The meeting, as described by Fairchild, was one of peculiar interest. Those who had been friends, and then enemies and at war, without any formal declaration of peace, coming together in the stronghold of the victorious party, presents a phase of Western life seldom witnessed. The white men, fully armed, ride to the Indian camp with the squaw guide. The Modocs had observed them with a field-glass while they were descending the bluff, two miles away.
On their arrival, the men who had so earnestly sought each others’ lives stood face to face. A painful silence followed, each party waiting for the other to speak first. The Modocs approach and offer to shake hands. “No, you don’t, until we understand each other,” said Fairchild; and continued, “We came here because we learned that you wanted to talk peace. We are not afraid to talk or to hear you talk. We were in the battle. We fought you, and we will fight again unless peace is made.”
Captain Jack replied, that “the Modocs knew all about who was in the big battle, but that should not make trouble now. We are glad you come. We want you to hear our side of the story. We do not want any war. Let us go back to our homes on Lost river. We are willing to pay you for the cattle we have killed. We don’t want to fight any more.”
Such was the substance of Captain Jack’s speech; to which Fairchild and Dorris replied, that they were not authorized to make any terms, but would do all they could to prevent further war.
These men visited the Modoc camp from humane and kindly motives; yet tongues of irresponsible parties dared to speak slanderous words against these men who ventured where their vilifiers would not have gone for any consideration. Their motives were questioned, and insinuations unworthy the men who made them, never would have been made had the characters of Fairchild and Dorris been better understood.
The results of the battle of Jan. 17th had startled the public mind, and especially the authorities at Washington City. On investigating the cause of the war, it was thought that some mistake had been made. The citizens of Oregon who were then in Washington, headed by Gen. E. L. Applegate, consulted with Attorney-General Williams on the subject of the Modoc troubles. Inasmuch as a vast amount of ink has since been wasted in expressing indignation against the Modoc Peace Commission, I herewith submit the subjoined letter from Gen. Applegate, of Oregon, to the “Oregon Bulletin,” which gives a fair, and, I believe, true statement of the circumstances attending
its conception. I was not present at the conference referred to, neither was I consulted as to the propriety of the movement, either by the Honorable Secretary or the Oregon delegation. Secretary Delano is qualified to defend his own action, and I only suggest that, with the representations set forth, he acted wisely in the course he pursued.
Although I did not advise the appointment of a Peace Commission, I declare that it was right, and no blame can be justly attached to either the Commission or the appointing power, if it was not a success.
The principle of adjusting difficulties by such means is in harmony with justice and right. Let those who burned the Honorable Secretary in effigy remember the continued stream of denunciation that was poured out against the Commission by a portion of the secular press of the Pacific coast, and the reason why the peace measures failed may be better understood.
LETTER FROM WASHINGTON CITY.