Page:The Indian History of the Modoc War.djvu/275

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in pursuit and

intercepted and captured them. We came in together, and took the Indians to Scott Valley, and there gave them a fair trial, proving their identity by both white men and Indians, and the Indian testimony and their own story, all of which was received in evidence. One was found guilty, the other acquit- ted and set at liberty. Our present Superintendent of Instruc- tion, Professor G. K. Godrey, was one of the jury. During our absence the people remained under great excitement, as all kinds of rumors were afloat ; and our company was so small, and I had started into a country inhabited by hordes of wild Indians, and those of Siskiyou Mountain and Rogue River Valley notoriously warlike. Old Scar-Face, of the Shastas, learning of the difficulty at Rogue River, contrary to advice given him when we left, had come out from the canyon, ap- peared on the mountain lying east of Yreka, as the Indians afterwards told me, for the purpose of letting the whites know the trouble, as the roads were waylaid by the Indians on the mountains, so that travelers could not pass. As soon as he was seen a wild excitement ensued, and a company started in pursuit. Scar-Face, seeing the danger, fled up the Shasta Valley, on foot, his pursuers after him well mounted. After a race along the hills and through the valleys for about eighteen miles, he was finally captured and hanged upon a tree, at what is now called Scar-Face Gulch. His son, Bill, then became chief of this branch of the tribe, as successor to his father, in an usurped authority in the fight, for which he had received the wound in the face, \vhence the scar, which gave him the title among the whites. Peace was then restored, and all things seemed to be moving on finely, and I, with a few others, started out to find a trail over the mountains, from Rogue River Valley to the coast. This was a very rugged trip, but was finally successful. On coming near the coast we found a band of Indians and squaws gathering berries. We took the Indians as prisoners and held them as hostages for good behavior of their tribe during our investigations. From them we learned that a company had been up by a boat from San Francisco exploring the bay, and had all died, or, as we believed, been killed by the Indians, they wearing some of their