The Modoc War of 1872 to 1873 was one of the costliest American Indian wars in U.S. history, considering the number of people involved. For nearly seven months, a handful of Modoc Indian warriors and their families held off hundreds of U.S. Army soldiers. The war is largely forgotten to most of the nation, but at the time of the conflict, the story made headlines from London to San Francisco. People were enthralled as one of the last real-life, Wild-West battles unfolded on the American frontier.