upon which the
government designed to establish the Comanches, and was desirous of
ascertaining whether they were disposed voluntarily to come into the
measure. In this connection, I stated to him that their Great Father,
the President, being anxious to improve their condition, was willing to
give them a permanent location, where they could cultivate the soil,
and, if they wished it, he would send white men to teach them the
rudiments of agriculture, supply them with farming utensils, and all
other requisites for living comfortably in their new homes. I then
desired him to consult with his people, and let me know what their
views were upon the subject.

After talking a considerable time with his head men, he rose to reply,
and said, "He was very happy to learn that the President remembered his
poor red children in the Plains, and he was glad to see me again, and
hear from me that their Great Father was their friend; that he was also
very much gratified to meet his agent who was present, and that he
should remember with much satisfaction the agreeable interview we had
had upon that occasion." After delivering himself of numerous other
non-committal expressions of similar import, he closed his speech and
took his seat without making the slightest allusion to the subject in
question.

On reminding him of this omission, and again demanding from him a
distinct and categorical answer, he, after a brief consultation with
his people, replied that his talk was made and concluded, and he did
not comprehend why it was that I wanted to open the subject anew. But,
as I continued to press him for an answer, he at length said, "You come
into our country and select a small patch of ground, around which you
run a line, and tell us the President will make us a present of this to
live upon, when every body knows that the whole of this entire country,
from the Red River to the Colorado, is now, and always has been, ours
from time immemorial. I suppose, however, if the President tells us to
confine ourselves to these narrow limits, we shall be forced to do so,
whether we desire it or not."

He was evidently averse to the proposed change in their mode of life,
and has been at war ever since the establishment of the settlement.

The mode of life of the nomadic tribes, owing to their unsettled and
warlike habits, is such as to render their condition one of constant
danger and apprehension. The security of their numerous animals from
the e