" Well they went in there [the cave] - kept on going in while these others were shooting at the soldiers from the outside here. Finally, one of the older ones, old Big Pete's father - he got shot. He got shot right there. So, they laid him aside, and then these others were going in, kept on going in . . ." He said, 'Well, I want to get one more [soldier] before I go into the cave.' He thought they had all gone away or slowed down. They killed seven soldiers there. Yes, right there. And they shot another one - another soldier. And he died on the way coming back from Alturas."

Monument to six of the eight U.S. Army soldiers who died in the Battle of Infernal Caverns.

(Photo courtesy of Summit Envirosolutions)

Artist's rendering of a Native American "rock cairn" burial feature.

During this part of the fighting, Crook is said to have shot down Chief Si-e-ta. On the morning of the third day, the soldiers discovered that the Indians who had still been in the caverns had escaped during the night, via deep crevices and underground passages. The soldiers retrieved their dead and left the battle site, but not before searching the caverns and noting several dead Indians.

" So all the Indians were in the cave. Well my grandmother, and a few others, knew what the outlet was in the cave. So they went through with no lights or anything - they just knew the way. And the first day - well, they made it out - on top . . . After the third day [the soldiers] rolled a big rock in there. That rock's still there yet. They figured that the third day [the Indians] would go thirsty and be hungry and they'd starve them out - like that . . . So, [the soldiers] left [the Indians] there for dead because they covered that hole up. But there's an outlet that they didn't know about."


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