The Red Cloud chief., 1911-05-25
EPllOGuE.


'Tls the star spanclrd Banner: o. long
may 1t wave.
O'cr the land Of the free. and the home
of the. brave.
Francis Scott Key.
On the night that Miss Elizabeth
Churchill gave me her hand and her
heart forevcr--for which have not
yet ceased TO thank God--there began
the guns OF Palo Alto. Later, there
came the fields of Monterey, Bucna
Vista, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Cheru-
busco, Molino del Rey--at last the
guns sounded at the gate of the old
City of Mexico itself. Some of that
fighting | myself saw; but much of
the time was employed in that man
ncr of special work which had en-
gagged me for the last few years. II
was through Mr.. Calhoun's agency
that | reached certain Importance
in these matters; and so ! was chosen
as the commissioner to negotiate a
peace with Mexico.
This honor later proved TO be q
dangerous and questionable one. Gen.
Scott wanted no interference OF this
! kind, especially since he knew Mr..
| Calhoun's influence in my choice. He
| thwarted all my attempts to reach the
| headquarters of the enemy, and did
| everything he could to secure a peace
| of his own, at the mouth Of the can
non. | could offer no terms better
| than Mr.. Buchanan, then our sec
retary of state, had prepared for me,
and these were rejected by the MeXi-
! can government at last. | was or.
dcred by Mr.. Polk to state that we
had no better terms to Offer and as
| for myself, | was told to return to
Washington. At that time / could not
| make my way out through the lines,
nor, in truth, did | much care to do so,
| A certain event not written in his
! tory Influenced me to remain for a
time at the little village of Guadalupe
Hdalgo. Here. in short. | received
word from a lady whom | had for
merly known none less than Sonora
| Yturrio, once a member of the Mexi-
can legation at Washington. True to
her record, she had again reached in
| fluential position in her country, using
! methods of her own. She told me
now to pay no attention to what had
been reported by Mexico. In fact.
| was approached again by the Mexican
commissioners, introduced by her!
| What was done then is history. We
signed then and there the peace OF
Guadalupe Hidalgo, in accordance
with the terms originally given me
| by our secretary of state. So, after
| all, Calhouns kindness to a woman in
distress was not lost; and so, after
| all, he unwittingly helped in the end
| ing of the war he never wished be-
gun.
Meantime, ! had been recalled to
| Washington, but did not know the
| nature of that recall. When at last
! arrived there found myself disgraced
| and discredited. My actions were re.
pudiated by the administration. | my.
| self was dismissed from the service
| without pay-sad enough blow for a
young man who had been married less
| than year.
Mr.. Folks jealousy of John Calhoun
| was not the only cause of this. Cal
houn's prophecy was right. Yet, none
the less, after his usual fashion, he
was not averse to receiving such credit
| as he could. He put the responsibility
| of the treaty upon the senate! 1t was
debated hotly there for some weeks,
and at last, much to his surprise and
my qualification, 1t was ratified!
The north, which had opposed this
| Mexican war-that same war which
later led inevitably to the Civil War
now found itself unable to say
much against the great additions
l to our domain which the treaty had
| secured. We paid fifteen millions, in
| addition to our territorial indemnity
| claim, and we got a realm whose
| wealth could not be computed. So
| much, II must be owned, did fortune
| do for that singular favorite, Mr.. Polk.
And, curiously enough, the smoke had
| hardly cleared from Palo Alto field
before Abraham Lincoln, a young
| member In the house of congress, was
introducing resolution which asked
the marking of "the spot where that
outrage was committed" Perhaps 1t
was an outrage Many still hold It
so. But let us reflect what would have
been Lincoln's life had matters not
| gone just as they did.
(rO BE CONTINUED)
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