Editing Modoc War (section)

==Failure of US to respond to Modoc==
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs never responded to Meacham's request for a separate reservation for the Modoc. After hearing more complaints from settlers, Meacham instead requested General [[Edward Canby]], Commanding General of the Department of the Columbia, to move Captain Jack's band to Yainax on the Klamath Reservation, his recommended site for their use. Canby forwarded Meacham's request to General Schofield, Commanding General of the Pacific, suggesting that before using force, peaceful efforts should be made. Jack had asked to talk to Meacham, but he sent his brother John Meacham in his place.<ref name="Murray"/>

In the middle of the crisis, the Commission of Indian Affairs replaced Meacham, appointing [[T. B. Odeneal]] as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Oregon.<ref name="Murray">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pMB9HhBwCNoC&q=T.+B.+Odeneal |title=Keith A. Murray, ''The Modocs and Their War,'' 1965; reprint, University of Oklahoma Press, 1984, p. 71 |isbn=9780806113319 |access-date=2015-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512193312/https://books.google.com/books?id=pMB9HhBwCNoC&dq=The+Modocs+and+Their+War&q=T.+B.+Odeneal+#v=onepage&q=T.%20B.%20Odeneal&f=false |archive-date=2016-05-12 |url-status=live |last1=Murray |first1=Keith A. |year=1959 |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press }}</ref><ref name="craterlakeinstitute.com">[http://www.craterlakeinstitute.com/online-library/nature-notes/vol10no2-modoc-war.htm Don C. Fisher and John E. Doerr, Jr., "Outline of Events in the History of the Modoc War"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526072119/http://www.craterlakeinstitute.com/online-library/nature-notes/vol10no2-modoc-war.htm |date=2012-05-26 }}, ''Nature Notes From Crater Lake,'' Volume 10, No. 2 – July 1937, Crater Lake Institute, accessed 1 November 2011</ref> He "knew almost nothing of the background of the situation and had never met Jack or the Modocs" but was charged with "getting the Modocs to leave Lost River."<ref name="Murray"/> In turn, Odeneal appointed a new US Indian agent, who was also unfamiliar with the parties and conditions.

On April 3, 1872, Major Elmer Otis held a council with Captain Jack at Lost River Gap, near what is now [[Olene, Oregon]]. At the council, Major Otis presented Captain Jack with some settlers who complained about the behavior of Jack's men. Captain Jack countered that the Modoc were abused and unjustly accused of crimes which other Indians had committed.

Although the council's results were inconclusive, Otis resolved to remove Jack's band of Modoc to the Klamath Reservation. As he needed reinforcements, he recommended waiting until later in the year, when he could put the Modoc at a disadvantage.<ref>''Reports of the Otis Conference, 3 April 1873;'' and Otis to Odeneal, 11 April 1872. [http://maxpages.com/modocwar/Otis_Conference] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529141702/http://maxpages.com/modocwar/Otis_Conference|date=2014-05-29}}</ref>

On April 12, the [[Commission of Indian Affairs]] directed US Superintendent T. B. Odeneal<ref name="craterlakeinstitute.com"/> to move Captain Jack and his Modoc to the reservation if practicable. He was to ensure the tribe was protected from the Klamath.

On May 14, Odeneal sent Ivan D. Applegate and [[L. S. Dyar]] to arrange for a council with Captain Jack, which the latter refused. On July 6, 1872, the US Commissioner of Indian Affairs repeated his direction to Superintendent Odeneal to move Captain Jack and his band to the Klamath Reservation, peacefully if possible, but forcibly if necessary. Minor skirmishes occurred during the summer and early fall, but some of the settlers in California were sympathetic to the Modoc, as they had gotten along well with them before. The Modoc felt mistreated.