Note (return) — X. NEGOTIATIONS WITH UNION INDIANS

real encouragement663 to renew their offer, yet the Cherokees had as early as February repudiated their alliance with the southern Confederacy. That the United States government was only awaiting a time most propitious for itself is evident from the fact that, when, in the spring following, refugees from the Neutral Lands were given an opportunity to begin their backward trek, they were told that they would not be permitted to linger at their old homes but would have to go on all the way to Fort Gibson, one hundred twenty miles farther south.664 That was one way of ridding Kansas of her Indians and a way not very creditable to a professed and powerful guardian.