“‘One thing I know cannot be true. The dispatches say that a wounded man was brought into Buffalo who was supposed to be one of our invaders. That is absurd. A good surgeon, with everything which he might need, is with the invaders, and if anybody is hurt, he is taken care of in the camp. They are well provided with everything that may be needed. And I want to emphasize strongly the character of the invading party. There are about sixty good men, and of that number, twenty especially are among the best citizens of the whole state. They are men who have been driven out of Johnson county by the gang of rustlers, and they are going back for--well, “retribution” is a good word. FIGHTING FOR HOME AND PROPERTY “‘They are fighting for life, home and property, and I want to predict that the rustlers will be wiped out. With the aid of Sheriff Angus, the rustlers cannot muster as many men by far as our party will have in the field very soon. As for the militia, I fancy that most of them are now with one party or the other. The company at Buffalo will pretty certainly stick to the rustlers. The “TA” ranch, where the fight is said to have occurred, is owned by Dr. Harris of Laramie City and his foreman is one of the leaders of the invading party. EXPLAINING DISPATCHES “‘Now I think I can explain some of the vague dispatches. Men come in to Casper and Cheyenne and other towns with stories of what they have seen and heard, when they have no foundation for such tales. Before I left Cheyenne a man came in from the west and began to tell how he had met “our” party well out on our journey. I questioned him pretty closely and knowing just exactly the make-up of our party, it soon proved that his story was an entire fabrication. So it is with the most of the messengers from the seat of war. There may have been a fight, or several of them, but I doubt it. Our party is not going at things hastily, and when we do hear reliable news, it will be of a very decided nature. “‘It is useless for me to go into a history of this trouble and the conditions leading up to it. The Republican has given the account very accurately and completely. All we need now is news, news.’” Vague rumors of disaster to the cattlemen had reached the press and these two valiant long-range fighters, taken by surprise, unbosomed themselves, thus giving a clear insight to the public of the faith of the constitution wreckers then on the gory field of battle, and the camp followers engaged in feeling and trying to regulate the public pulse. Another thing that gave hope was the belief that they had fully enlisted the sympathy of the President of the United States in their behalf. On the 17th of April, the following telegram was sent from Paris, Texas, to the San Francisco Chronicle and published generally throughout the country: