WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1858
507
moving quietly through our country; that they had massacred our troops under most aggravated circumstances and that now the day.of retribution had come; that I did not wish to harm him personally, as he professed to be a friend of the whites; but that he must either deliver up the young men, whom he acknowledged he could not control, or they must suffer the consequences of their past misconduct, and take the chances of a battle." Little Thunder did not want to fight; but it was necessary that there should be some justification for raising the four regiments, and therefore they thought they would give Little Thunder big thunder. [Laughter.] Mr. Davis. Do you find that in the report? Mr. Houston. No. That is a mere expletive of my own. Mr. Davis. Then, if the Senator will allow me, I will inform him that the four regiments were not there, any part of them, save and except one gallant officer, Captain Heth, who raised his company by extraordinary efforts, and mounted them on ponies to join General Harney in that campaign. The rest were old troops. Mr. Houston. Then, if they were old troops, I never heard of any of the new ones except that one company, who did anything. General Harney told Little Thunder "that he must either deliver up the young men, whom he acknowledged he could not control, or they must suffer the consequences of their past misconduct, and take the chances of a battle." General Harney did not doubt what the chief told him; but still they must make an example of the Indians. They had no disposition to war. The chief had said he could not control those outlaws, and are you to destroy a whole people because of a few bad men? Why, sir, you would sweep this continent if that were a law established; there would be nobody left here. I will tell you the effect of that expedition. The honorable Senator says it has had a most salutary effect. It has had this effect; it has driven them to the Mormons; they are their allies. Why? Because they were killed when they wanted peace. Because the Mormons have not committed a corre- sponding wrong on them, they are allies of the Mormons. They will always go where friendship and justice are accorded to them. That is the benefit of this expedition.
1 Congressional Globe, Part 1, 1857-1858, pp. 669-673.
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