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Head Quarters Frontier Dist Ark Ft Smith Ark Feby 1. 1866. Capt. Chas. E. Howe A.A.G. Dept of Ark Sir: I have the honor to return herewith the position purporting to be that of a meeting of negroes, of which one Daniel Sooman is Chairman. I found great difficulty in ascertaining the whereabouts of any of the petitioners, none of whom, so far as I know, had ever spoken to me on the subject of their alleged grievances. It was not until recently that I found any of those persons. In the meantime I took special pains to enquire into the condition of the families named. So far as I have been able to trace them they are at their homes contented and well cared for. When in December last the Choctaws & Chicasaw delegations were at this place, I made special inquiry of them as to the condition of the families named in the petition