Life Amongst the Modocs

by Joaquin Miller, Alan Rosenus (Afterword), Malcolm Margolin (Introduction)

First printed in 1873,  Life Amongst the Modocs  is based on Miller’s years among the mining towns and Indian camps of northernmost California during the tumultuous 1850s. As a nature writer, he was among the first to capture the fierce power and sublime beauty of California’s wild landscape. He was also a maverick in his portrayal of the state’s emotional landscape, dealing as no one has before or since with themes such as loneliness and defeat, melancholy and rage, weakness and strength, joy and loyalty.

Genres: History, Native American, Memoir

456 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 2013

About the author

Joaquin Miller (Cincinnatus Heine, or Hiner, Miller) was the pen name of the colorful American poet, essayist and fabulist Cincinnatus Heiner Miller.

Reviews

[Mike W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joaquin Miller is a somewhat forgotten author, to the extent that a man with schools and parks named after him can be forgotten. You'd probably have to admit though that it's rare to hear his work discussed much nowadays. There was a time though when he was immensely popular,especially in Europe. In fact, for a time it appears he provided European readers with their vision of what the American West was and had become. Miller is often called The Poet of the Sierras, and after reading this book, I gained an understanding of how he earned this title. From the opening line in this book describing Mt. Shasta as "Lonely as god and white as a winter moon..." and throughout the work he beautifully describes the land and the people of Northern California during the gold rush days and beyond.

Miller was clearly a progressive thinker and he takes some stands regarding the native American population that were likely unpopular in his day. Besides marrying a native American woman in the book and raising a child with her, he also advocates for a sovereign nation for native Americans that would include good and productive lands. He also touches on the damage miners did to the environment and how it affected native populations in his account of the battle of Castle Crags. Miller fought in this battle, which was the last battle in which native Americans used only primitive weapons. Miller was shot in the face with an arrow but recovered.

Overall the book is a fantastically written account of a very adventurous life during a time when there wasn't much law. I have a copy of this book that I take with me when backpacking because I live near many of the places that Miller describes.

It is difficult to know how much of this book is truth and how much is fiction. Miller did indeed live in these areas, and appears to have married a native American woman at some point in his life. But Miller places himself into nearly every significant historical event in far Northern California and I find this to be highly unlikely. In addition, he is inconsistent, at times advocating for Native American rights and then describing taking part in a massacre involving the Pitt River indians. But, such inconsistency is a hallmark of those times and whether or not this story is 50 percent true or 100 percent true matters not to me. It's a great read and I would highly recommend it as an introduction to Joaquin Miller's work.

[Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book thinking I would learn something about the Modocs. I was fooled by the title. It only briefly mentions the Modoc and is mostly an autobiography about the authors early adulthood. While full of adventure, poetic descriptions of nature, and massacres of all kinds (indian on white, white on indian, indian on indian, white on white), it is light on insightful information about any native group.

That being said if even half of the things that are written really happened to the author, it is an amazing story. I only learned after reading that the author, Joaquin Miller was a famous poet. It helped me understand some of the flowery language and long musings on the faults of mankind.

[Terrie Schweitzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting account of the gold rush days mostly in the Mount Shasta / Yreka area. There's not much here about the actual daily life of the Modocs, which I was hoping for, yet it was interesting enough for me to keep reading. Most interesting (and horrifying), it is a rare narrative of living at a time of human and environmental devastation that was completely accepted as "normal" by the culture coming into power.

Miller waxes poetically hysterical at moments and is the too-obvious star in his own story, but at times he's also a keen observer of human behavior and one can't help but feel a little corresponding thrill when he glories in the views of Mt. Shasta. Lots of interesting tidbits about that time and place and worth a read if you have any interest in that area or in recent California history.

[C.B. Matson · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published in 1873, "Modocs" covers that tumultuous time of from the 1850's through the post-Civil War era. Joaquin Miller's writing style is best described as archaic and the native California peoples are but secondary characters in his story. Still, the author puts you right there, on-scene, in the California wilderness 150 years ago. Read this, if nothing more, than for an authentic and horrific account of the systematic and legitimized genocide that once took place in our nation. The Modocs were not savages; they were exterminated out of greed and intolerance.

[Katherine Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Assigned to me to read in college in the 70's, I have finally read this book. It is an amazing tale, for sure. Even if part fabrication, and I have no opinion on that issue, it is, indeed, a poetic memorial to Mt. Shasta, as well as a morality tale about the other side of the effects of America's rank imperialism.

A sad tale, beautifully told, by a white man. Take that under advisement, but enjoy the poetry of the scene.

[Ethan Hoefert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing adventure about the Modocs of the Shasta region

[Jastrow Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful writing. Not a factual account of history, but it sure is fanciful!

[deano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historical fiction of one man's life among Nor Cal Native Americans and in the Shasta area mining camps, originally published in 1873.

Although the line between truth and fiction is blurred, Miller clearly lived much of this narrative. His appreciation for the beauty of wilderness, his admiration of the Modoc people and his respect for a few select frontier folk (those apparently with the 19th century version of The Right Stuff), all conspire against having this become yet another moribund, standard issue, early CA history. Joaquin reads like a guy I would have enjoyed hanging with.

Very nice surprise, this one - found it on a blanket at a garage sale.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A "novel-memoir" about one man's adventures among miners and Indians in 1800s Northern California. Strange and informative tales from an interesting character. Indian massacres, jailbreaks, barroom shootouts. Good insights into the day-to-day life of the era.

[Leviah]

As long as this book is read with the historic and anthropological knowledge of white perspective in the time period, it's a fantastic piece of experiential history. This diary is not to be taken as fact.