In short order, the Irish Catholic tippler and the nondrinking evangelical were fast friends. “Green Clay Smith is in complete accord with me,” Meagher confided to Barlow. “He is a genial, bright-hearted, high-minded fellow.” But Smith had no sooner arrived than he decided to leave, just like the first governor. He promised to be back in half a year. Leave he did, barely three months after arriving, giving full power back to Meagher, who resumed his title of the Acting One.
