By Ray Wolf

Sometimes the simplest things can impact the rest of your life in some small or large way. Often, you don’t even know the significance of the event until years later.

Over 30 years ago, while I was attending Yreka High School, I took a summer school course called Anthropology of Siskiyou County taught by Jim Eckman and Terry Anderson. As part of the course we camped at the Lava Beds National Monument near Tulelake, CA, where we explored numerous lava tube caves, and learned about the Modoc Indian War. I didn’t know it then, but it was the genesis of a lifetime fascination with history and anthropology.

Recently, my eleven-year-old son Carlos who also has an interest in history and science visited me from El Centro, CA. It seemed natural that we should take a trip, along with my wife, Letty, to the Lava Beds and do some exploring.

We entered five caves, and visited Captain Jack’s Stronghold. The first cave was Mushpot. This is a great cave to start your day. It has a string of small red lights illuminating the path, and several lighted stations along the way that explain the geologic features of he cave. It gives anyone who’s not familiar with caves, or a little apprehensive, a chance to get acclimated.

Next was Sunshine Cave. Sunshine has a couple of areas where the roof has collapsed and allows the sun to reach the cave floor, where vegetation is able to grow. We chose to go to Sunshine because we wanted to see the hydrophobic bacteria that live on the ceiling in the back of the cave.

Skull Cave was third on the list. The name of the cave sounds a little foreboding, but it’s an easy cave to explore—as long as you don’t mind climbing up and down stairs. The main attraction is the year round ice that forms part of the floor on the lower level. When we were there, access to the actual floor was blocked to prevent damage. This is the only cave that currently harbors year-round ice. In case you’re wondering, Skull Cave was so named because of the bones of antelope, mountain goats, and big horn sheep that were found there. And oh yeah, there were a couple of human skeletons found as well.

After Skull Cave, we took the ¾ mile hike to Big Painted Cave to see the symbols painted on the walls by Native Americans. The symbols were hard to locate and it was a little disappointing.

However, another two-tenths of a mile hike down the trail brings you to Symbol Bridge Cave, which is well worth the visit. The symbols are numerous and very easy to spot.

After returning our lights to the visitor center, we headed to Captain Jack’s Stronghold. The Stronghold is where Kientpoos (Captain Jack) and about 60 Modoc Indians held off over a thousand U. S. Army Calvary for almost five months in the winter of 1872-73.

You can either take the “short trail,” which is a ½ mile and goes through the inner defense ring of the Modocs, or the “long trail,” which is 1 ½ miles long and goes around the outer defenses. Or, if you’re really into it, you can do both. We opted for the short trail (It was hot). There are numbered posts along the way, and a guide book is available that explains the features along the trail. The book also explains the history behind those features.

Most, if not all, of our local schools teach at least a little about the Modoc Indian War (But not enough about why it happened), but you really have to visit this area to even begin to appreciate the difficulties that both the Modocs and the Army faced. Even with the well-worn trail it’s not the easiest place to maneuver around, never mind fight a battle. This is “hands on” history and I highly recommend it.

You can learn more about Lava Beds National Monument by visiting www.nps.gov/labe