 Talcott, in a letter to president Abraham Lincoln, accused Hallett of substandard construction of the railroad.This letter was referred to the interior secretary John Palmer Usher who was a close friend of Hallett, and so Hallett was informed of it.As a result, Talcott was physically assaulted by one of Hallett's brothers in Wyandotte, Kansas (across the Kansas River from Kansas City, Kansas).