Page:The Indian History of the Modoc War.djvu/21



Captain Jack's father and his people lived quietly on the shores of a beautiful body of water which was named Wrett Lake, or Tule Lake, California, by the white people. Jack and their followers were Modoc Indians. A few Rock Indians or Combutwaush lived on the southeast shores of Tule Lake.

The Modocs and Combutwaush people lived a nice, peaceable life. They hunted the deer, antelope and bear on the hills and mountains that hemmed in Tule Lake. They shot the ducks and geese with their bows and reed arrows and caught fish in Lost River. The women gathered roots, cammus and wocus for winter use. They lived in peace and harmony with all the tribes that joined them from all sides. The other tribes were the Piute Indians, east; Pit Rivers, south; Shastas, west; and the Klamath Indians on the north.

They were living thus until the white people began to travel through their country; that must have been in the year 1848 or 1849.

Even then the Modoc people lived in peace for some time. On seeing the first emigrant wagon, with the people of a different color from themselves, they all ran for the hills. They thought that God had sent Evil Spirits among them to punish them in some way. But they soon learned that the white people were human, so they became friendly toward the emigrants. Every time any of them saw a train of wagons they would meet them. They liked the white man's bread, coffee, and other eatables that the emigrants gave them. It went on thus for several years.

Along about the year 1853, the Pit River Indians waylaid and killed quite a number of emigrants, both men and women, somewhere near the place where Alturas, California, stands