The Foreign Service Journal, November 2005

diplomatic answer. The Kyargyusar [Persian government representative for foreign interests] was robbed of his clothes and became the butt of many jokes, but there was no way to get back his stolen goods nor to apprehend the robber. ” On the day of his second visit, Friday, June 13, 1919, Ismail Agha, satisfied with his talks with Paddock, called in one of his subordinate chiefs and said, “These gentlemen are going to Urmia and I want you to send a guard with them all the way. In addition, send a detachment of horsemen to Kutchi just over the pass and surround the village. If the bandit Kazim is there, kill him; and in any case open a road for these gentlemen to pass.” Day 9: Transiting the pass lead- ing to Urmia, the group did not get far before having two blowouts. They had not brought enough inner tubes, so Ferguson stuffed the tires with grass, which lasted until they returned to Tabriz. In the late after- noon they came within 50 yards of the village of Kutchi when horsemen appeared, informing them that a battle was taking place there. The Kurdish escort led the party to another village to spend the night, but their duties were not over: Wounded from the battle were brought in for Dr. Dodd to treat. Once they had been treated, supper was served, and Paddock and com- pany bedded down, ending the day past midnight. Day 10: A timely start brought the party to the village of Saatlu, just a few miles from Urmia. There they were greeted by a hundred or more Kurdish horsemen who escorted the party to within two miles of the city. There Sardar-i-Fateh received a let- ter from the governor saying he would be pleased to receive him and that he would order the Persian troops not to fire and to permit a safe entrance into the city. At about 6:30 p.m., Ferguson drove the sar- dar and his orderly into Urmia to make arrangements for Paddock to enter the city. They “returned with their faces wreathed in smiles — the trip had been successful, the Packards were safe, and the consul and his party were to enter at once.” Day 11: The consul and sardar entered, proceeding through sullen crowds to the governor’s house, where they were greeted by the Packards and their Christian helpers. But the mission was not yet accom- plished: the several hundred Assyrian Christians still had to be safely removed from a hostile city. And rumors were rife that major efforts would be made by some elements to prevent them from leaving. Paddock covered himself with glory in his negotiations with the governor, noting that he was acting with the authority of the governor of Azerbaijan, a fact he had in writing. He also declared that he was speak- ing not only for America, but for Great Britain and France. (This was a slight exaggeration, though it was true that his British and French col- leagues in Tabriz were in accord with him.) Then, as Muller recount- ed, “Mr. Paddock said he came there under orders to take the Christians out, that he could not discuss these orders, but was there to carry them out; if the governor prevented him from carrying them out, he himself would return to Tabriz and make a full report of the situation, with the implication that the result would not be good for the governor.” Paddock’s appeal on behalf of the Christians resulted in requests for protection to be provided for the Persians threatened by the Kurds. A delegation called upon him to ask that, before he left the city with the Christians, he appoint an agent who could hoist the American flag in case the Kurds should break through and attack the town. There is no evi- dence that he did so, but he correct- ly took that request as an indirect signal that the Christians would be permitted to leave the next day. Day 12: The party’s original plan for the return journey was to meet a boat and barge at the lakeshore and cross the lake to Sheriff Khana, where they would once more board the train to Tabriz. But first they had to escort the missionaries and the 600 or so local Christians from the governor’s compound across 13 miles of unsecured territory through crowds of doubtful friendliness. Paddock, after conferring with Packard, decided to proceed as soon as possible in the afternoon. He sent Dodd out of the city to arrange safe passage with the Kurds and pro- cured carts and animals to move the sick and wounded and to carry a sup- ply of bread and the few possessions still remaining with the refugees. By 4:30 p.m. the carts and ani- mals had not arrived, but Paddock decided to proceed anyway. Muller wrote, “It was a tense moment; we all knew that the slightest mishap between the governor’s gate and the outside of the city might mean a mis- erable end for all of us — it would have required only a rifle shot, the throwing of a stone, accidental push- 60 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 5 “I decided that I could not sit still and wait for the Powers to act, but that I must do something myself.” —Gordon Paddock