eatherford hearing of this, although he was safe beyond the borders and
might have easily made his escape to Florida, as his comrade Peter
McQueen did, rode straightway to Jackson's head-quarters, where he said
to the commander who had set a price upon his head:--

"I am Weatherford. I have come to ask peace for my people. I am in your
power. Do with me as you please. I am a soldier. I have done the white
people all the harm I could. I have fought them and fought them bravely.
If I yet had an army I would fight and contend to the last. But I have
none. My people are all gone. I can now do no more than weep over the
misfortunes of my nation."

Jackson was so impressed with the sublime courage and the dignity of the
man upon whose head he had set a price, that he treated him at once with
chivalrous consideration. He told him that the only terms upon which the
Indians could secure peace were unconditional submission and uniform
good conduct; but "as for yourself," he said, "if you do not like the
terms, no advantage shall be taken of your present surrender. You are at
liberty to depart and resume hostilities when you please. But if you are
taken then, your life shall pay the forfeit of your crimes."

Weatherford calmly folded his arms and replied; "I desire peace for no
selfish reasons, but that my nation may be relieved from its sufferings;
for independent of the other consequences of the war, my people's cattle
are destroyed and their women and children destitute of provisions. I
may well be addressed in such language now. There was a time when I had
a choice and could have answered you. I have none now. Even hope has
ended. Once I could animate my warriors to battle. But I cannot animate
the dead. My warriors can no longer hear my voice. Their bones are at
Talladega, Tallashatche, Emuckfaw and Tohopeka. I have not surrendered
myself thoughtlessly. While there were chances of success I never left
my post nor supplicated peace. But my people are gone, and I now ask
peace for my nation and myself. On the miseries and misfortunes brought
upon my country, I look back with the deepest sorrow, and wish to avert
still greater calamities. If I had been left to contend with the Georgia
army, I would have raised my corn on one bank of the river and fought
them on the other. But your people have destroyed my nation. General
Jackson, you are a brave man,--I am another. I do not fear to die. But I
rely upon your generosity. You will