Modoc War - Battle of Lost River

Battle of Lost River

Despairing of a peaceful settlement, on November 27, Superintendent Odeneal requested Major John Green, commanding officer at Fort Klamath, to furnish sufficient troops to compel Captain Jack to move to the reservation. On November 28 Captain James Jackson, commanding 40 troops, left Fort Klamath for Captain Jack's camp on Lost River. The troops, reinforced by citizens from Linkville (now Klamath Falls, Oregon) and by a band of militiamen under Jump Off Joe, arrived in Jack's camp on Lost River about a mile above Emigrant Crossing (now Merril, Oregon) on November 29.

Wishing to avoid conflict, Captain Jack agreed to go to the reservation, but the situation became tense when Jackson demanded that the Modoc chief disarm. Captain Jack had never fought the Army, and was alarmed at this command, but finally agreed to put down his weapons. The rest of the Modoc warriors began to follow his lead.

Suddenly an argument erupted between the Modoc warrior Scarfaced Charley and Lieutenant Frazier A. Boutelle, of company B, 1st Cavalry, who pulled their revolvers and shot at each other, both missing. The Modoc scrambled to regain their weapons, and fought a short battle before fleeing toward the border of California. After driving the remaining Modoc from camp, Captain Jackson ordered the troops to retreat to await reinforcements. Jump Off Joe and his militia decided to press the attack against the Modoc. The casualties in this short battle included one Army soldier killed and seven wounded, and two Modoc killed and three wounded.

A small band of Modoc under the leadership of Hooker Jim retreated from the battlefield on Lost River to the Lava Beds south of Tule Lake. In attacks on November 29 and November 30, they killed 18 settlers. Learning of this, Jump Off Joe and his militia decided to pursue the main body of Modoc toward the Lava Beds.

Accounts vary regarding the first clash. One version says that the soldiers and militia had gotten drunk in Klamath Falls and arrived at the Lost River camp disorganized, and were outfought. That the militia arrived last and retreated first, with one casualty. And that the Army did not drive the Modoc away; some warriors held their ground while the women and children loaded their boats and paddled south. That Scarfaced Charley, who had good English, was foul-tempered from lack of sleep because he'd been gambling all night, and possibly drunk, too. Since there was a warrant out for his arrest on a false murder charge, he wasn't going to go quietly. The official report concealed that the operation had been badly managed, as Captain Jackson later admitted.