Background
Curley Headed Doctor was Modoc from California. While initially a proponent of peaceful coexistence with the white settlers in the area, Curley Headed Doctor came to stand for Modoc independence as a means to preserve religious beliefs and traditions. He learned the Ghost Dance from a Paiute Indian.
In response to encroachment by American gold prospectors and ranchers, leaders of his tribe ceded their traditional homelands to settle on a reservation in Oregon, jointly occupied by the Klamath and Yahooskin Band of Snake Indians in 1864. Reservation life was difficult for the Modoc, due to a neglectful and corrupt Indian and continually harassment by the Klamath. The leader of Curley Headed Doctor's band, known as the Hot Creeks, was Captain Jack. Captain Jack led the band back to their ancestral homelands in California. The US Army responded violently.
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