Scarface Charley

Scarface Charley (c. 1851 – December 3, 1896) was a chief of the Modoc tribe of Native Americans. He took part in the Modoc War of 1872–73 in California,[1] and is considered to have fired the first shot at the Battle of Lost River. On April 26, 1873, Scarfaced Charley led a victorious attack against a patrol of 63 soldiers. He killed all five of the officers in the patrol, as well as twenty others.[2] It is widely written that he stopped the slaughter and told the soldiers, "We've killed enough of you, now go home."

Scarface Charley
Borncirca 1830 (1830)
DiedDecember 3, 1896 (1896-12-04)
Quapaw Reservation, Ottawa County, Oklahoma

After the execution of Kintpuash and three of his warriors for the murder of Major General Edward Canby and Rev. Eleazer Thomas, Scarface Charley was appointed by Colonel Frank Wheaton as chief of the Modocs who were to be sent to Oklahoma as slaves. After a year in Oklahoma, Scarfaced Charley was replaced by Indian Agent Hiram Jones, as chief by Bogus Charley, partly due to the latter's better understanding of English.[3] Other accounts hold that he was removed because he refused to accept that white people were "true rulers".

Scarfaced Charley was also a gifted craftsman, designing an elegant typeface for the phonetic transcription of the Modoc language. He also developed a line of traditionally influenced domestic furniture, which was an important source of revenue for him after his political career was ended.

References
  1. "Chapter XXII. The Modoc War. 1864–1873". Bancroft's History of Oregon. vol. 2. 1890. Retrieved 2013-07-08.
  2. Champagne, Duane. Native America: Portrait of the Peoples. Detroit, MI: Visible Ink Press, 1994: 326. ISBN 0-8103-9452-9.
  3. Scruggs, Patrica. The History of the Modoc Tribe of Oklahoma. Archived 2008-07-24 at the Wayback Machine 2009 (10 Feb 2009)


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