arrangement made by the commissioners; the order for their arrest was entirely withdrawn.
Thus matters were in abeyance until the spring of 1872. The Modocs, however, growing restless and impatient for a decision, began to annoy the white settlers in the Lost-river country, doing various acts that were not in harmony with the compact made with the commissioners in August preceding. The white men, unwilling to endure the insolence of the Modocs, petitioned for redress. These petitions were addressed to the Indian Department, and to the Military Department, also to the civil authorities of the State of Oregon. They recited the acts of which the Modocs were accused, some of which were, “that they demanded rents for the lands occupied by white men; claiming pay for the use of the stock ranches; demanding horses and cattle; visiting the houses of settlers, and, in the absence of the husbands, ordering the wives to prepare meals for them, meanwhile throwing themselves on the beds and carpets, and refusing to pay for the meals when eaten; feeding their horses with the grain of the settlers, and, in some instances, borrowing horses without asking the owners.”
To the credit of Captain Jack be it told that he was never charged with any of these outrageous acts; but he was powerless to prevent his men from annoying these people who had settled the country at the invitation of the Government.
This state of affairs could lead to but one result,—blood. The petitions could not be disregarded. Action must be had, and that without delay. General Canby was appealed to; having rescinded the order
for the arrest of Captain Jack the previous summer, he was slow to issue another looking to the same end. He believed, as I did, that any attempt to compel the Modocs to return to Klamath would endanger the peace of the country. Captain Jack had failed to keep his part of the late contract, and had thereby forfeited any claim to further clemency.
CHAPTER XXII.
U. S. SENATORS COST BLOOD—FAIR FIGHT—OPEN FIELD.
While matters were thus in suspense a change was made in the office of Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon, T. B. Odeneal, Esq., of Oregon, succeeding to the Superintendency. He was a lawyer of ability, but had a limited knowledge of Indian character, and still less of the merits and demerits of this Modoc question.