front to
the Government, secure by treaty all the lands near the mountain, even if we had to surrender all the other lands in doing so.
It might have been called a kind of Indian re servation, but it was to be a reservation in its fullest and most original sense, such as those first allotted to the Indians. Definite lines were to be drawn, and these lines were to be kept sacred. No white man was to come there without permission. The Indians were to remain on the land of their fathers. They were to receive no pay, no perquisites or assistance whatever from the Government. They were simply to be let alone in their possessions, with their rites, customs, religion, and all, unmolested. They were to adopt civilization by degrees and as they saw fit, and such parts of it as they chose to adopt. They were to send a representative to the State and the national capitals if they chose, and so on through a long catalogue of details that would have left them in possession of that liberty which is as dear to the Indian as to any being on earth.
Filled with plans for my little Republic I now went among the Modocs, whom I had always half feared since they had killed and plundered the old trader, and boldly laid the case before them. They were very enthusiastic, and some of the old council- men named me chief ; yet I never had any authority to speak of till too late to use it to advantage.
I drew maps and wrote out my plans, and sent them to the commanding officer of the Pacific Coast, the
