Captain Jack’s Stronghold was a great turnaround point for our road ride at Lava Beds National Monument. Our ride was 28 miles with 1,586′ of climbing.
We started our ride from the Visitor Center and headed North on the main park road. When we visited it was brand new pavement all the way to the north entrance booth. Smooth and fresh! Along the way we stopped at Fleener Chimneys to look around, and several times for pictures.
Fleener Chimneys
We took a brief detour off the main road to ride some gravel out and back a short distance to see the Fleener Chimneys. Theses chimneys weren’t formed by lava flowing up out of them instead, they formed over time when thick clots of lava spattered higher and higher around them. We climbed up the stairs and walked around the base of the chimneys to take a peak inside.
Devils Homestead was the next highlight. This area is a vast field of a’a lava. Like treads rolling on a tank, the clinkery, cooling front of the flow, fell off and was run over by the hot molten core. This Devils Homestead flow, which erupted from Fleener Chimneys more than a mile south of here, provides an excellent example of rough a’a lava.
After Devils Homestead, we continued riding north on the main park road through the north entrance, past Canby Cross (more on that later) and kept going to Captain Jack’s Stronghold. To describe the Stronghold, I have to explain the Modoc War.
Modoc War
First, some history on this area and Native Americans. The Modoc War, November 29, 1872 – June 1, 1873, is the only major Native American war fought in California and the only one in which a general was killed. That’s General E.R.S. Canby. The Modoc warriors totaled between 50 and 60, while there were as many as 1000 U.S. troops. Much of the war centered around Captain Jack’s Stronghold, a natural lava fortress with deep lava trenches and small caves. It’s named for the Modoc’s war leader Captain Jack.
This story isn’t new or different. The Modoc Indian Tribe lived in the area. A bunch of white settlers arrived in Modoc territory to establish homesteads and demanded the Modoc be relocated to the Klamath Reservation where other tribes already lived. Surprise, conditions on the reservation were poor and the Modoc had trouble adapting to a new lifestyle and living amongst other tribes. Their Captain, Captain Jack, asked for and got a reservation of their own but again local settlers demanded they be removed from the area. Fast forward, after relocating again with the same result, Jack and his group returned to their homeland.
Peace Commission and Canby
On November 29, 1872, Army Major Green acting on orders to move the Modoc back to the Klamath Reservation encountered them and fighting breaks out. The fleeing Modocs escaped by boat across Tule Lake to take refuge at the Stronghold. Then in January, more than 300 soldiers attacked the Stronghold. it didn’t go well for the soldiers and they had to retreat defeated. Following this battle, in April 1873, a Peace Commission meeting was called. In the meeting, Captain Jack asked for a reservation on their homeland. General Canby declined the request and Captain Jack shot Canby with a revolver.
In response to that attack, the Modocs at Stronghold were attacked again. Like any great story, they escaped in the night. More attacks ensue and finally Jack surrendered on June 1, 1873 and was hanged October 3, 1873.
That explains Canby Cross and like the picture below explains, the inscription on the cross is complicated. We took a self guided tour of the Stronghold. Since we were in cycling cleats and not good hiking shoes, we opted to trip our way through the shorter .5 mile loop. There are 12 different points along the loop that explain different features of the Stronghold. My favorite was today’s version of the medicine flag. The Modocs believed the medicine flag would render the soldiers’ bullets harmless. The hike definitely reinforces how difficult these battles had to be since the Stronghold is piles of jagged lava rock everywhere.
This being an out and back ride, we rode back 🙂
Leave a Reply