Remembering the Modoc War: Redemptive Violence and the Making of American Innocence

260 Pages·2014·4.236 MB·English

by  Boyd Cothran

Remembering the Modoc War
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remembering the
Modoc War
Redemptive Violence and the Making of
American Innocence
Boyd Cothran
The University of North Carolina Press / Chapel Hill
First Peoples
New Directions in Indigenous Studies
publication of this book was made possible, in part, by a
grant from the andrew w. mellon foundation.
© 2014 The University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
Set in Miller types by codeMantra
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on
Library Resources. The University of North Carolina Press has been a member
of the Green Press Initiative since 2003.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cothran, Boyd.
Remembering the Modoc War : redemptive violence and the making of American
innocence / Boyd Cothran. — 1st edition.
pages cm. — (First peoples: new directions in indigenous studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-1-4696-1860-9 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn 978-1-4696-1861-6 (ebook)
1. Modoc Indians—Wars, 1873. I. Title.
e83.87.c67 2014
979.4004'974122—dc23 2014009209
18 17 16 15 14 5 4 3 2 1
Part of this book has been reprinted in revised form from “Exchanging Gifts
with the Dead: Lava Beds National Monument and Narratives of the Modoc War,”
International Journal of Critical Indigenous Studies 4, no. 1 (2011): 30–40.
To Tanya
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Contents
prologue / A Tour of the Lava Beds, 1
introduction / Marketplaces of Remembering, 8
part i: reporting
1 / The Sensational Press, 29
2 / The Red Judas, 50
coda / American Innocence in My Inbox, 76
part ii: performing
3 / Pocahontas of the Lava Beds, 81
coda / A Drive through Settler Colonial History, 106
part iii: commemorating
4 / The Angels of Peace and Progress, 113
5 / Faithful Americans, 141
6 / Redemptive Landscapes, 162
coda / An Outlaw to All Mankind, 184
epilogue / Exchanging Gifts with the Dead, 187
Notes, 199
Bibliography, 221
Acknowledgments, 235
Index, 239
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Figures
1 / Canby’s Cross, Lava Beds National Monument, 5
2 / “Signature of the Modoc Chief the Evening before His Execution,” 11
3 / Photograph of Captain Jack by Louis H. Heller, 12
4 / Wood engravings of the Modoc prisoners based on Louis H. Heller’s
photographs, 13
5 / The Klamath Basin in the nineteenth century, 17
6 / “The Modocs—Murder of General Canby,” 51
7 / “Oregon—The Modoc War—Captain Jack and His Followers
Checking the Advance of Union Troops in the Lava-Beds,” 54
8 / “The Modocs in Their Stronghold,” 55
9 / “The Head of the Nation’s Nightmare,” 58
10 / “Modocs Scalping and Torturing Prisoners,” 60
11 / “The Two Vultures,” 61
12 / “Uncle Sam Hunting for the Modoc Flea in His Lava Bed,” 62
13 / “Alfred B. Meacham Lecture Company,” 89
14 / “Winema and Her Son Jeff,” 91
15 / Title Page of Alfred B. Meacham, Wi-ne-ma (The Woman-Chief)
and Her People, 94
16 / “Opening a New Empire,” 123
17 / The Klamath Basin Project, 1904–1970, 129
18 / “The Old and the New Way,” 133
19 / “The Author and Wife, Jeff C. Riddle & Manda,” 138
20 / Dedication of the Golden Bear Monument by the Native Daughters
of the Golden West, Lava Beds Monument, June 13, 1926, 163
21 / “Trip to the Lava Beds: Ivan and Alice Applegate at Canby’s Cross
at Lava Beds,” 167
22 / “Grave of Warm Springs Scouts,” 180