254 THE MODOK. 
committed under circumstances every whit as damning and treacherous as 
either of the above; and that the war of 1864, according to the old chief 
Skon’-chin, (an Indian universally believed and respected by the whites 
to this day), was begun by the whites simply in retaliation for the loss 
of some horses. The victims of Modok treachery lie in scores, ay, in hun- 
dreds, along the old emigrant-trail which leads up along the east side of 
Tule Lake, past Big Bloody Point and Little Bloody Point—terribly sug- 
gestive names! But, on the other hand, I have more than once when sit- 
ting at the fireside in winter evenings, listened to old Oregonians telling 
with laughter how when out hunting deer they had shot down a “buck” 
or a squaw at sight, and merely for amusement, although the tribe to which 
they belonged were profoundly at peace with the Americans! After that, 
let us say no more. 
The Modok were always churlishly exclusive, having no cartel or 
reciprocity with other tribes like the joyous and blithe-hearted Wintin, 
inviting none to their dances, and receiving no invitations in return. In 
fact they have hardly any merry-makings, chiefly the gloomy and trucu- 
lent orgies of war, of the scalp, and of death. They were like Ishmael 
of old; their hand was against every man, and every man’s hand was 
against them. They attained in early years to a great infamy as slave- 
dealers, their principal victims being the timid, simple, joyous races of 
California, especially the Pit River tribes. They and the Muk’-a-luk 
(Klamath Lake Indians) are said to have got their first stocks of cayuse 
ponies in exchange for slaves, which they sold to the Indians on the Co- 
lumbia River, about The Dalles. 
They have a toughness of vitality which corresponds to their character. 
About 1847 the small-pox destroyed 150 of their number; they were 
forever at war with the Shastika and other tribes until the whites inter- 
vened; and they fought two terribly decimating wars with the Americans ; 
and yet in 1872 they were slowly increasing again. In 1851 they were 
less numerous than the Shastika; but just before the last great outbreak 
they numbered about 250 souls, while the Shastika had only 30 or 40. In 
1864 brave old Skonchin said, when he signed the treaty, ““Once my people 
were like the sand along yon shore. Now I call to them, and only the 
