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signal fires and other, unspecified "Indian signs," and on September 26th, they found a large group of Indian people concentrated at a series of natural caves interspersed with deep ravines. This area was located near the top of a precipitous rimrock which rises abruptly some 600 feet above the valley floor of the South Fork of the Pit River. When they heard the soldiers approaching, some of the Indians scattered into the tules near the river, and others ran up the rocky slope to the caves. Again, Ike Leaf's words:
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Infernal Caverns, located in the center of the photograph, is situated on a volcanic escarpment overlooking the valley floor.(Photo courtesy of Summit Envirosolutions)
Close-up of Infernal Caverns as it looks today.(Photo courtesy of Summit Envirosolutions) |
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" Well, they [an old man and his son] were going away from there, right into the tules. The soldiers got around in front of them and so he hid right in the tules - the old fellow hid and the son ran away alone. The soldiers chased the young fellow around - they chased him around the trail there . . . and they finally killed him. "Thus began what was to be a three-day siege, during which the Indians "poured a regular hail of arrows and bullets on the advancing soldiers, who promptly took cover and returned the fire." On the second day, Crook's men stormed the fortification and began to climb the vertical boulders to where the Indians were ensconced. They reached the main level and drove the Indians out, or deeper into the caverns. |
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