Cothran, Boyd (2014). Remembering the Modoc War: Redemptive Violence and the Making of American Innocence, University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9781469618609
McNally, Robert (2017). The Modoc War: A Story of Genocide at the Dawn of America's Gilded Age, Bison Books. ISBN 9781496201799

41°45′36″N121°31′26″W / 41.760°N 121.524°W / 41.760; -121.524

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] McNally 2017, p. 132, 175-176.

[2] McNally 2017, p. 68.

[3] McNally 2017, p. 207.

[:1-4] 1 2 Cothran 2014, p. 59.

[5] McNally 2017, p. 15.

[6] McNally 2017, p. 181.

[:2-7] 1 2 3 4 McNally 2017, p. 249-260.

[8] McNally 2017, p. 202-207.

[:0-9] 1 2 3 4 5 Cothran 2014, p. 59-61.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]