Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: Chapter 10 Summary & Analysis

The Native Americans of California were “as gentle as the climate in which they lived.” But after the Gold Rush of 1848, white settlers poured into California, first weakening and then exterminating entire tribes of Native Americans.

One notable exception to the gentleness of the California Native Americans was the Modoc tribe of Oregon. After white settlers failed to exterminate the Modoc, the tribe ambushed settlers. In the 1850s, however, the Modocs were led by a young chief named Kintpuash. Kintpuash began to push for peace between his tribe and white settlers in California. He made treaties with government representatives, but the treaties forced his people into a territory that belonged to another native tribe, the Klamaths. As a result, Kintpuash’s people began to go hungry.

By the 1870s, the Modocs were starving. Kintpuash led his people south in search of land, but troops ordered him to return. When he refused, soldiers tried to transfer the Modocs back to their territory by force. The soldiers tried to disarm Kintpuash and his men. When Kintpuash hesitated to drop his weapons, the soldiers became furious, and in the ensuing fight, eight Modocs had been killed or wounded.

Kintpuash led his remaining warriors away from the army in search of the California Lava Beds, the sacred Modoc sanctuary. Around the same time, another group of Modocs got in a fight with American soldiers, and in the gunfire several American soldiers and settlers died. Now, Kintpuash knew he’d be punished for his men’s misbehavior.

In early 1873, Modocs at the Lava Beds spotted U.S. forces approaching. The majority of the Modocs voted to fight the soldiers to the death. In the fight, the American soldiers were forced to retreat. Soon after, government representatives arrived, calling for peace talks. The representatives, defended by General Edward R. S. Canby, claimed that the Modocs who’d killed American troops would receive amnesty in exchange for a promise of permanent peace. But over the next few days, the representatives withdrew their offer and demanded that Kintpuash give up his men so that they could be transferred to a reservation.

By the middle of March, Kintpuash and his followers sighted Colonel Canby approaching the Lava Beds. Kintpuash’s warriors, who’d been responsible for killing American soldiers, surrendered to Canby. However, while at the military camp, a white soldier revealed that Canby intended to arrest and try the warriors. Before being arrested, the warriors were able to escape Canby and alert Kintpuash that Canby had tried to trick him.

The government now offered Kintpuash a new deal: he could surrender to the American government, with a guarantee of protection. Kintpuash was “caught in a classic dilemma”—he could save his followers by surrendering, but in doing so he’d be giving up the men who’d killed the troops. Meanwhile, more American troops joined Canby’s army.

A few days later, Kintpuash sent the military a message. He said he wanted to be able to move his people back to their old territory in Oregon. When the military pointed out that Oregon was now a settlers’ community, and one where the Modocs had shed white blood, Kintpuash made a second request—to be allowed to live with his people in the Lava Beds. The military representatives refused, so long as Kintpuash protected the men who’d killed U.S. soldiers.

Among his own people, Kintpuash was suspected of being in league with the U.S. military. Some of the Modocs wanted to kill the peace commissioners as soon as possible. They threatened to kill Kintpuash unless he killed the negotiators. Reluctantly, Kintpuash agreed to kill Colonel Canby, unless Canby accepted his peace terms.

On Good Friday, 1873, Kintpuash went out to speak with the peace commissioners. Canby made a long speech to Kintpuash about the need for peace. Kintpuash responded by demanding the right to stay in the Lava Beds. When Canby refused, Kintpuash became aggressive. He and his men drew their weapons and killed Canby and his men.

In the aftermath of the shooting, war broke out between the Modocs and the U.S. The U.S. soldiers’ superior firepower forced the Modocs to flee. Before long, the military had arrested most of the fleeing Modocs. Some of the same Modocs who’d pressured Kintpuash to kill Canby now turned on their chief and promised to track him down in exchange for amnesty. Kintpuash was caught a few weeks later. He surrendered and said, “I am ready to die.”

Kintpuash was convicted of murder. No defender was assigned to him, and no witnesses for the defense were summoned. Kintpuash was allowed to make a closing statement. In broken English, he said, “You white people conquered me not; my own men did.” He was hanged a few days later. Decades later, however, the few dozen Modocs who were still alive were allowed to return to their Oregon reservation.