A tiny tributary of the Applegate River, Star Gulch was at the center of an engagement during the last phases of the Jackson County theater of the war. In January of 1856, a large body of regulars and volunteers surrounded a cluster of abandoned cabins occupied by natives who had been discovered seeking refuge there. Despite heavily outnumbering the enemy, holding a superior position on higher ground, and having a howitzer hauled all the way from Fort Lane, the combined forces were unable to dislodge the Indians, and they slipped away under cover of darkness. The Battle of Star Gulch, aka The Battle of the Cabins, was reported as an embarrassing failure in news accounts at the time. An historical footnote to the incident is the death of notorious Indian fighter Martin Angel, who was ambushed and killed outside Jacksonville while on his way to join the battle.