Battle of Dry Lake

What happened at Dry Lake, sometimes called Sorass Lake, marked the first time in 1873 that United States forces decisively defeated the Modoc Indians of northern California. This clash caused the Modoc bands to break apart, and it stands as the final major engagement of the Modoc War.

Background

Command of the Department of the Columbia passed to Colonel Jefferson C. Davis on May 2, 1873. Taking personal charge of operations in the field, Davis set an expedition in motion aimed at cutting off Captain Jack as he pushed southeast away from the Lava Beds. Soldiers of the U.S. cavalry made their way to a spot known, with rough affection, as Sore Ass Lake, and pitched camp there. Once they discovered the lake held no water at all, they gave it a new name, Dry Lake.

The battle

At first light on May 10, a handful of Modoc fighters struck the American camp while their companions settled into positions among the bluffs overlooking the lake. Caught off guard, the soldiers scrambled from their blankets, ducking behind whatever cover they could find, however small, as they buckled their gunbelts and yanked on their boots. Once the officers brought things back under control, they dispatched the mounted Warm Springs Indian scouts to swing around the Modoc flanks, while ordering the remaining force to storm the bluffs directly. At the base of the rise, the men hesitated, unwilling to rush the well-defended heights above them. It was 1st Sgt. Thomas Kelley who broke the standoff, bellowing "God damn it, lets charge." That moment marked the first time in the whole conflict that American troops actually pressed an assault and drove the defenders from the bluff. The Modocs scattered so fast that the Warm Springs scouts never even finished their flanking maneuver, and among those left behind, dead on the ground, was a notable fighter named Ellen's Man George. The soldiers gave chase for four miles before fatigue and thirst forced them to give it up.

Aftermath

The clash at Dry Lake marked a turning point, the moment the Modoc War began its slide toward conclusion. In his account of the fighting, Davis expressed satisfaction with how his troopers had conducted themselves, noting that they held their ground rather than breaking when the Modocs launched their initial assault. The Army and Navy Journal weighed in with an editorial crediting Davis' arrival in the field with correcting what had previously been a poorly run campaign.

For the Modocs, the defeat of Captain Jack's forces and the loss of Ellen's Man proved costly. Fractures opened among the leadership in the aftermath. Hooker Jim, Bogus Charley, and Scarface Charley placed blame for Ellen's Man's death squarely on Captain Jack, and this rift drove them to break away and move westward, while Captain Jack and Schonchin John remained behind at Big Sandy Butte. Before that month was out, Bogus Charley and Hooker Jim gave themselves up to Col. Davis, offering their assistance in tracking down and capturing Captain Jack. That pursuit reached its end in June 1873, when Captain Jack himself surrendered.