“The undersigned has made no such intimation. On the contrary, in his communications to the commission he has demonstrated that Commissioner Cumming had repudiated his own act, and used every exertion to usurp the rights and powers of the commission, and reduce the undersigned to the position of a subordinate. Fortunately for the dignity of the commission and the success of the treaty, this attempt was most successfully resisted, and Commissioner Cumming was compelled to surrender his claims. Commissioner Stevens has no grievance for which he asks redress from the Department of the Interior. He has protected his own rights here.”
In the joint report forwarding the treaty, prepared like all the official papers by Governor Stevens, he states the disagreements between the commissioners on nearly every point, and adds:—
“So utterly at variance have been their views that it has only been with great difficulty that a concert of action has been effected at all.”
The governor’s last official communication to the secretary of the commission fitly expressed his indignation at the action of the department in naming Cumming first on the commission:—
“The undersigned solemnly protests against the instructions of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs placing the name of Commissioner Cumming first on the commission, and he appeals from said instructions to the President of the United States.
“The undersigned was, in his opinion, entitled to be placed first, and for the following reasons:—
“1. He originated the Blackfoot council, prepared the Indians on both sides of the mountains for it, and, for all practical purposes, has been the superintendent of all these tribes since he explored the country in 1853. He has appointed special agents for the Blackfeet, distributed goods and provisions among them, and in other ways has by authority of the Interior Department had the administrative charge of these tribes.
“2. He was the senior officer by date of priority of commission.
“3. He was better fitted, by experience and adaptation to the duties, to take a prominent part in the negotiations, and he fearlessly refers to the official record to show that the success of the treaty is mainly due to his previous labors, his forecast in bringing the necessary force to the theatre of the principal operations, and to the vigilance, energy, and force of character which he has exhibited throughout, and that thus was redressed the wrong which otherwise would have been done to the public service, and injury to the reputation and services of the undersigned, by placing his name second on the commission.”