I here give place to a letter from Mr. Smith to the Pioche Record,
which was also re-published in the _Deseret News_:
"MOWABBY, MOHAVE CO., ARIZONA, February 5, 1875.
"On the 15th of January, we were in the very act of packing the horses
preparatory to a start, when and Indian arrived, who proved to be Tuba,
the chief of the Moquis Indians, a friendly tribe who live in this part
of the country.
"I should have mentioned that this (the ferry) is the residence of John
D. Lee, against whom I was deeply prejudiced on account of his presumed
connection with the terrible Mountain Meadow massacre, and imputation,
however, he utterly denies. I found him, on acquaintance, to be a very
agreeable gentleman. Mr. Lee speaks the Indian language well, and
through hom we learned the cause of the chief's visit.
"A Navajoe chief who had received favors from Mr. Lee, and was well
disposed toward him, had arrived at Tuba's lodge that morning (having
ridden all night) to get him to go and tell Mr. Lee that three Navajoe
Indians had been killed and one wounded by Mormons, a few days before,
in an affray in the neighborhood of Grass Valley, on the north fork of
the Sevier River; that the wounded Indian had arrived at his camp the
night before, and was now actively engaged in striving to arouse the
Navajoes to war; that the young me were clamoring for revenge; and to
warn him that he would probably be attacked within four days, and to
prepare for defense.
"Here was a dilemma. No possibility of obtaining assistance nearer than
one hundred and fifty miles; Mrs. Lee and five children, and a helpless
old man named Winburn, disabled by a lame foot, who had no risen from
his bed for four months.
"After a brief consultation we sent a letter to Fort Defiance,
announcing the condition of affairs, Tuba agreeing to forward it
forthwith by one of his Indians, and Mr. Lee and his oldest boy started
to Kanab to bring assistance. As soon as he was gone we place the house
in the best state of affairs we could, and awaited the issue.
..."On the third day, a Piute Indian, sent by the Navajos arrived.
After a long talk, Mrs. Lee acting as interpreter, we gathered that
the young men of the tribe were at first determined on war, but that
the chiefs were opposed to it, for the present, at least; and that
they desired to await the arrival of Jacob Hamblin, who had acted as
representative of Brigham Young, in all negotiations of importance with
the Indians for the past twenty years, and learn what settlement of the
affair he was willing to make.
"This was favorable, as two of the slain Indians were sons of one
of the chiefs. He wound up his remarks by inquiring if, in case the
Navajoes did come here, we would purchase peace by giving up the old
man, Winburn, to torture, in which case they would abstain from further
hostilities.
"With difficulty repressing our strong desire to shoot him on the spot,
we declined the offer, and charging him with a message to the chiefs of
the nation, that as soon as Hamblin arrived we would apprise them of
his advent, we let him depart.
"Matters remained in _status quo_ until the 29th inst., when when
Messrs. Lee, Hamblin, and Smithson, a son-in-law of the former, and his
wife arrived, the advance guard of a party from Kanab, now on the road.
"We communicated to Mr. Hamblin the message from the Navajo chiefs,
and, merely pausing to take some refreshments, he started at once
for the nearest Moqui village, to send a messenger to them to notify
them of his arrival, and request their presence, my brother and I
accompanying him.
"We reached there about sundown, and found, to our extreme
disappointment, that all the Indians had gone to a big dance at the
Oriba villages, sixty miles distant, with the exception of one lame
Piute.
"We remained there that night, and the next morning started for the
Oriba villages, taking Huck-a-bur, the lame Indian, who is a good
interpreter, along with us.
"We had not rode over fifteen miles, when we met the Piute who had
acted as the Navajo envoy on the former occasion. He said he was going
to see if Hamblin had arrived, and expressed great delight at seeing
him, saying that the Indians were extremely anxious to see him, and
urging him to go back with him to the camp of the nearest Navajo chief,
which he said was not more than fifteen miles distant, and talk the
matter over there.
"After consultation, being anxious to lose no time, we consented, and
after riding some twenty-five miles, instead of fifteen, we reached
the Navajo camp, which consisted of only two lodges. A tall, powerful
Indian, on whose head the snows of many winters had rested, welcomed us
with impressiveness and an embrace like the hug of a grizzly bear, and
invited us to enter.
"The lodge (wick-c-up), which was substantially built of heavy cedar
logs about fifteen feet long, was circular in form, like the skin
lodges of the Indians of the plains, with an opening near the top to
give vent to the smoke, and, being covered with bark and dirt, was very
warm and comfortable, which was none the less agreeable to our party,
as it had been snowing hard all the afternoon. There were three Navajos
and three squaws, one of the latter a very pretty girl, and two Piutes.
"After a friendly smoke, they furnished us a good and substantial
supper of broiled and boiled goat's flesh and corn meal mush, the
squaws grinding the meal in the old-fashioned way, between two stones.
"Then the talk commenced. Hamblin, be it remembered, though perfectly
familiar with the Piute tongue, knows nothing or very little of the
Navajo language, so the services of our Huck-a-bur were called into
requisition. The chief we came to see, I forgot to mention, was not
there, but was only, so they said, distant a few miles. As we were
anxious to get back, we got the Navajo to despatch the Piute to him
that night, so that he might be there early in the morning, and the
business be closed that day.
"After his departure the talk went on. The Navajos present expressed
themselves anxious that the affair should be settled without further
bloodshed, and said that was the wish of the principal men of the
tribe. They said the Navajos had long known Hamblin, and they believed
he would do what was right.
"Everything looked promising, and after smoking innumerable cigarettes
with our savage friends, we retired to rest on a pile of buffalo skins
and Navajo blankets worth a horse apiece, and slept soundly and well.
"The next morning the Indians gave us an excellent breakfast and we
passed the morning sauntering about, examining such articles of Indian
manufacture as were new to us, and endeavoring to while away the time
till the arrival of the chief.
"A little before noon twelve Navajo braves, armed with bows and
arrows and rifles, rode up on a gallop, and dismounting, entered the
lodge without shaking hands and called in an insolent tone of voice
for tobacco. We gave them some, and after smoking awhile, they threw
everything out of the lodge, saying there were more Navajos coming,
enough to fill the lodge. Sure enough, there soon rode up some more
Navajos, making nineteen in all, but still no chief.
"To our inquiry as to his whereabouts, they replied he was gone to Fort
Defiance. We took our seats, completely filling the lodge, and all
hands smoked in silence for some time. Then the Indian whose lodge we
occupied commenced talking, and spoke with only an occasional momentary
interruption from the others for about an hour.
"After him five or six others talked in rapid succession and from their
earnest tones and impassioned gestures, so different from the usual
manner of Indians, we could see they were much excited.
"We could not, of course, understand much of what they said, but could
gather enough to know that the temper they were in boded no good to us.
One old scoundrel, of brawny frame and hair as white as snow, talked in
a stentorian voice, and his frequent use of the gestures of drawing his
hand across his throat looked particularly ominous.
"In about an hour more they ceased speaking, and, after a pause,
told their interpreter to talk. He arose slowly and walking across
the lodge, seated himself by Hamblin. He was a Piute, a slave of the
Navajos, and as they have the unpleasant habit of sometimes killing
their interpreters when they don't interpret to suit them, and as what
he was about to reveal was not calculated to render us very amiable, I
could excuse the tremor that shook him in every limb.
"He finally commenced, in a low tone, to speak to the following effect:
The Navajos believed that all Hamblin had said the night before was
a lie, that they thought he was one of the parties to the killing,
and with the exception of three, our host and two others of the old
Indians, all had given their voice for death.
"Most of them were of the opinion that it was best not to kill my
brother and myself, as we were 'Americans,' but to make us witness
the torture of Hamblin, and then send us back on foot. As we were not
likely to desert a comrade at such a time, this was but small comfort.
"Hamblin behaved with admirable coolness, not a muscle in his face
quivered, not a feature changed, as he communicated to us, in his usual
tone of voice, what we then fully believed to be the death warrant of
us all.
"When the interpreter ceased, he, in the same even tone and collected
manner, commenced his reply. He reminded the Indians of his long
acquaintance with their tribe, of the many negotiations he had
conducted between his people and theirs, and his many dealings with
them in the years gone by, and challenged them to prove that he had
ever deceived them--ever spoken with a forked tongue. He drew a map of
the country on the ground, and showed them the impossibility of his
having been a participant in the affray.
"To their insolent query, 'Imme-cotch na-vaggi?' (Ain't you afraid?),
he replied with admirable presence of mind, 'Why should we be afraid of
our friends? Are not the Navajos our friends, and we theirs? Else why
did we place ourselves in your power?'
"He spoke for a long time, and though frequently and rudely
interrupted, his patience and nerve never gave way, and when he ceased,
it was apparent that his reasoning had not been without effect in their
stubborn bosoms. But the good influence was of short duration.
"A young Indian, whom we afterwards learned was a son of the chief, and
brother of two of the slain Indians, addressed the assembled warriors,
and we could see that the tide was turning fearfully against us. He
wound up his impassioned harangue by springing to his feet, and,
pointing to an Indian who had not yet spoken, called to him to come
forward. The Indian came and kneeled before him, when with one hand he
took back his buckskin hunting shirt, revealing the mark of a recent
bullet wound, and with the other pointed to the fire, uttering, or
rather hissing, a few emphatic words, which we afterwards learned were
a demand for instant death by fire.
"The effect was electrical. The sight of the wounded brave roused
their passions to the utmost fury, and as we glanced around the
savage circle, our hands involuntarily tightened their grasp on our
six-shooters, for it seemed that our hour had come.
"Had we shown a symptom of fear, we were lost; but we sat perfectly
quiet, and kept a wary eye on the foe. It was a thrilling scene. The
erect, proud, athletic form of the young chief, as he stood pointing
his finger to the wound in the kneeling figure before him; the circle
of crouching forms; their dusky and painted faces animated by every
passion that hatred and ferocity could inspire, and their glittering
eyes fixed with one malignant impulse upon us; the whole partially
illuminated by the fitful gleam of the firelight (for by this time it
was dark), formed a picture not easy to be forgotten.
"The suspense was broken by a Navajo, our host, who once again raised
his voice in our behalf, and after a stormy discussion, Hamblin finally
compelled him to acknowledge that he had been their friend; that he had
never lied to them, and that he was worthy of belief now.
"The strain was over, and we breathed freely once more. We smoked the
pipe, or rather the cigarette, of peace, and a roasted goat being
shortly produced, we fell to with a will, and gnawed ribs together
as amicably as if it had not been just previously their benevolent
intention to roast us instead of the goat.
"By this time it was past midnight, the discussion having been
prolonged for eleven hours. I never was so tired in my life. Eleven
hours in a partially recumbent position, cramped for room, with every
nerve strained to its utmost tension, and momentarily expecting a
conflict which must be to the death, is tolerably hard work.
"After supper, it was arranged by Hamblin that we should go home in the
morning, and await the arrival of the chief, for whom they promised to
dispatch a trusty messenger. We slept by turns till morning broke, when
we bid our amiable friends good-by, and started for Mowabby, where we
arrived about eight o'clock in the evening, to the great joy of Boyd
and Pattie, who had given us up as lost.
"This was five days ago, and today the Navajo chief arrived, and, after
a long discussion, agreed to settle the matter for a certain number of
cattle and horses; but their demands were so exorbitant that I am sure
they will never be complied with.
"Mr. Hamblin leaves tomorrow morning for St. George, to lay the matter
before Brigham Young, and he is to meet the chiefs here again, with the
answer to their demands, in twenty-five days from today.
* * * * *
"We shall, probably, in the course of the trip, visit the village of
the Oribas, a people who build three-story houses of stone, and whose
greatest term of reproach to one another is he is a _lazy_ man.
* * * * *
"In conclusion, I wish to give my testimony to the bearing of Mr.
Hamblin during the trying scene I have endeavored to depict. No braver
man ever lived. J. E. S."
The writer of the foregoing letter and his brother acted a different
part from what I did, and acted it well.
He describes some things better than I can. As I have before remarked,
ever since I began to have a correct insight into Indian character, I
have felt anxious to do all the good in my power, and have endeavored
to settle difficulties with them without bloodshed.
Much good, I trust, has been done by going into their midst and
reasoning with them, when their minds were made up to avenge some
wrong. I reason with an Indian as an Indian.
For example, Mr. Smith did not understand the motive of the Piute
messenger of the Navajoes, who asked, at Mowabby, if they would give up
the lame man to torture if the Navajoes would agree, on that condition,
to abstain from further hostilities. The Piute thought that the lame
man was of but little use, and hoped by the sacrifice of him to save
the others.
From his standpoint, his motive was good. Had Mr. Smith understood the
Indian character better, he probably would have had no disposition to
kill him.