{"nrhp_refnum":"78000366","name":"Thomas-Wright Battle Site","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"S of Tulelake in Lava Beds National Monument","address_restricted":false,"city":"Tulelake","county":"Siskiyou County","state":"CA","lat":41.76948940200006,"lon":-121.52490635450596,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-11-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Native American","Military"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A battlefield site in Lava Beds National Monument south of Tulelake, Siskiyou County, California, where Modoc fighters attacked a U.S. Army patrol on April 26, 1873. It is a lava basin ringed by low ridges and overlooked by Hardin Butte.","why_significant":"The 1873 attack was a major defeat for the U.S. Army and the last great Modoc victory, and it proved the decisive turning point of the Modoc War. It exposed poor Army leadership, training and morale, and led to Colonel Jefferson C. Davis taking command. The rugged lava terrain also shows how the Modocs defeated professional soldiers on their home ground.","narrative":"On April 26, 1873, a U.S. Army patrol led by Captain Evan Thomas marched south from Gillem's Camp on Tule Lake toward Sand Butte, now called Hardin Butte. The group stopped for lunch in a lava basin and was attacked by surprise by Modoc fighters who held the surrounding ridges. Of the patrol, 41 men were casualties and 25 died, including four of its five officers. The site is a broad basin of black lava scoria with native grasses, shrubs and a few scrub trees, and it looks much as it did then. A small pile of rocks marks where many bodies were found, and a few stone fortifications remain. The defeat was the low point of the Army's campaign and the last great Modoc victory. It brought Colonel Jefferson C. Davis into command, and within weeks the war ended with Captain Jack's surrender. The broken terrain helps explain how the Modocs defeated trained soldiers.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition is marked excellent and unaltered, on its original site. The area looks virtually the same as in 1873, except that most remains of the men and their gear have been removed. The form marks it as unoccupied.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:31.644189-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_CA/78000366.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/123861989","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/california/siskiyou-county/thomas-wright-battle-site-78000366/"}