ciates, and lasting because of the
records that he left.

To the Indians he was a real "Father". Americans, Scotch, Sioux, and
French could all find within his breast, they said, a kindred spirit,
and they bestowed upon him the name of "Four Hearts" because of the
impartiality of his actions to all nationalities.[178] In June, 1858, a
number of Sioux chiefs were in Washington and came to see him. "My old
Father," said Little Crow, "we have called upon you; we love you; we
respect you.... Since you left us a dark cloud has hung over our nation.
We have lost confidence in the promises of our Great Father, and his
people; bad men have nearly destroyed us.... We failed to get a friend
in anyone like you; they all joined the traders. We know your heart, it
feels for your old children."[179]

Those who were associated with him at the fort also had kind words for
him. "He belonged to a class more common then than now", remarked the
son of Colonel Bliss. "He imagined it to be his imperative duty to see
that every Indian under his charge had the enjoyment of all his rights,
and never seemed to realize his opportunities for arranging with
contractors for the supply of inferior goods and for dividing the
profits."[180] Of this honesty Taliaferro wrote: "I have the Sad
Consolation of leaving after twenty Seven years--the public Service as
poor as when first I entered--The only evidence of my integrity".[181]

No one can write of Fort Snelling without using the papers which
Lawrence Taliaferro left. The diary kept by him during these twenty
years shows the meager pleasures and grim duties of his task. Of this
diary only a few fragmentary pages are extant--three roughly bound
collections of sheets, many of them torn, many of them half-burned, and
their writing faded. But from almost every page that is legible some
information is gleaned, concerning the life of the soldiers, the visits
of the Indians, the state of the weather, and reflections on Indian
relations and the best time for planting potatoes.[182] His wide
acquaintance and the great extent of territory which his agency covered
led to correspondence with many men. These letters also passed through a
fire, and those that were rescued are now bound in four volumes.[183]

His reports to General William Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs
at St. Louis, were forwarded to Washington where they are now kept in
the files of the Indian office.[184] With methodical care Governor