Toby Riddle

Toby Riddle

Toby "Winema" Riddle (1848-1920) was a Modoc interpreter who helped with negotiations between the Native American Modoc tribe and the United States Army during the Modoc War (also called the Lava Beds War).

Riddle was a cousin of Kintpuash, the leader of the Modoc tribe at the time of the Modoc War, and was married to Frank Riddle, a white settler, who had emigrated from Kentucky to California during the California Gold Rush. Riddle served as a translator and shuttle diplomat between General Edward Canby and Kintpuash, during negotiations to end the wars. After she learned of a Modoc plot to assassinate Canby, Riddle warned the American general that the plot was set during a meeting at the Lava Beds, but he disregarded her advice, and was killed.

Frank, Toby and their son lived thereafter near the Klamath Reservation, where their progeny live today.^{[citation needed]}

Several regional landmarks are named "Winema" after Riddle, including the Winema National Forest.

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EB Winema Riddle was a Modoc woman whose life story illuminates Native American women's roles in history through her interactions with outsiders. She married outside her Nation, she became a mediator for her people, and she earned a military pension from Congress for her actions in time of war by saving a federal official's life.

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Background

Toby Riddle was born Kaitchkona Winema, a member of the Modoc Native American tribe. The Modoc and Klamath were neighboring tribes in the Cascade Range of what is now southern Oregon and northern California. Plateau tribes, they shared a common Penutian language. They were also influenced by Northwest Coast and Great Basin tribes:

• Shasta on the Klamath River
• Rogue River Athabaskans and Takelma west over the Cascade Mountains
• Northern Paiute east in the desert
• Karuk and Yurok further down the Klamath River

The Modoc and Klamath, though related, were individual tribes who lived separately within their own villages and had their own customs. Neighbors, they would ally for war. There was some intermarriage between members of these two groups.

As the United States expanded westward, the government pressured the two tribes to give up their traditional territory and move to a reservation near Upper Klamath Lake. This land had traditionally been Klamath land, and the Modoc were viewed as intruders.

This is the environment and situation into which Winema was born in the 1840s. It was one of the most pivotal eras in the history of the Pacific Coast Indians. Not only was the westward expansion under way, the Gold Rush made the rush for land tense and dramatic times for the Native peoples.

Kaitchkona Winema

Toby Riddle was born near southern Oregon's Link River in the late 1840s. Her father was the Modoc, Secot, but her mother's name is unknown. Toby was known to be related to the famous warrior chief, Kintpuash. Though some sources site him as a brother, most site him as a cousin.

She was called Kaitchkana at birth, though as she grew she earned the name "Nonooktowa", which loosely translates as "Strange Child". This name was given to her due to her adventerous exploits in things deemed masculine, such as hunting grizzly bears and fighting in battle. It is reported that as a 14-year-old she led a defensive victory when a surprise attack was issued by a rival tribe.

As a young teen she safely guided a canoe full of children through swiflty flowing rapids, saving their lives. This earned her the name "Winema", which translates into "woman chief."

Toby Riddle

Toby Riddle standing between an Indian agent and her husband Frank (on her left) with other Modoc women in 1873.

Frank Riddle was a white miner from Kentucky who came to the West Coast in 1850 seeking his fortune in the gold fields. In her late teens, Winema met and fell in love with Frank. Defying both the Modoc tradition and her father, who had selected a husband for his daughter, Winema married Riddle. Following her marriage she became known as Toby Riddle, not only to the white community but among the native people as well.

Winema was shunned for a time by both her tribe and her family. However, her husband sought to mend this rift by gaining the acceptance of her family. He learned the obligations of a Modoc groom and fulfilled them by giving several horses to his new father-in-law. In return, her family gave gifts to Frank to welcome him as Winema's husband. The couple settled near her family in the Lost River area in California after their marriage.

Frank and Toby had bonds with both the Modocs and the "white world". Toby's grasp of the English language and her understanding of the white man's world allowed her to act in the capacity of both interpreter and mediator.

The Modoc War

The American war against the Modoc people of northern California and southern Oregon, fought in 1869-72, has long been overshadowed by other campaigns in the Indian Wars. Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and Cochise made the standard history books, but Captain Jack of the Modoc did not, although his contributions as a leader of his people were as great as those of his more famous peers. Arthur Quinn rectifies this oversight by writing a vivid history of the Modoc War. He notes that the campaign against the Modocs was not universally popular among white residents of the region, that it split the Modoc people into opposing camps, and that it was fought in a difficult landscape of mountains and lava beds. It had, that is, all the hallmarks of classic guerrilla wars. As in other guerrilla wars, Quinn notes, the Americans suffered heavy losses, while Modoc deaths were few in battle but heavy in the aftermath of military and vigilante atrocities. —This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist Quinn's title for his history of the Modoc War of 1870 refers to a description of the lava beds of northern California, in which the Modocs took refuge during the war and from which they were expelled only by starvation and at the cost of many U.S. Army casualties, including a brigadier general. The root cause of the war was the relegation of the Modocs to a reservation that they had to share with the Klamath Indians, whose slaves they had once been and whose enemies they were. This forced marriage quickly dissolved, and eventually the abortive Modoc resistance ended with the hanging of four tribal leaders. Quinn has researched thoroughly and written well, although with occasional overdoses of sentimentality; he also represents as authentic many passages of conversation, which are literarily useful although some sound like byplay between the Lone Ranger and Tonto. Overall, a balanced and worthwhile effort as well as the most recent thorough study of its subject. Roland Green —This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

During the height of the Indian conflicts on the plains a smaller,but no less deadly campaign was being waged against the Modocs of the Northwest. Like the Cheyenne after them, the Modocs were a small band whose numbers had already been reduced by warfare and desease. They were willing to live peacefully, only they wanted to live in their own homeland. And as with the Cheyenne, the military wasted much time money, and worst of all lives in order to bring these people to their knees. This is a concise and well-written account of that war. Quinn is one of those historians who makes broad use of dialogue in his work. While many scholars take a scant view of this method, I think it works well, if done carefully. Certainly we can question how Quinn could possibly know exactly what was said, when there was no one there to record it. However, memoirs and journals often paraphrase, and if the writer has researched the characters and the times well enough, I think it is fair to allow him to make certain assumptions, especially as it brings such dimension to the characters.

Quinn's depiction of events is very exciting without crossing over into sensationalism. And though any story of Americans' treatment of the Indians invites a certain amount of moralizing, he does not go overboard, nor does he portray the Modocs as saints. He also does an excellent job of incorprating the landscape into the story. Quinn's depiction of the lava beds the Modocs called home makes it even more wondrous that the Americans found it so important for them to leave.

This was definitely a story that deserved to be told, and Quinn does a very good job of it.

Legacy

winema national forest

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Bales, Rebecca. 2005. Winema and the Modoc War: One Woman's Struggle for Peace. Prologue Magazine. Retrieved April 30, 2008.
• Rhodes Educational Publications. 2005. Winema (ca. 1848-1932) Retrieved May 3, 2008.
• White, Julia. Kaitchkona Winema - Modoc Woman Spirit. Retrieved May 3, 2008.
• Oregon Historical Society. 2003.Toby Winema Riddle Retrieved May 3, 2008.
• Chartier, JoAnn, and Chris Enss. 2004. She wore a yellow ribbon: women soldiers and patriots of the western frontier. Guilford, Conn: TwoDot. ISBN 9780762726011
• Drennen, Nancy, James T. Rock and Micahel Hendrix. 2001. Women of Siskeyou County. Yreka, CA. Siskeyou County Historical Society.
• Markowitz, Harvey, and Carole A. Barrett. 2005. American Indian biographies. Magill's choice. Pasadena, Calif: Salem Press. ISBN 9781587652332
• Murray, Keith A. 1959. The Modocs and Their War. Norman, OK.
• Quinn, Arthur. 1998. Hell With the Fire Out: A History of the Modoc War. Faber & Faber. ISBN 9780571199372
• Riddle, Jeff C., and Jeff C. Riddle. [1914] 1973. History of the Modoc War. Medford, OR.
• Sonneborn, Liz. 1998. A to Z of Native American women. Encyclopedia of women. New York: Facts on File. ISBN 9780816035809

External links

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