Fairchild’s Ranch, California, March 4,
Via Yreka, March 5, 1873.
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he prospects of peace with the Modoc Indians are not so
favorable to-day, as Mr. Elijah Steele has just returned from the lava beds,
bringing the intelligence that after a long council the Indians decided against
going away from their own country, and are evidently determined to fight it out
on that line.
Mr. Elijah Steele went yesterday morning into the lava beds,
the bearer of the following terms:—
First—To surrender
to General Canby and receive full amnesty for the past.
Second—To be removed
to Angel Island, where they are to be fed with soldiers’ allowance and clothed
until a new home can be provided for them and they are able to support
themselves in it.
Third—To be
furnished by General Canby with transportation for their women and children to
the island, and thence to their new home, perhaps in Arizona.
Fourth—General Canby
is of the opinion that he can promise that Jack and some of his head men should
go to visit the President, and that the President will permit them to select
for themselves a new home in a warmer climate.
They had a long talk over the matter; but from the first they
evinced a marked dislike to leaving the home of their forefathers, and finally
sent back word by Mr. Steele that they would only live in their own country. This
alters the aspect of affairs, and the Commissioners have telegraphed to
Washington for instructions. The first talk was held last evening, in Jack’s
cave, and everything went on smoothly until Mr. Steele read out the terms and
they were translated to the Indians.
Only two or three appeared to approve of their tenor, and
presently John Schonchin got up and spoke rather wildly, saying that the
Commissioners were talking with two tongues, and that he wondered Steele had
the courage to make such a proposition to them. Schonchin’s speech fired up the
warriors, and if the envoys had not preserved their presence of mind they might
have fared badly.
Steele counted sixty-nine warriors present, all fully armed,
which makes twenty-five more than I saw when I was in the lava beds. These last
twenty-five are supposed to belong to the Snake tribe, as some of them wore
mustaches.
Captain Jack spoke, and said he did not understand what Mr.
Steele meant when he was in before, but now he knows the nature of the
proposition. He felt sorry because he could not go away from his own country. His
heart was good. He did not want to fight, and he would give up all his land in
Oregon and live on a little piece in California, but he would not go away from
this country. Mr. Steele finally concluded that it would be better to defer the
talk until the morning, and the council adjourned.
Steele and party did not pass a very pleasant night, as it was
evident from the actions of Scar-faced Charley and Captain Jack that they were
afraid of treachery. Steele and the clerk who went in with them slept in Jack’s
cave, with Scar-faced Charley on one side of them and Mary, Jack’s sister, on
the other. Captain Jack sent away his wives and slept at their feet.
The night, however, passed over without any outbreak, and in
the morning they had another talk, but there were only about twenty warriors
present. Captain Jack and Schonchin both spoke for some time in an excited and
insolent manner, and from their language indicated a decided intention of
having their own way and stopping in their own country.
Steele tried to temporize with them a little, and proposed an
interview with the Commissioners somewhere near the lava beds. To this they
assented, but only wanted to see Meacham and Applegate and no soldiers.
Mr. Steele finally left and came back with his report to the Commissioners,
accompanied by several [women], who are determined not to go back again, and
say that the [men] are mad and want more blood. It is hard to account for this
sudden change in their bearing, and I can only account for it by the appearance
of those strange Indians who are supposed to be the Snakes.
When I was in there Jack said overtures had been made to him
by the Snakes, but that he did not want them in his country. It appears,
however, that they have come, and probably more will come from the same source.
Mr. Steele has had enough of the lava beds, and I do not think he will go back
there any more.
The Commissioners are looking very blue, and Meacham said
to-night that he wanted a good horse, as he was a peace man, not a soldier, and
from the look of things the Modocs appeared to be anxious for a lock of his
hair, which he had no intention of giving away if he could prevent it.
A message will be sent in to-morrow by some Indians that the
Commissioners will only meet them on honorable terms and will not go into the
lava beds; they also send word that they will guarantee clothing, food and
protection to any that may choose to come out. Things look rather like
fighting, as since the Indians have been round the house a flask of powder and
some caps have been stolen.
Two wounded Modocs, Duffy and Long Jim, have surrendered, and
are being taken care of by the military.
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