March History Night at the Mission Theater: "Modoc: The Tribe That Wouldn't Die"

Date, Location

Tue, 03/13/2012 - 8:00pm - 9:30pm

The Mission Theater
1624 NW Glisan Street
Portland, OR 97210

Cost: Free

To Register:

Free and open to the public.  Doors open at 6:00 p.m.

Event Website

The Oregon Encyclopedia

About the Event

The 1873 Modoc War, fought in what today is the Lava Beds National Monument, California, was one of the most expensive Indian wars ever fought, pitting over 1,000 U.S. soldiers against some 55 Modoc warriors. Cheewa James, the great-granddaughter of one of those Modoc warriors and author of Modoc: The Tribe That Wouldn’t Die, will talk about the war in southern Oregon and northern California. James, who was recently featured in Oregon Public Broadcasting’s The Modoc War, will also talk about the fate of the 150 Modoc men, women, and children who survived the war. Modoc exiles were placed as prisoners of war on a cramped and bitterly cold train car and sent to Oklahoma Indian Territory, where they started a new life.

Presented by: Cheewa James

James is a professional motivational speaker and business trainer based in Sacramento, California. She was born on Oregon’s Klamath Reservation and is enrolled with the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma, which is made up of descendants of those who fought in the war. Her father Clyde “Chief” James played professional basketball in the Midwest in the 1920s and is in the American Indian Athletic Hall of Fame. James is a freelance writer, and her book on the Modocs is the result of a decade of research.