WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1858
134
taken possession of their lands, that they had fired into their houses, that they had killed an Indian in the house of the chief, that their lives were threatened if they did not immediately leave the land. Mr. Isaacs who had been employed by the Indians to defend their titles, found it impossible to retain their lands for them. They had granted permission to some man for a slaughter- pen within their reservation, and the consequence was, that so soon as he got there he claimed the right of preemption, and said the land belonged to the squatters. They have thrust themselves upon it; they have slaughtered the timber of the Indians; they have made great waste with their lands, they have taken life there, and they are threatening to drive the Indians off, and will do so, unless some power intervenes for their security, and none are there capable of doing it, because they are all interested in the common business of possessing land, right or wrong. In this situation, the Indians proposed to make a sale of their land, and Mr. Isaacs agreed to give them all they asked at the time, which was, I think some seventeen dollars an acre, $43,000. He made a regular purchase; the papers are all in due form. He deposited, as is certified, $40,000 and some cents in the Bank of Missouri; that is there now to their credit. The Indians stated, or their interpreter for them told me, they wished to realize their money, and if they could not purchase a tribal interest with the Delawares, they desired to go back t~ Canada, and situate them- selves there. Mr. Isaacs, as I understand, had an interview with the missionary, and the missionary agreed that if he would pay the Moravians for the price of their improvements, the cost they had been to them, they would withdraw all objections and be satisfied. After that, the missionary, who was here, and who spoke to me, went to the Mission Board in Pennsylvania, at Bethlehem, I think, and from thence addressed a letter to me, stating that if their property was secured, or they were recom- pensed for the outlay they had made, $2,300, they would be perfectly satisfied. Mr. Isaacs deposited his obligation. I held it in my hands. I handep it to the chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs, and I believe he has it now. This is the true state of the case. I am satisfied that these Indians will be driven off; that it was a liberal price and a bona fide transaction at the time it was made, and the question now simply is whether this sale shall be confirmed or these Indians shall be sacrificed, and the lands claimed by preemption, so that they will be unable to litigate in regard to them, and will have to
Powered by FlippingBook