My brother, the Rev. John Eastman, and I were in Washington at the time. The Indian delegation who protested against the leases was given no show at all before the Department, because it appeared that influential Western Senators were upholding the interests of the cattle companies. Primeau came to my brother for help; and we finally secured a hearing before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. It happened to be a Democratic Senate, although a Republican President was in office; and the head of that committee was Senator Stewart of Nevada. Before him the braves fought their unequal battle to a finish. They had their credentials and the minutes of the meeting at which they had been elected, and they stated clearly their people's reasons for opposing the leases--reasons which were sound on the face of them. They also declared that the Indian Commissioner had sent a telegram to their agent saying that if they would not sign they would be ignored by the Department, and the leases approved without their consent, although such consent was required both by treaty and statute. It was immediately denied by the other side that any such telegram had been sent, upon which the wily Sioux played their trump card: they produced a certified copy of the dispatch which they had obtained from the operator, and publicly handed this piece of evidence to Senator Stewart. The Indians also consulted Judge Springer of Illinois, who, after reviewing their case, said that they could serve an injunction on both the Secretary of the Interior and Commissioner, in the District of Columbia. This they did. The officials asked for thirty days; and the Commissioner of Indian Affairs personally hastened to Standing Rock, where he gave the red men a good scolding for their audacity, at the same time telling them that no lease had been made, or would be made. President Roosevelt then sent Dr. Grinnell, a well-known friend of the Indian, to make an independent investigation. Dr. Grinnell reported that the Walker lease was entirely opposed to the Indians' interests, and that it would not only be unwise, but wrong, to approve it. The Lemmon lease of the unoccupied portion of the reservation was afterward executed with the Indians' consent.