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'Kintpuash', better known as 'Captain Jack' (circa 1837 - October 3, 1873), was a chief of the Native American Modoc tribe of California and Oregon, and was their leader during the Modoc War.
In 1864, the Modoc lived with each other in their ancestral home near Tule Lake, on the California-Oregon border. However, due to the desire of white settlers to farm the fertile land, they were moved to the Klamath Reservation in southwestern Oregon, home of their traditional rivals, the Klamath tribe. As the Klamath outnumbered their newcomers, and the reservation was on traditional Klamath land, the Modoc were poorly treated.
In 1865, Kintpuash, a Modoc leader better known as Captain Jack, led the Modoc people from the reservation back to their home. In 1869, the Modoc were rounded up by the United States Army and returned to the Klamath Reservation, but conditions had not improved, and Captain Jack led a band of about 180 Modoc to the Tule Lake area in April, 1870.
In 1872 the Army was sent to capture Captain Jack's band and return them to the reservation. On November 29, while negotiating their surrender at Lost River, Oregon, fighting broke out between a soldier and one of the Modoc warriors. The brief Battle of Lost River ensued, and Jack took the opportunity to lead his band into the wastelands of what is now Lava Beds National Monument. The band settled in a natural fortress, now known as Captain Jack's Stronghold, consisting of many caves and trenches in the lava beds. When they were finally located, the Army quickly launched an attack on January 17, 1873; the Army lost 35 dead and many wounded, while the Modoc suffered no casualties.
Captain Jack's advisers, apparently not attuned to relevant differences between Modoc and Euro-American culture, suggested that the Army would leave in response to killing their leader, Gen. Edward Canby. Jack hoped, to the contrary, for a peaceful solution to the conflict, and entered into negotiations with a Federal peace commission. During the months-long negotiations, the Modoc hawks gained in influence. Jack was shamed, his opponents even dressing him in the clothing of a Modoc woman to symbolically strip him of his manhood. To bolster his influence, Jack agreed to their plan: he called for a meeting with the commission (of which Canby was by then the chair) with the intention of killing them all. During a conference on April 11, Captain Jack and several other Modocs drew pistols upon a pre-arranged signal, and killed two leading members of commission; Captain Jack personally shot Canby to death. Canby was the only general killed during the Indian Wars (Custer's permanent rank was lieutenant colonel). The murder had far from the desired effect, and Canby's successor, Gen. Jefferson C. Davis, brought in over 1000 soldiers as reinforcements. On April 14, the Army again attacked the stronghold, this time forcing the Modoc to flee.
Over the next several months, various groups of Modoc continued to fight the army, while others began to surrender. Captain Jack successfully avoided the Army until a number of Modoc agreed to hunt him down and turn him in; these men included Hooker Jim, Bogus Charley, Shacknasty Jim and Steamboat Frank. On June 1, Captain Jack surrendered, ceremonially laying down his rifle. He was taken to Fort Klamath, and on October 3, 1873 he was hanged for the murder of General Canby and the other negotiator, along with Black Jim, John Schonchin and Boston Charley.
After the execution, Captain Jack's head was severed from his body, and the head went to the collections of the Army Medical Museum in Washington, District of Columbia. In 1898, the skull was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution. In the 1970s, descendants of Captain Jack learned that the skull was at the Smithsonian. In 1984, the Smithsonian returned the remains to Kintpuash's relatives.
The "Captain Jack Substation", a Western Area Power Administration (WAPA) electrical substation named in Kintpuash's honor, is located near Captain Jack's Stronghold. It forms the northern end of Path 66, a high-power electric transmission line.