At first the Hualpais were sullen, but soon they melted enough to tell the story of their grievances, and especially the grievance they had against Captain Byrne himself. The new agent had been robbing them in the most bare-faced manner, and in their ignorance they imagined that it was Tommy Byrne’s duty to regulate all affairs at his camp. They did not want to hurt him, and would let him go safely back, but for them there was nothing but the war-path and plenty of it.
Tommy said gently, “Come back with me, and I’ll see that you are righted.” Back they went, following after the one, unarmed man. Straight to the beef scales went the now thoroughly aroused officer, and in less time than it takes to relate, he had detected the manner in which false weights had been secured by a tampering with the poise. A two-year-old Texas steer, which, horns and all, would not weigh eight hundred pounds, would mark seventeen hundred, and other things in the same ratio. Nearly the whole amount of the salt and flour supply had been sold to the miners in the Cerbat range, and the poor Hualpais, who had been such valiant and efficient allies, had been swindled out of everything but their breath, and but a small part of that was left.
Tommy seized upon the agency and took charge; the Hualpais were perfectly satisfied, but the agent left that night for California and never came back. A great hubbub was raised about the matter, but nothing came of it, and a bitter war was averted by the prompt, decisive action of a plain, unlettered officer, who had no ideas about managing savages beyond treating them with kindness and justice.
General Crook not only saw to the condition of the Hualpais, but of their relatives, the Mojaves, on the river, and kept them both in good temper towards the whites; not only this, but more than this—he sent up among the Pi-Utes of Nevada and Southern Utah and explained the situation to them and secured the promise of a contingent of one hundred of their warriors for service against the Apaches, should the latter decline to listen to the propositions of the commissioner sent to treat with them. When hostilities did break out, the Pi-Utes sent down the promised auxiliaries, under their chief, “Captain Tom,” and, like the Hualpais, they rendered faithful service.