Page:The Indian History of the Modoc War.djvu/22

Rh now. Some of the emigrants made their escape and reached Yreka, California, and gave the alarm. The miners made up a posse of sixty-five fighting men and headed for the scene. Jim Crosby was chosen captain of the men. They went through the Modoc Indian country, met several bands of the Modocs and had no trouble with them.

The company went out to the scene of the killing; buried all the murdered they could find, but did not find any Pit River Indians. Although the company rode for miles around the surrounding country, their search for the guilty tribe was in vain, so they started on their return trip to Yreka, California. The company rode all day, and along towards evening, they struck camp on the east side of Tule Lake.

Some Modoc Indians visited the white man's camp the same as usual. The white people had treated the Modocs finely The very first white people that the Modocs had got close enough to had given clothes and flour, coffee and tea, bacon and blankets to them, so they liked the emigrants, for they had been treated so nicely by them. They were really glad when there were emigrants in their country. That was the reason the parties that visited Crosby's company were not afraid.

Captain Crosby gave the Indians some bread, bacon, etc. That night while Captain Crosby's men were asleep, there were about twenty Indians lying flat down on their faces, just a few paces from the lone sentinel or guard that was walking his beat. He knew the Modoc Indians were friendly, so he said to himself, "There is no hostile Indian in twenty miles of here; I guess I'll just sit down for a few minutes"; so he sat down. It was not long until he was fast asleep, so the twenty Indians wiggled towards their prey like snakes, now with their heads up and again with their faces close to the ground. The white boys were dreaming of their sweethearts or their homes. All at once their dreams were cut short. When they awoke, they heard the Indian warwhoop which was so well known by all the old frontiersmen. The most of the white boys went into the lake. Only one got a serious wound. Five or six others got hit by arrows. Capt Crosby emptied his six-shooter; he