AEKANSAS. 



for the office of Governor of this State, and without 

 notice to me or my counsel I was at once forcibly put 

 out of my office, and that without any pretense of a 

 writ being served on me. All that was done, too, 

 after the {Supreme Court of this State had twice de- 

 cided that no court in the State had jurisdiction of 

 the case at all, and the Legislature alone had juris- 

 diction. At ouce, on being ejected from office, I took 

 steps to restore myself, to get possession of office, 

 and to carry on the government. The people are 

 coming to my aid, and are ready to restore me at 

 once. In making this organization I am obstructed 

 by the interference of United States troops in dis- 

 placing my guards from the telegraph-office, and now 

 it is apprehended that there will be further interfer- 

 ence. Such interference breaks me down, and pre- 

 vents any effort on my part to restore the State 

 government and to protect the people in their rights. 

 I beg of you to modify any order to the extent of 

 such interference, and leave me free to act in this way 

 to restore law and my place as the legitimate Gov- 

 ernor of the State. Such interference does not leave 

 me any chance to assert my claim to the office of 

 Governor. 



In the interests of peace and of these people who 

 are flocking here to my support by hundreds, I beg 

 of you to remove the United States troops back to the 

 arsenal, and permit me to restore legitimate gov- 

 ernment by my own forces, which I will do promptly 

 if the United States will not interfere. There is an 

 armed insurrection against the legal State govern- 

 ment here, and I call upon you to aid in suppressing 

 it ; but if you will not, then leave me free to act, and 

 order the United States troops, without an hour's 

 delay, to their own ground, and keep them out of my 

 way. I have been thwarted and delayed thus long 

 and, in fact, ejected from my office because of the 

 fact that I had heretofore disbanded the militia of 

 the State. . 



I make this earnest demand .to repress insurrec- 

 tion and prevent domestic violence under my sense 

 of duty to the Constitution and laws of the United 

 States, as well as the State of Arkansas, and I rely 

 confidently, as I have all the time, upon the assur- 

 ance contained in your letter of September 15, 1873, 

 to prevent the overthrow of my official authority 

 by illegal and disorderly proceedings. An immedi- 

 ate answer is requested: otherwise bloodshed may 

 be the result. ELISHA BAXTEE, 



Governor of the State of Arkansas. 



On the following day application was made 

 for Federal aid by Brooks, as follows : 



LITTLE EOCK, ARK., April 20, 1874. 

 His Excellency U. S. GRANT, President of the United 

 States. 



SIR : I hereby inform you that one Elisha Baxter, 

 a private citizen, pretending to be Governor of Ar- 

 kansas, without warrant or authority of law, assumed 

 to declare martial law in the capital county of the 

 State, and to appoint a pretended military governor 

 of the city of Little Eock, the seat of government ; 

 that he called out armed bodies of men for the avowed 

 purpose of attacking and capturing the Capitol of the 

 State by military force and installing himself as Gov- 

 ernor of such State : that large bodies of armed men 

 have assembled, and are continually assembling, un- 

 der said Baxter's proclamation of martial law, and 

 are in close proximity to the State-House, and have 

 this" day actually advanced on the State-House and 

 confronted a 'body of Federal troops stationed in 

 front of the State-House, under order from their com- 

 manding officer, acting- under command to preserve 

 the peace, and were only prevented from making the 

 attack by the presence; of Federal troops ; that these 

 armed bodies nave 'seized and appropriated private 

 property, and are hourly seizing and appropriating 

 private property, without compensation ; have 

 conscripted and are continually conscripting private 

 citizens, and compelling them to aid and abet them 



in their insurrectionary purposes, and have seized 

 and are daily seizing railroads in the StatCj and ap- 

 propriating them to the same illegal and insurrec- 

 tionary purposes ; that there are armed bodies at this 

 moment assembled within a few hundred yards of 

 the State-House, and threaten an immediate attack 

 upon it ; that the Legislature adjourned sine die in 

 April last ; has not since been convened ; is not now 

 in session, and cannot be convened in time to pre- 

 vent the threatened attack ; that domestic violence 

 now actually exists in this State and at the seat of 

 government which the civil and military authorities 

 under my control are powerless to prevent or sup- 

 press. Therefore I t Joseph Brooks, Governor of the 

 State of Arkansas, in pursuance of the Constitution 

 and laws of the United States, hereby make applica- 

 tion to your Excellency to protect the State capital 

 and the State of Arkansas against domestic violence 

 and insurrection. 



In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand 

 and caused the great seal of the State to be affixed at 

 Little Eock this 20th day of April, A. D. 1874. 



JOSEPH BEOOKS, Governor. 



By the Governor : 



EDWARD CURREY, Secretary of State ad interim. 



Little Eock now had the appearance of a 

 military camp. The troops on both sides were 

 being constantly reenforced. Great excite- 

 ment prevailed throughout the city, and busi- 

 ness was almost entirely suspended. On the 

 2 1st a body of colored troops, under Colonel 

 White, marched to the Metropolitan Hotel, 

 where they were addressed by Governor Bax- 

 ter and their commander. Amid the cheers 

 which followed these speeches, a shot was 

 fired from the crowd which had collected 

 around, into the body of Baxter's adherents* 

 This led to an indiscriminate firing on both 

 sides, which resulted in the wounding of sev- 

 eral persons. The disturbance was quelled by 

 the Federal forces. 



On the next day the following telegraphic 

 correspondence in relation to a settlement by 

 the Legislature passed between Governor Bax- 

 ter and President Grant : 



LITTLE EOCK, ARK., April 22. 1874. 

 To the President of the United States, Washington : 



As I cannot move with my troops to assert my 

 claims to the office of Governor without a collision 

 with the United States troops, which I will not do 

 under any circumstances, I propose to call the Legis- 

 lature together at an early day, and have them to set- 

 tle the question, as they alone have the power. But 

 to do this the members of the Legislature must have 

 assurance of protection from you, and a guarantee 

 that they may meet in safety. This will be a peace- 

 able solution of the difficulty, and I will readily abide 

 by the decision of the Legislature. 



ELISHA BAXTEE, Governor of Arkansas. 



EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, | 



April 22, 1874. ) 



The Hon. ELISHA BAXTER, Little Mock, Arkansas : 



will give all the assistance and protection I can un- 

 der the Constitution and laws of the United States to 

 such modes of adjustment. I hope that the military 

 on both sides will be disbanded. 



U. S. GEANT. 



Upon receipt of the President's reply, Gov- 

 ernor Baxter issued the following proclama- 

 tion, convening an extraordinary session of 

 the Legislature : 



