1840Indian rebirth

"proposal?"

Cook nodded: "Yes, we can only propose, and the final decision is made by the president and congressmen."

The horse whistle snorted: "You guys are completely insincere. In this case, you'd better go back and bring enough money to buy these thousand pistols."

Of course he knew that Cook didn't really bring enough money, or that it didn't matter at all. Cook actually just wanted to spend less money.

He was basically certain that the so-called "credit" would never be returned later.

So if he couldn't use this in exchange for some conditions, he would never be willing to earn $20,000 less in vain.

Cook frowned and couldn't help but said: "The conditions you proposed are too unrealistic. Especially for the establishment of a new state, how can Fort Leavenworth have the power to agree to it."

Ma Shao asked: "Then what can you promise?"

"Otherwise, I will add another ten thousand dollars in interest. As long as we capture Santa Fe, we will pay you forty thousand dollars with interest." Cook's tone seemed to be a very sincere condition, "Forty thousand dollars."

U.S. dollars, isn’t that a lot?”

Ma Shao said nothing and thought for a while.

It seems that Lieutenant Colonel Cook is unlikely to make any substantive promises, and at most they are only nominal ones.

However, sometimes, names can also be very important.

"Lieutenant Colonel Cook, if you can promise in the name of Fort Leavenworth that you will never invade the Plains tribes, respect our rights, and recognize our occupation of the existing territory, I can advance you $20,000."

"I don't need you to pay interest, as long as you can return the 20,000 US dollars within half a year." Ma Shao said.

Cook thought for a moment: "I can promise never to infringe on you and respect your rights. After all, Americans have always been peace-loving."

"As for the territorial issue, I need to abide by the provisions of U.S. law." He paused, "Fort Leavenworth can set this up as your legal reservation. The reservation still requires congressional approval, but generally it will not be

reject."

Ma Shao felt that it was almost done, and finally nodded in agreement, and then the two began to draft an agreement.

Like the last neutrality agreement, this agreement is still quite concise, briefly spelling out several core conditions.

First, there is the issue of money. Fort Leavenworth needs to return $20,000 to Sleeping Bear City within six months.

Secondly, regarding the issue of peace, Fort Leavenworth promised to respect the rights of Bear City, would not actively infringe upon Bear City, and would no longer place bounties on the scalps of Bear City residents.

Then regarding the territory, Fort Leavenworth recognized the approximately one hundred mile radius around Bear City as a reservation for the Plains tribes, but this required approval by Congress.

Finally, Fort Leavenworth will propose to Washington that the Plains tribes be allowed to join the United States as states.

Cook signed the agreement without much hesitation.

In his opinion, the agreement with the Indians was not very important in the first place, and the contents of the agreement were relatively vague.

The only thing that confused him was: "Why is the font of the agreement so big?"

"For the convenience of taking pictures." Ma Shao smiled.

"Taking photos?" Cook was slightly startled.

"Yes." Mashao immediately called a photographer and took a group photo of both parties and the agreement they had just signed.

"I didn't expect there was a photographer living here." Cook was obviously surprised by this. The daguerreotype camera had just been invented less than ten years ago, and photographers in this era were still relatively rare.

He looked at the photographer who had just taken a picture of them: "Where are you from?"

The photographer is white.

"Missouri," the white photographer said.

Cook asked again: "What do you think of this place?"

"Very good!" the photographer's answer surprised Cook. "I like it here. In fact, I think this may be the best city in the world."

"Why?" Cook looked at his expression and felt that he was not telling lies, and couldn't help feeling extremely confused.

The photographer seemed unclear: "Well... I can't tell, maybe it's the atmosphere."

"Are there many white residents in the city?" Cook asked again.

Photographer: "Not a lot, maybe dozens."

Some time passed.

"Okay, let's see how my photo goes?" The photographer took the developed photo and handed it to Ma Shao and Cook for viewing.

There are several people standing in the photo, including Mashao and Cook, as well as several of their subordinates, with a signed agreement in the middle.

"Not bad." Ma Shao smiled and nodded.

When Cook looked at the photo, he felt an inexplicable uneasiness in his heart...

The agreement signed by both parties is called the "Sleeping Bear Agreement". After signing, the transaction is completed.

Cook spent $30,000 to buy a thousand Browning revolvers, then left with the weapons and returned to General Carney's station.

In the chief hall of Sleeping Bear City, I looked at the agreement and photos on a rainy day: "To be honest, Ma Shao, I don't think this agreement makes much sense."

"The white people don't care much about the agreement they signed with us, and the contents in it are too general, such as 'will not actively invade Sleeping Bear City' and 'respect the rights of the plains tribes'... even the so-called

The establishment of reservations still requires the approval of the U.S. Congress.”

Ma Shao nodded: "Indeed, this is almost empty talk, but that does not mean that it is not binding."

On a rainy day, I couldn’t help but ask: “What are your plans?”

"It's hard to say for the time being." The horse whistle hesitated for a moment, but said nothing, "When this war is over or is about to end, I may be able to make use of it."