ch we had taken
evidence. Here we had access to the poll-books of the contested
elections, and met on friendly terms with the officers of the
territory, the chief of whom were Judge Lecompte, chief justice of
the territory, after whom the town had been named, and Jones, the
marshal of the United States. Governor Shannon was, I think, also
there for a time. The quarters for lodging were even more limited
here than in Lawrence. I slept in a cot side by side with the one
occupied by Judge Lecompte, who, though a terror to the Free State
men, seemed to me to be a good humored gentleman, more violent in
his words than in his acts. We had no unpleasant incident while
there, though such had been prophesied at Lawrence.

From Lecompton the committee went to Topeka, then quite a small
village, now a city of 33,000 inhabitants. It was already ambitious
to become the Free State capital of Kansas, by reason of its central
position. There was then no settlement of any importance west of
Topeka. Some testimony was taken, but we soon returned to Lawrence,
and from thence went to Leavenworth. A large part of the distance
between these places was an Indian reservation. Mrs. Sherman and
I rode over it in a buggy, and found no white man's habitation on
the way. Its great value and fertility was easily perceived, and
it is now well settled by an active and prosperous population of
white men. On the road we met an Indian seated near his wigwam,
with a gun in his hand, and for a moment I feared he might use it.
He uttered some Indian gibberish, which we construed as an invitation
to enter his hut. We tied our horse, entered, and found no one
there but an old squaw. I gave the Indian some silver which he
greedily took, but indicated by his motions that he wanted a drink
of whisky, but this I was not able to give him.

Leavenworth was a new town near Fort Leavenworth, the then western
military post of the army of the United States. We placed ourselves
in communication with Colonel Sumner, then in command, but we had
no occasion to summon his official aid, though authorized by the
resolutions under which we were acting to call for such assistance
from any military force which was at the time convenient to us.
However, our meetings there were more disturbed than at any other
place. The trouble commenced at Lawrence shortly after our arrival
at Leavenworth. A company of about 700 armed men, the great body
of whom were not citi