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From January to June 1873, a band of Modoc Natives fought the United States Army in the Lava Beds of Northern California over control of their homeland in what became known as the Modoc War. The war ended after their leader Kintpuash surrendered to the Army, who imprisoned him and the band at Fort Klamath in Oregon. In October, soldiers hanged Kintpuash and three other Modoc Natives and removed his band to Indian Territory. Despite being removed far from their ancestral home, the band rebuilt their community in Indian Territory/Oklahoma. They continued their traditions, like consensus-based voting and collectively-recognized or elected leadership, and adapted new ones, like allotment and agriculture. When challenges arose, the band turned to their traditions and fellow community members to support one another. Overall, the Modoc band kept its community together in California and Indian Territory/Oklahoma because their members amended and maintained their social and political traditions.
Although most histories of the Modoc people focus on the Modoc War and end with the removal of Kintpuash’s band to Indian Territory in 1873, this manuscript reveals that Modoc history continued after 1873. It is an ethnohistory that expands the geographic and historiographic narrative of the Native people by focusing on Modoc experiences in California, Oklahoma, and to some extent Oregon, outside of and after the Modoc War. To ensure that this history is told correctly and respectfully, the author collaborated with the Modoc Nation of Oklahoma, the subject of this manuscript. The author especially collaborated with published historian and tribal elder Cheewa James, and the cultural preservationist officers for the Modoc Nation, Syd Colombe and Rachael Blackstone (Cherokee). These individuals provided the author with input and constructive criticism that greatly benefited this manuscript and to which the author is extremely grateful. This manuscript could not have been written without their help.