Trying to Make Terms of Peace

Then came another parley, during which the miners offered to go away, if we would give up their cattle peaceably; but Mr. Middleton held firmly to his demand for payment.

It looked as if we might once more be forced to defend ourselves, for the Missourians flatly refused to agree to anything of the kind, declaring that in a wild country they had the right to pasture famished cattle wherever fodder was offered, but when Mr. Middleton held out stoutly, they decided to confer among themselves, and answer us before sundown.

That was a sorry way in which to inaugurate the settlement of a new country, and I said to myself that if there was any truth in omens, this town which we had so hopefully planned to build by the river side would prove an ill-fated place.

It seemed strange to me then, and does now, that, after we had cared for our wounded, and while we were awaiting the decision of those Missouri miners, we should have decided to remain where we were and build up a town; and even while the reek of battle still hung thick in the air, we agreed that the place should be known as Fountain City, naming it after the river.

I remember well that Mr. Middleton declared that he would defend his own in the new town against all oppression, that it would in time become a prosperous city, and that we who had fought to save our corn would ever be known as its founders.

At that time all of us believed that we would do as he had said, and yet before many months passed, we came reluctantly to the belief that it would be better to look for another location, even though we had already ditched the land to such an extent that it would bring forth bountiful crops.