Extremely bitter feeling marked Native American conflicts in California
and the Northwest. During the 1850's, many California tribe members
died from disease and in warfare against miners and local militia.
In the Northwest, the Whitman massacre in 18747 led to the Cayuse
War of 1847-1850. Few Cayuse survived this war. Whites also committed
many atrocities in the Rogue River wars of the 1850's.
The Modoc War (1872-1873)
The Modoc of northern California and southern Oregon could barely
survive on the poor reservation given them in 1864. In 1872, a group
led by Captain Jack (also called Kintpuash) escaped to return to their
old hunting grounds. Fighting broke out between the group and Army
troops in late 1872, when the Army tried to force the Modoc back to
the reservation. With the Army in pursuit, they fled to Tule Lake
in California. There, lava beds formed by an extinct volcano furnished
almost perfect fortification. The fighting resumed in early 1873,
at Tule Lake. A small band of about 60 poorly armed Modocs' held out
for about five months, until the Army forced them to surrender. The
Army hanged Captain Jack and three of his men for the murder in October
1873.
The Nez Perce War (1877)
It began when a band of Nez Perce under Chief Joseph to move from
their home in the Wallowa Valley in Oregon. A group of warriors attacked
settlers during negotiations in 1877, and Joseph reluctantly went
to war. In June, about 70 Native Americans held off about 100 soldiers
at White Bird Canyon in Idaho. Chief Joseph then led about 800 of
his people in a remarkable retreat southeast through Montana and then
back north across Yellowstone Park. They traveled over 1,000 miles
and escaped from several army forces while trying to reach safety
in Canada. They stopped to rest near the Bears Paw Mountains in Montana
40 miles from the Canada border, thinking that they had shaken off
their pursuers. But Nelson A. Miles the a colonel, led his troops
in a rapid march of over 200 miles to catch the tribe. Joseph and
his weary band after a five day battle.
NATIVE
AMERICAN RHYMES 
