But that blessed hope that springs
eternal in the human breast kept us hopeful that the President had
been deceived into issuing his order, and that he would right all
wrongs. The more sanguine ones of the Western delegation had matters
figured down to a fraction; they believed that once the chief
executive understood the true cause of the friction existing on the
reservation, apologies would follow, we should all be asked to remain
for lunch, and in the most democratic manner imaginable everything
would be righted. I had no opinions, but kept anticipating the worst;
for if the order stood unmodified, go we must and in the face of
winter and possibly accompanied by negro troops. To return to Texas
meant to scatter the cattle to the four winds; to move north was to
court death unless an open winter favored us.
On our arrival at Washington, all senators and congressmen
shareholders in our company met us by appointment. It was an inactive
season at the capital, and hopes were entertained that the President
would grant us an audience at once; but a delay of nearly a week
occurred. In the mean time several conferences were held, at which a
general review of the situation was gone over, and it was decided to
modify our demands, asking for nothing personally, only a modification
of the order in the interest of humanity to dumb animals. Before our
arrival, a congressman and two senators, political supporters of
the chief executive, had casually called to pay their respects, and
incidentally inquired into the pending trouble between the cattlemen
and the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians.
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