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TEXAS INDIAN PAPERS, 1825-1843
burning with revenge for the ,,..rongs done them at San Antonio, a::id would greedily have sought our destruction-My confidence in the friendly disposition of the chief was great but I did not know how far his authority would be respected if the majority was against him, as might be expected we looked forward with considerable anxiety to the morrow when our fate would be de- cided- I learned this evening the cause of the delay of Shaw and Conner at Red River and the object of Second-Eye and Harry's be'ing sent there by Shaw when we left the Tawakoni Village. Shaw mentioned to Mr. Sybert one of my party, in whom I place implicit confidence, some days before Second-Eye returned that in my talks with the indians I always told them the council would be on Trinity river, but that he had "fixed it all," for a letter had been written to Gov. Butler from Warren's when he was there, and that he waited the arrival of an answer as long as he could, when he concluded to return and send back for it. and that so soon as Second-Eye rc;turned with it he would give me the letter to read and then ·· 1 should know where the council would be." Second-Eye re- turned however empty handed. To this unadvised and ill judged movement on the part of Shaw and Conner must be attributed ail the delays we experienced and the consequent failure to re- turn to the council at the appointed time-I never sanctioned the delay of a day when it could possibly be avoided, on the whole trip, and the sole cause of my unpopularity with the Delaware is, that I was continually urging them to proceed and not by their procrastination defeat your Excellency's Expectations and the hopes of the country. My conduct to them was always con- siderate, and with a knowledge of their dispositions and preju- dices, conciliating perhaps to a fault. The utmost deference was ahvays paid to their suggestions 'in my intercourse with the wild indians, and had they possessed one spark of generosity they would have been grateful to me, instead of poisoning the minds of the wild indians against me after I left, inducing them to lie about my proceeding with them in council which unfor- tunately for me received from many more credence than my written reports. On the 9th I met the Chief in council, when he addressed me in the following words- "My
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