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HISTORY
Modoc
County was formed when Governor Newton Booth
signed an Act of the California Legislature on
February 17, 1874. Land for the county was taken
from the eastern part of Siskiyou County.
The county derives its name from the Native
American Modoc people, who lived at the Klamath
River headwaters. One historian suggests that
the word modoc means "the head of the river."
Another states that the word is derived from the
Klamath word moatakni meaning "southerners,"
i.e., the people living south of the Klamath
tribe. The county was home to three major tribal
groups, the Modoc, the Achumawi (or Pit River),
and the Paiute. The Modoc were forcibly moved
first to Oregon, and then to Oklahoma, while the
Achumawi and Paiute were allowed to remain.
Captain Jack's Stronghold
Mule Deer in Modoc CountyThe Modoc War (or Lava
Beds War) of 1872–73 brought worldwide
recognition to Modoc during its protracted
battles when over 500 of US Army soldiers were
unable to overtake less than 55 Modoc warriors
who hid themselves in the lava tubes that are
now the Lava Beds National Monument. The War
began after the American government made a
pretense of purchasing the territory belonging
to the Modoc people from the Klamath people, and
forced the Modoc people to move to the Klamath
Reservation in Oregon. Some Modoc people left
the reservation, because the Klamath people made
it clear that the Modoc were not welcome there.
A companion of Captain Jack shot General Edward
Canby at a peacemaking session, leading to the
siege at Captain Jack's Stronghold. Native
Americans were unfamiliar with siege warfare,
and the Modoc surrendered only after they were
weakened by starvation.
Settlement of the county began in earnest in the
1870s, with the timber, gold, agriculture, and
railroad industries bringing most of the
settlers into the area. The county was a
crossroads for the Lassen Applegate Trail which
brought settlers north from Nevada to the Oregon
Trail and south to trails leading into
California's central valley. Early settlers
included the Dorris, Belli, Essex,
Scherer, Trumbo, Flournoy, and
Campbell families.
Several thousand acres just south of Newell
served as the temporary exile for thousands of
Japanese-American citizens during World War II
at the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, a
Japanese American internment camp. A historical
marker still stands along California State Route
139 in Newell. Tule Lake was the largest of the
"segregation camps." On November 8, 2005 Senator
Dianne Feinstein called for the camp to be
designated a National Historic Landmark.
(www.en.wikipedia.org)
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