Why read Remembering the Modoc War?

Book cover of Remembering the Modoc War: Redemptive Violence and the Making of American Innocence

Book description

On October 3, 1873, the U.S. Army hanged four Modoc headmen at Oregon's Fort Klamath. The condemned had supposedly murdered the only U.S. Army general to die during the Indian wars of the nineteenth century. Their much-anticipated execution marked the end of the Modoc War of 1872-73. But as Boyd…

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American history

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Why read it?

1 author picked Remembering the Modoc War as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Peter Boag

Author

Cothran’s beautifully written chronicle tells a sad and all-too-common story from the 19th century, the effects of which continue to haunt America today. While he focuses on the Modoc people of southern Oregon and Northern California and one of the most famous “Indian Wars” that is largely forgotten today, this tale is relevant to any place in the world where indigenous people have suffered the brutalities of colonization, are blamed for the very brutalities that they have suffered, and then become further victimized in histories that paint the colonizers and their murderous acts as innocent.

From Peter's list on The best books for understanding late-19th-century America through the prism of death, violence, and killing.