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making the voyage. The thing that must have been nearest to Dr. Whitman's heart, and the thing that had caused him to imperil his life in making that winter's journey.
Mr. Evans argues that because he did not find Dr. Whitman's name mentioned in some chronicle Congressional Globe, or the debates in congress, therefore the doctor could not have been there. Would Mr. Evans have us believe that a private citizen cannot visit Washington without having his name so appear? I will venture to assert that there is not one private citizen out of a hundred who visits Washington, and leaves any printed or written record of his visit, other than by ornamenting some hotel register with his sign manual. Had Mr. Evans gone to Washington to work in the interest of the Hudson's Bay Company in presenting their claims against our government, could he not have appeared and pressed those claims to his heart's content and then disapeared without his name ever having found its way into the Globe or having become a subject of debate in congress? I would like to know in what chronicle one would expect to find the name of each private citizen who had forty years ago interviewed the president or the secretary of state?
I never have, nor will now, attempt to reconcile all the statements of detail made by different persons, such as are characterized as the "taunting jeer," the "foaming steed "and the "buckskin clothes." I neither assent to or deny the recitals in which these recitals occur—it seems of little importance whether Dr. Whitman wore buckskin or broadcloth. Daniel Webster would not guage the value of a man's opinion by the cut of his coat or by the material that entered into the make-up of his trowsers; while Dr. Whitman was a man whose presence would command respect in any place, from the wickiup to the White House.
The journey of Dr. Whitman, made in the winter of 1842-3, from his station in Walla Walla valley to the states, was one of the most perilous, daring and remarkable feats ever accomplished by any traveler. When he undertook it, he knew what dangers he had to face, what difficulties he would have to contend with. His practical good sense would have held him back had he not been urged forward by some powerful motive, and the motive is the very thing upon which this controversy, as it now stands, must hang and hinge. In my other article I answered, whether to her satisfaction or not I cannot say, Mrs. Victor's assignment of motive. That answer seemed satisfactory to Mr. Evans, however, for while
