Spirit in the Rock: The Fierce Battle for Modoc Homelands

The Modoc fought the U.S. Army in what would be the most expensive Indian conflict in American history. The hostilities were fierce, bloody, and unjust. In this riveting narrative, Modoc warriors, army foot soldiers, and cavalry officers share their stories. Spirit in the Rock captures the war’s dramatic battles, betrayals, and devastating end, but also delves into its underlying causes and the secret schemes by the Applegate family and others to seize Modoc ancestral territory. In addition, the account illuminates ways Native American traditions and spirituality influenced events.

For generations, the Modoc homelands, along what is now the California-Oregon border, provided abundant water and food sources. Indigenous families migrated seasonally throughout the region until large numbers of immigrants began to arrive. As the population of settlers increased, disputes over native lands intensified. By April 1870, the Modoc were forced to live on a crowded, distant reservation with their rivals, the Klamath. Led by a charismatic young chief called Captain Jack, they fled to their original Lost River village and refused to return. Despite ongoing peace negotiations, the cavalry launched a surprise attack just before dawn on November 29, 1872. The stunned band awoke to chaos. Survivors escaped to a natural stone citadel--nearby lava beds--and that stark landscape became the setting for the 1873 Modoc War.

Jim Compton (1941-2014) was a prize-winning broadcast journalist and author who produced documentaries and served as a correspondent for television programs including PBS News Hour and NBC News. As an NBC correspondent in London and Cairo, he created and hosted an award-winning weekly prime time television news program that ran for ten years. In Seattle, he was a commentator, host, and producer for KING-TV and a city councilman.

As a small child Bill Stafford received a camera as a gift, and photography became his lifelong hobby. When an Air Force jet crashed near his home in Wantagh, New York, twelve-year-old Bill rode his bike to the crash site and took photos that appeared on the front page of the New York Daily News. In high school he worked for a professional photographer. He honed his skills in the Nassau County Camera Club and received their Photo of the Year award.