Welcome to Hospital Rock. This historic location was the scene of a skirmish between the Modoc Indians and a contingent of the U.S. Army that had set up camp here, close to Captain Jack's Stronghold, where the Modoc leader, Captain Jack, had been hiding out and refusing to give up the fight against the Army during the Modoc Indian War of 1872-3. This site also was temporarily used as a field hospital and where Lieutenant Sherwood died after being attacked by Modoc Indians nearby.
An historical marker placed at this site says the following:
It was April 11, 1873, the middle of the Modoc War. Though greatly outnumbered, Modoc warriors had easily defeated the Army in the first battle for the Stronghold in January, and soldiers had waited through the winter while peace talks dragged on. At last, the restless troops were moved to Hospital Rock and Gillems Camp, much closer to the Modoc.
At midday, soldiers spotted three Modoc crossing the lava beds (in front of you) waving a white flag. When two officers approached them, they opened fire. Moving the camps had driven the Modoc to act; this offensive would spark the second battle for the Stronghold.
At the time of the attack, the Modoc had been living for months in the Stronghold caves instead of their usual warm winter dwellings. In spring when they saw the Army camps moving closer, some became concerned. They called for an end to negotiations. It seemed apparent that the whites would never grant their wish to be left alone in their homeland.
Lieutenant William Sherwood was mortally wounded, and died several days later at the crude field hospital that gave Hospital Rock its name. An urgent message warning of treachery was sent to the peace commissioners meeting nearby. Unfortunately, it arrived too late--they too had been attacked.
If one visits the visitor center within the Lava Beds National Monument, they will see a large display of Lieutenant Sherwood's personal chest as well as his rifle, revolver and sword. In reference to the peace commission which was attacked by Modocs, the result was two men died in that attack, one of them being General E.R.S. Canby, the only U.S. General to to be killed in an Indian War. General Canby's death would spark another battle at Captain Jack's Stronghold and drag out the Modoc War for many more months.
The following excerpts are from a book that the National Park Service has made available online and detail the incidents surrounding Hospital Rock:
Major Mason had established a semi-circle of outposts on top of the scattered hillocks that lay between his camp at Hospital Rock and the Stronghold. On April 11, Pvt. Charles Hardin was posted as a guard of the first relief on one of these rocky ridges. During the morning Lieutenant Sherwood, the officer of the day, visited Hardin's post. The young officer was in an exuberant mood. Referring to the commissioners, he said, "Well, this is the last day of the war and now we can all go home and rest." He told Hardin to be on the lookout for Modocs who might signal their wish to visit Hospital Rock camp.
A few minutes after Sherwood left, Hardin discovered two Indians about 400 yards away waving a white flag. He yelled to them and his cries were heard back at camp. Sherwood returned to the outpost to learn what was happening. When he saw the Indians, the lieutenant said he was going out to see what they wanted. Hardin urged him not to go; but Sherwood went, and the private kept him covered with his Sharp's carbine. Sherwood returned and informed Hardin that the Indians would come back at one p.m. and that they wanted to talk with Major Mason.
Hardin was off guard duty at noon when Sherwood and Lieutenant Boyle went out to meet the Modocs the second time. The private and his companions climbed upon Hospital Rock from where they could watch the lieutenants' progress. The two officers went almost half a mile beyond the picket posts and met an Indian in advance of the truce flag who asked if Boyle was tyee, or chief. When Boyle said he was not, the Indian urged the officers to go with him to the flag site where Steamboat Frank was waiting to talk with them.
The unarmed lieutenant suddenly felt very exposed and, politely breaking off the discussion, started back to camp. Almost as soon as they turned their backs, the Modocs began firing. "Boyle told Sherwood they best separate . . . which they did, but poor Sherwood had not gone over thirty paces when he was shot in the arm and leg." By then, the lieutenants had disappeared from the soldiers' sight behind a lava ridge. At Hospital Rock the entire guard relief quickly formed and rushed toward the scene of the shooting. An unnamed officer from Gillem's camp who happened to be visiting Mason's command excitedly ran after the guard and, overtaking it, assumed command. However he led the men in the wrong direction. The sergeant of the guard tried to correct him, but the officer would not listen. The desperate sergeant turned to Hardin and said, "You know where they are. I cannot get away from this lunatic. You drop back and when clear run up this draw and hurry to that hog-back. The officers are down behind that."
Hardin did so and saw that Boyle had already escaped toward camp. Then he saw Sherwood lying on the ground, "I called to him asking if he was badly hurt and he answered saying he was." Hardin signaled his fellow guards who broke from their hysterical commander. They ran to Hardin's position. Sherwood was carried into camp, where he died from his wounds three days later.
As soon as the attack on Sherwood occurred, Mason signaled the word to Gillem's camp. Colonel Gillem sat down immediately to write a message to Canby informing him of the attack. Cabaniss offered to take the message but, even before the doctor got out of camp, the signal officer saw that Canby was under attack.
There is a location between Gillem's Camp and Captain Jack's Stronghold called
Canby Cross that marks the site where General E.R.S. Canby was murdered along with a preacher during an attempted peace talk with Captain Jack and other Modocs in his party. This attack would lead to another 5-1/2 month battle between Captain Jack and his small band of warriors and the U.S. Army at
Captain Jack's Stronghold.