[Footnote 229:  Connelley, Quantrilt and the Border Wars, 236 ff.]

[Footnote 230:  Steele to Dole, March 26, 1862 [Indian Office General Files, Southern Superintendence, 1859-1862].]

once recovered, they were to be left in such shape as to be able to “protect and defend themselves."[231]

Halleck’s preoccupation, prejudice, or whatever it was that prevented him from giving any satisfaction to Steele soon yielded, as all things sooner or later must, to necessity; but not to the extent of sanctioning the employment of Indians in warfare except as against other “Indians or in defense of their own territory and homes.”  The Pea Ridge atrocities were probably still fresh in his mind.  On the fifth of April, he instructed[232] General Denver with a view to advancing, at last, the organization of the Indian expedition and Denver, Coffin, and Steele forthwith exerted all their energies in cooeperating effort[233].  Some time was spent in inspecting arms[234] but, on the eighth, enough for two thousand Indians went forward in the direction of Leroy and Humboldt[235] and on the sixteenth were delivered to the superintendent[236].  Coffin surmised that new complications would arise as soon as the distribution began; for all the Indians, whether they intended to enlist or not, would try to secure guns.  Nothing had yet been said about their pay and nothing heard of an auxiliary force[237].  Again the question was, what,

[Footnote 231:  Dole to Steele, March 21, 1862, Indian Office Letter Book, no. 67, 508-509.]

[Footnote 232:  Official Records, vol. viii, 665.]

[Footnote 233:  Dole’s name might well be added to this list; for he had never lost his interest or relaxed his efforts.  On the fifth of April, he communicated to Secretary Smith the intelligence that he had issued instructions to “the officers appointed to command the two Regiments of Indians to be raised as Home Guard to report at Fort Leavenworth to be mustered into service ... “—­Indian Office Report Book, no. 12, 357.]

[Footnote 234:  Steele to Dole, April 7, 1862 [Ibid., General Files, Southern Superintendency, 1859-1862, S 538 of 1862].]

[Footnote 235:  Denver to Halleck, April 8, 1862 [Official Records, vol. viii, 679].]

[Footnote 236:  Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Report, 1862, 148.]

[Footnote 237:  “...  I fear we shall have trouble in regard to the guns as many will take guns that will not go and whether they will give up their arms is doubtful.  I had a long talk with Opothly-Oholo on that point and told (cont.)]

in the event of its not appearing, should the Indian agents do?[238]

The time was propitious for starting the expedition; for not the shadow of an enemy had been lately seen in the West, unless count be taken of Indians returning home or small roving bands of possible marauders that the people of all parties detested[239].  But the order for the supplanting of Denver by Sturgis had already been issued, April sixth[240], and Sturgis’s policy was not yet