if they were they had to be assailed in their strong position, and killed or captured. To accomplish this it was not numbers that could effect it, but skill and daring. The officers as well as the troops shared in the general impatience at the course of the commanding officer, and went so far as to say that he considered only his own personal safety, remaining in camp during the three days' battle, and after the battle having all the troops that could be spared posted at his camp.
When the peace commission was terminated by the assassination of Canby the whole frontier was thrown into a state of alarm followed by an attempt to place it on the defensive. Governor Grover was informed by telegraph that the road from the Rogue river to Klamath \ alley was dangerous and that the settlers had been warned. He was asked to order out 300 volunteers; and did issue a proclamation calling for that number of men to serve on exposed portions of the frontier. He ordered Ross to raise a volunteer company, and open the road from Jacksonville to Linkville, and to take to the settlers in the Klamath basin forty-eight needle guns with 300 rounds of ammunition, which had been issued a month previous in anticipation of difficulties following the failure of the peace commission, and stored at Jenny creek on the road to Linkville. At the same time the governor sent dispatches to United States senators J. K. Kelly and J. H. Mitchell, directing them to obtain an order from the war department for 500 needle ouns to be turned over to the state of O region for the nearest arsenal, 200 of which were due on a former requisition, and the remainder to be credited to the state on quotas due in the future, which arrangement was effected. When it became known that the Modocs had left their stronghold, great consternation prevailed among the inhabitants of northern California, and the wildest rumors gained credence. On
