by River Rivers
My ancestors, the Modoc Natives, were colonized.
My home is Oregon. My home has a dark-side.
After a great battle Captain Jack shot General Canby.
For their ‘War Crimes’ four Modoc were hanged.
That’s when the spectators took their souvenirs of war.
They auctioned off the ropes, strands of hair, and pieces of the gallows.
That was nothing compared to what a D.C. Medical Museum received from a surgeon.
Four skinned, defleshed, and preserved heads. Labeled 1018, 1019, 1020, and 1021.
By 1898 that collection had grown to 2,206 skulls. Four of them being Jack, John, Charley, and Jim.
Editor’s Note: Please take a moment to read a little more about Captain Jack and the war against the Modoc. Elephants never forget the good or the bad in history.
River Rivers, is an emerging writer from Southern Oregon, US. He’s been published in a number of literary presses and anthologies since he began writing. He is Modoc and Klamath Native American Indian. Spends his days working on a legal cannabis farm. Follow him on Twitter @Catch22Fiction.
(And don’t miss River’s An Indigenous Halloween tale. – Elephants Never)