Wigwam and war-path; or, The royal chief in chains

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Wigwam and War-path; Or the Royal Chief in Chains, by A. B. (Alfred Benjamin) Meacham

BY HON. A. B. MEACHAM, EX-SUPERINTENDENT OF INDIAN AFFAIRS AND CHAIRMAN OF THE LATE MODOC PEACE COMMISSION. Illustrated by Portraits of THE AUTHOR, GEN. CANBY, DR. THOMAS, CAPT. JACK, SCHONCHIN, SCAR-FACED CHARLEY, BLACK JIM, BOSTON CHARLEY, TOBEY AND RIDDLE, AND ELEVEN OTHER SPIRITED AND LIFE-LIKE ENGRAVINGS, OF ACTUAL SCENES FROM MODOC INDIAN LIFE, AS WITNESSED BY THE AUTHOR. SECOND AND REVISED EDITION.
BOSTON: JOHN P. DALE AND COMPANY, 27 Boylston Street. 1875.
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1875, by A. B. MEACHAM, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
Press of ROCKWELL AND CHURCHILL, 33 Arch Street, Boston.
The Hon. A. B. Meacham has committed to me the difficult and delicate, yet delightful task of revising the manuscript and arranging the table of contents of the present work.
I have endeavored to review every page as an impartial critic, and have, as far as possible, retained, in all its simplicity and beauty, the singularly eloquent and fascinating style of the gifted author. The changes which I have made have been, for the most part, quite immaterial—no more nor greater than would be required in the manuscript of writers commonly called “learned.” In no case have I attempted (for the attempt would have been vain) to give shape and tone to the writer’s thoughts. His mind was so full, both of the comedy and the tragedy of his thrilling narrative, that it has flowed on like a mighty torrent, bidding defiance to any attempt either to direct or control.
None, it seems to me, can peruse the work without being charmed with the love of justice and the fidelity to truth which pervade its every page, as well as the manly courage with which the writer arraigns Power for the crime of crushing Weakness —holding our Government to an awful accountability for the delays, the ignorance, the fickleness and treachery of its subordinates in dealing with a people whose very religion prompts them to wreak vengeance for wrongs done them, even on the innocent.