Murder and surrender
For months, as the Modocs held out against the military, the public seemed to support the Indigenous cause, with newspaper letters and editorials expressing sympathy for Captain Jack’s battle for a small piece of rocky land.
That all changed on April 11, 1873, when a group of Modoc leaders attacked a peace commission meeting under a flag of truce, killing Brigadier Gen. Edward Canby and Reverend Eleazer Thomas and leaving others injured. Canby’s death marked the highest-ranking military official — and one of the only generals — ever killed by Native Americans.
The government cracked down hard, calling for swift punishment.
Public opinion is almost unanimous against the peace policy, owing to these recent occurrences, and the majority believe in exterminating the outlaws.”
— The New York Times, 1873
Before long, the small band of Modocs faced a force of nearly 1,000 men, composed of military soldiers and civilian volunteers.
The Modocs suffered few casualties but, cut off from the nearby Tule Lake, struggled to survive in the lava beds. Eventually, they gave up their stronghold, simply walking out in the dead of night. The soldiers didn’t know until the following day that the Modocs had slipped away.
“When the Modocs left the stronghold, they were in desperate need of water, they needed food. They were malnourished and of course they had children and women with them,” James said.
Under such desperate conditions, infighting among the Modoc band led some to turn against Captain Jack. In the end, he turned himself in.
“Psychologically the Modocs were becoming a very shattered people. And it was at that time that the dissension with the Modocs began to happen.” James said.
Captain Jack surrendered at 10:30 a.m. Jun. 1, 1873, saying that his legs had given out.”
— Lt. William Henry Boyle, Modoc War veteran
Research in the past decade shows that Captain Jack may not have understood the terms of his surrender.
The Klamath County Museum acquired three small diaries containing previously unknown eyewitness accounts of Captain Jack and other Modoc prisoners, including transcripts from interviews on the night before the execution.
One entry describes Jack as telling military officials he had expected to be returned to the Klamath reservation: “After I had surrendered and was taken to the Fort, I had no thought of being punished, for I know my heart was right. I thought to come and live at peace on Klamath Lake.”