Infernal Caverns is the site of an 1867 battle between U.S. armed forces and

Shoshone The Shoshone or Shoshoni ( or ) are a Native American tribe with four large cultural/linguistic divisions: * Eastern Shoshone: Wyoming * Northern Shoshone: southern Idaho * Western Shoshone: Nevada, northern Utah * Goshute: western Utah, e ...

Paiute Paiute (; also Piute) refers to three non-contiguous groups of indigenous peoples of the Great Basin. Although their languages are related within the Numic group of Uto-Aztecan languages, these three groups do not form a single set. The term "Pa ...

, and

Pit River Indians The Pit River Tribe is a federally recognized tribe of eleven bands of indigenous peoples of California. They primarily live along the Pit River in the northeast corner of California.California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

No. 16.

Location

Infernal Caverns, also known as Hell Caves, is located 6.5 miles west of Likely, California, and 1 mile south of the Ferry Ranch in Modoc County, California. The Infernal Caverns Battleground was the site of one of the last Indian battles fought in California, on September 26–27, 1867.

History

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

General George Crook was sent west to quell Indian uprisings that had begun in 1848 when the Northern Paiutes and other tribes in what is now Northern California, Northern Nevada, and Southern Oregon, engaged in both offensive and defense battles protecting their homelands. The last incident that had brought U.S. Army action was when Indigenous soldiers killed 78 miners who were en route to

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. With the 39th Mounted Infantry, General Crook tracked the Native Americans south from Goose Lake (which lies on what is now the California-Oregon border), engaging them in a desolate spot named Infernal Caverns. The two-day battle began high in a

canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cut ...

characterized by large boulders, rocky caverns, and hollow

fumarole A fumarole (or fumerole) is a vent in the surface of the Earth or other rocky planet from which hot volcanic gases and vapors are emitted, without any accompanying liquids or solids. Fumaroles are characteristic of the late stages of volcan ...

s caused by

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock ( magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or ...

flows. Eight U.S. soldiers were killed. Six were buried at the site, and a seventh, Sgt. David Rustler, was transported by double mule

travois A travois (; Canadian French, from French , a frame for restraining horses; also obsolete travoy or travoise) is a historical frame structure that was used by indigenous peoples, notably the Plains Aboriginals of North America, to drag loads ov ...

Camp Warner Camp Warner was a United States Army outpost in south-central Oregon, United States. Camp Warner was located at two different sites approximately apart. The Army called both sites Camp Warner. However, the first site became known as Old Camp War ...

at Goose Lake, where he died a few days later. Lt. John Madigan, the only officer killed in the fight, was buried just outside the town of

Alturas, California Alturas ( Spanish for "Heights"; Achumawi: ''Kasalektawi'') is a city and the county seat of Modoc County, California. Located in the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California, the city had a population of 2,715 at the 2020 census. Alturas ...

Memorial

Six white marble tombstones were erected by the U.S. government to mark the burial location for the soldiers. One additional tombstone was added in 1995 for Private Willoughby Sawyer, who also died in this battle and whose marker was missing. This historical omission was discovered by California historian Chris J. Wright.

References

Sources

* ''Alta California Newspaper'', September 28, 1868 (morning edition). * Bourke, John G. ''Crook in Indian Country, 1867-68''. * Bourke John G. (1968). ''With General Crook in the Indian Wars''. * Brown, William S. (1951) ''California Northeast: The Bloody Ground''. * Schmitt, Martin F. (Ed.) (1960). ''General George Crook: His Autobiography''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. * ''Modoc Record'', September 23, 1995 * ''New York Times'', July 28, 1867. * Parnell, William R. ''Operations Against Hostile Indians with General George Crook.'' * Riddle, Francis A. (1960). ''Honey Lake Paiute Ethnology''. * Underhill, Ruth (1941). ''The Northern Paiute Indians of California and Nevada''. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of the Interior. * ''Valley Times'' Newspaper; Vol. 111 No. 268, September 25, 1995. * Wassons, Joe. News story on the Battle of Infernal Caverns. * Wright, Chris. J., ""Battle of Infernal Caverns". ''True West Magazine'' August 1995, Fields of Fire

External links

{{commonscategory, Infernal Caverns
California Office of Historic Preservation

Caves of California Paiute Shoshone Battles involving the United States Landforms of Modoc County, California History of Modoc County, California California Historical Landmarks