Located in Malin Park is a lava rock monument containing two plaques, one on the west side, one on the east side. The plaque on the east side reads:
In memory of our area's earliest settlers killed
November 29, 1872 by Hooker Jim
"An outlaw to all mankind"J. Thurber J. Saper
W. Nus H. Miller
W. Boddy J. Collins
W. Boddy Jr. Wm. Brotherton
R. Boddy W.K. Brotherton
N. Shira R. Brotherton
R. Alexander
A. Shillingbow |
Hooker Jim was a Modoc Indian and part of a larger tribe that were forced to resettle from their homelands in the area to the Klamath Reservation, many miles north of here. Wikipedia quickly summarizes the events behind the killings of these settlers:
Hooker Jim (1851–1879) was a Modoc warrior who played a pivotal role in the Modoc War. Hooker Jim was the son-in-law of tribal medicine man Curley Headed Doctor. After white settlers massacred Modoc women and children contemporaneously with the Battle of Lost River, Hooker Jim led a group of Modocs overland to Captain Jack's Stronghold.[1]:225–6 During their march, Hooker Jim and his warriors killed several white settlers in revenge.[1]:225
Captain Jack, the Modoc chief, repeatedly refused to hand Hooker Jim and the other Modocs who had killed the settlers over to white authorities.[1]:229 et seq. Hooker Jim then coerced Captain Jack into murdering General Edward Canby at a peace council.[1]:234–5
Soon after, as the Army invaded the Lava Beds where Captain Jack had taken refuge, Hooker Jim abandoned Captain Jack and surrendered to the Army.[1]:238–9 Hooker Jim was part of the "Modoc Bloodhounds" used by the Army to capture Jack. After Captain Jack was finally captured, Hooker Jim testified against his chief in exchange for amnesty.[1]:240
Hooker Jim followed the tribe in exile to Oklahoma and died there in 1879.
Hooker Jim was part of the first battle of the Modoc War known as the Battle of Lost River and his actions by killing white settlers eventually led to a long, drawn-out war in the present-day Lava Beds National Monument between himself, leader Captain Jack, and many other Modoc Indians against the U.S. Army. Wikipedia further highlights the events behind the Modoc War and the eventual Hooker Jim's actions and reads:
In the 1860s, the Modoc had been removed from their traditional home near the Lost River in California to the newly established Klamath Reservation in Oregon. The more numerous Klamath were traditional enemies, and the peoples had conflicts on the reservation.
In 1872, Kintpuash (Captain Jack) led his band of about 100 Modoc back to their traditional home on Lost River. White settlers had moved into the area during their absence and complained to the government about the returning Modoc, asking that the Indians be forced back to the reservation. On November 27, Bureau of Indian Affairs Superintendent T. B. Odeneal requested Major John Green, commanding officer at Fort Klamath, to furnish sufficient troops to compel Captain Jack to return to the reservation. On November 28, Captain James Jackson, commanding 40 troops, left Fort Klamath for Captain Jack's camp. Reinforced by citizens from Linkville (now Klamath Falls, Oregon), the troops reached Jack's camp on the Lost River about a mile above Emigrant Crossing (now Stone Bridge, Oregon) on November 29.
Wishing to avoid conflict, Captain Jack agreed to go to the reservation. The situation became tense when Captain Jackson demanded he and his warriors disarm. Captain Jack had never fought the Army, and was alarmed at this command, but finally agreed to put down his weapons.
The rest of the Modoc were following his lead, when warrior Scarfaced Charley and an unidentified Army sergeant reportedly got into a verbal argument, pulled their revolvers, and shot at each other, both missing. The Modoc scrambled to regain their weapons, and fought a short battle before fleeing toward the border with California. After driving the Modoc from camp, Captain Jackson ordered his troops to retreat to await reinforcements. The casualties in this short battle included one U.S. soldier killed and seven wounded, and two Modoc killed and three wounded.
On their way to the Lava Beds south of Tule Lake, a small band of Modoc under the leadership of Hooker Jim killed 18 settlers on the afternoon of November 29 and morning of November 30. This attack added to calls for the US Army troops to be reinforced and the Modoc suppressed.
I've been a lifelong resident of Klamath County and have grown up reading and learning about the Modoc War. From a personal standpoint, although I agree the killings of the white settlers mentioned on the memorial was a terrible tragedy, I also in a way, emphasize with the Modoc Indian people. The lands that eventually became Malin and pioneered by white settlers were once the ancestral homelands for the Modoc for thousands of years. Hooker Jim, along with many other Modocs, were only reacting out of frustration from having their homelands and hunting grounds taken away from them and then forced to relocate to a reservation, many miles away. One only needs to put themselves in the Modocs' position, and Hooker Jim's actions become a more palatable episode in history.