| OCR Text |
Show 152 Upon receipt of the telegram from Washington, the force of troops present, about ten companies of infantry and cavalry ...was ordered to stand equipped with 200 rounds of ammunition per man and three days' cooked rations. This done, Mackenzie sent word to the chiefs to come in for a conference. It took place the following morning. Mackenzie informed the chiefs that the matter had been turned over to him for settlement; they had promised to move to Utah, and he wished to know whether or not they were going...The leading chief commenced an oration in which he denounced the whites for wanting to deprive the Indians of their land, and was proceeding to more violent expressions when Mackenzie, with his hat in his hand, stood up. "It is not necessary for me to stay here any longer," he said. "You can settle this matter by discussion among yourselves. All I want to know is whether you will go or not. If you will not go of your own accord, I will make you go..." After a debate lasting several hours they sent for Mackenzie. They proposed a compromise. They said they had concluded they must go, but first they wished to go back to their camp and talk with their old men. "No," said Mackenzie. "If you have not moved by nine o'clock tomorrow morning, I will be at your camp and make you move." The next morning, shortly after sunrise, we saw a thrilling and pitiful sight. The whole Ute nation on horseback and on foot was streaming by. As they passed our camps their gait broke into a run. Sheep were abandoned, blankets and personal possessions strewn along the road, women and children were loudly wailing. ...It was inevitable that they should move, and better then, than after a fruitless and bloody struggle. They should think, too, that the land was lost beyond recovery. |
