I
therefore obtained leave from the Comanches to take the two strangers
with us, and we all returned together. It would be useless to relate to
the reader that which passed between me and the emissaries of the
Mormons; let it suffice to say, that after a residence of three weeks in
the village, they were conducted back to the Pawnees. With the advice of
Gabriel, I determined to go myself and confer with the principal Mormon
leaders; resolving in my own mind that if our interview was not
satisfactory, I would continue on to Europe, and endeavour either to
engage a company of merchants to enter into direct communication with
the Shoshones or to obtain the support of the English government, in
furtherance of the objects I had in view for the advantage of the tribe.
As a large portion of the Comanches were making preparations for their
annual migration to the east of Texas, Roche, Gabriel, and I joined this
party, and having exchanged an affectionate farewell with the remainder
of the tribe, and received many valuable presents, we started, taking
the direction of the Saline Lake, which forms the head-waters of the
southern branch or fork of the river Brazos. There we met again with our
old friends the Wakoes, and learned that there was a party of sixty or
seventy Yankees or Texans roaming about the upper forks of the Trinity,
committing all sorts of depredations, and painting their bodies like the
Indians, that their enormities might be laid to the account of the
savages.
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