By Brianna Murphy

 It is a land of turmoil, both geological and historical. Over the last half of a million years, volcanic eruptions on the Medicine Lake shield volcano have created a rugged landscape dotted with diverse volcanic features. There are more than 700 caves as well as Native American rock art sites, historic battlefields and campsites, and a high desert wilderness. 

 In summer, the Lava Beds rangers have special programs for kids, such as their Junior Ranger and Junior Firefighter programs.  Family events, camp grounds, as well as planned field trips for groups.  Exhibits and video programs are also offered, and their purpose is to interpret the cultural and natural history of the area.

 If you are planning a field trip to the Lava Beds and funding is an issue, some National Park Service funds have been set aside to help pay for school transportation costs for field trips to the Lava Beds.

 They are preserving the community’s history by running and maintaining the caves, trails, and campgrounds. They also protect and interpret one of the largest concentrations of lava tube caves in the continental United States, along with unique environments and cave dependent species.

 The Modoc War – The war happened between the winter of The battlefields of this conflict, known as the Modoc War, are located within the monument and are still preserved today. The Modoc War was the only major Indian War fought in California. The war itself ran from November 29, 1872 until June 1, 1873, although tensions leading up to the war began as early as At the end of the war, the fatalities included 53 United States soldiers, 17 civilians, and 15 Modoc warriors. 

 Modoc Homeland - The Modoc people once lived on both sides of what is now the California -Oregon border, in villages on and near Tule, Lower Klamath, and Clear Lakes. They lived on fish and waterfowl, wild game, and seeds and bulbs that were harvested from the surrounding countryside. 

 Between 1935 and 1942, hundreds of "CCC boys", also known as the Civilian Conservation Corps, constructed the entire original infrastructure of the monument. They also built most of the roads and trails that allowed people to start visiting the Lava Beds. They also handled the firefighting, and were responsible for the installation of electric and telephone lines. The CCC was a very successful relief program during the Great Depression. In an effort to alleviate unemployment while making needed improvements to public lands, President Franklin Roosevelt’s administration started the CCC in

 Most of the pictographs at the Lava Beds are found around cave entrances. It is possible that some of the images at the Lava Beds were made more than 6,000 years ago. They were painted in black, produced from a charcoal base mixed with animal fat, and white, made with a clay base.

 Early Exploration and Use - A host of colorful characters populate the early modern history of the Lava Beds, including J.D. Howard, a cave explorer; homesteading families that ran sheep and an underground ice skating business; and moonshiners who set up stills in the remote caves during the prohibition era.

 Lava Beds offers many opportunities to enhance the education of students of all ages.  On a trip to Lava Beds, students can crawl through lava tube caves, walk in the footsteps of Modoc warriors and US Army soldiers, ponder the meaning of ancient petroglyphs, and encounter a wide variety of plants and wildlife both above and below ground.

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