[or-roots] Modocs and Grange

[Leslie Chapman]

The Modocs were very good fighters, my father had read an account of the
Modoc war by Kit Carson I believe (good old dubious memory) and we went to
see the fortifications, he was disappointed by what we saw, but either on a
later trip or in my historical literature and so forth grazing I discovered
that what we had seen was NOT the main part of their redoubt.

I don't remember the details but it seems like they held off a superior
force in both numbers and armaments for some time before being worn down.

Somewhere in my recent acquisitions is a book by an army officer that spent
time in Northern California and southern Oregon and who happened to NOT
believe the only good indian was a dead one who spent a lot of time
corralling the white people from their ill treatment of the local native
population. In part he was just being pragmatic as he could realistically
see that he didn't have the manpower to protect whites spread all over the
place if they were going to insist on ill treatment of people who were far
better at living off the land and knew where all the resources and secret
byways were.

Not to suggest that Mr. Matney was all at fault because the Modocs
definitely had a rep as a prickly people, but then if I lived a subsistance
life style in that God-forsaken terrain I would probably be a little
irritable too.

I never made it past Pomona (fifth degree) in Grange, am still card carrying
member but haven't participated in years.

Les C

1873 Walter J Matney ( pioneer )
dies during the Modoc uprising,
 place of death Alturas CA, place of burial unknown , he and Sam K Matney
were well known to get into scraps with the Modocs.

   We do not know the cause of his death either.


 Interesting about the Grange, I am level 6,
 Just dawning on me it started that long ago even tho
 I have read it on the logos,
I have a grange manual here too someplace.

For gold, see Jacksonville, and Vern Blue.

Dan M
> Suzanne;
>
> I don't think any of our Indian wars would have "attracted" Thomas, unless
> he happened to be enlisted and was transferred out here as a result of one
> of the wars. Oregon  Bluebooks summary of that time frame doesn't mention
> any gold rush, though it does seem to me that we might have had some minor
> rushes in that time frame, here is what the blue book says;
>
>
> 1870
>  Census enumerates 90,923 residents
>   Abigail Scott Duniway launches suffrage campaign
>
> 1872
>  Oregon & California Railroad completes line to Roseburg
>   Modoc Indian War commences
>
> 1873
>  Oregon Patrons of Husbandry (Grange) forms chapters
>   Modoc Indians face trial and execution at Fort Klamath
>   Oregon Pioneer Association forms
>
==================

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