PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, October 7, 1868

Sir:
    In accordance with your instructions, I would respectfully submit the following report as to the causes, which, in my opinion, have led to the present Indian war now existing with the Indians of my agency, viz., the Cheyennes and Arapahoes.
    The war, undoubtedly, would have been prevented had the Government continued to keep up the supply of subsistence that has been furnished them during the spring and early summer. They had gradually got weaned from their old habits to that degree that they depended upon the provisions that were issued to them to sustain them, and consequently it was not necessary for them to scatter out in little bands all over the country, for the purpose of finding game, therefore running a risk of coming into contact with white men, and also being subject to temptation when hungry; but even after their supplies were stopped, had I been allowed to issue the arms and ammunition to them at the time promised, they still would have been content from the fact of them having the means to procure game; but the failure of the government to fulfill its promises in the latter respect naturally incensed some of the wilder spirits among them, and, consequently, the outrages committed upon the Saline river.
    Immediately, upon hearing of said outrages, I was anxious to have the guilty punished, and by that means save those of the different tribes who did not deserve punishment. I saw two of the principal chiefs of the Cheyennes, viz., Medicine Arrow and Little Rock and demanded that they deliver up the perpretators [sic] of the aforementioned outrages, which they promised, positively, should be done, but before

sufficient time had elapsed for them to fulfill their promises, the troops were in the field, and the Indians in flight.
    Even after the majority of the Cheyennes had been forced to take to the warpath in consequence of the bad acts of some of their nation, several bands of the Cheyennes and the whole Arapahoe tribe could have been kept at peace, had proper action been taken at the time, but now all of the Indians of the Upper Arkansas are engaged in the struggle.
    Undoubtedly this war could have been prevented, had Congress made an appropriation for the purpose of continuing the supply of subsistence to these Indians, thus following the dictates of Humanity and justice. The expenditure of a few thousands would have saved millions to the country; would have saved hundreds of white men's lives; have saved the necessity of hunting down and destroying innocent Indians for the faults of the guilty; of driving into misery and starvation numbers of women and little children, not one of whom but now mourns some relative brutally murdered by white men at the horrible massacre of Sand creek, and who still suffer from the loss of their habitations and property, wantonly destroyed by Major General Hancock.
    Had each member of Congress seen what I have of the injustices practiced toward these Indians, they would imagine that there was not sufficient money in the United States Treasury to appropriate for their benefit.
                             With much respect,
                                   Your obedient servant,
                                       E. W. WYNKOOP,
                                       United States Indian Agent.
Hon. Charles E. Mix,
Acting Commissioner Indian Affairs

Source:

Brill, Charles J., Conquest of the Southern Plains; Uncensored Narrative of the Battle of the Washita and Custer's Southern Campaign, Oklahoma City, OK, Golden Saga Publishers, 1938, pp. 289-290.