On a cold, rainy dawn in late November 1872, Lieutenant Frazier Boutelle and a Modoc Indian nicknamed Scarface Charley leveled firearms at each other. Their due

On October 3, 1873, the U.S. Army hanged four Modoc headmen at Oregon's Fort Klamath. The condemned had supposedly murdered the only U.S. Army general to die du

Along the shores of Tule Lake in northern California, three small bands of Modoc Indians joined forces in the fall and winter of 1872-73 to hold off more than o

Devil's Backbone Terry C. Johnston The Modoc Indians and American officials had been flirting with war in the Oregon Territory for some time. When Modoc chief K

Jefferson C. Davis Riddle (1863-1941) was the son of Frank Riddle and his Modoc wife, Tobey, both of whom played prominent roles in the Modoc War of 1873. Only