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Fort Smit, Ark.
Nov. 28th._65.

Genl. Commr. Bureau
Ref. F. and Abd. Lands,

Your telegram of 24th inst. inquiring about outrages committed by Indians upon the Negroes, has been rec'd.

Reports have been made to me by different persons - chiefly Blacks - to the effect that the Choctaws have been cruel towards certain of the Negroes who claimed their freedom. I have not always embraced such reports with full credence, because they have not been presented in such shape as to be susceptible of proof. It has been told me, for example, that colored men have been killed by the Indians somewhere in the Indian Territory; but I have not been able to ascertain the locality, the date, the attending circumstances, or the names of the parties, so as to justify any action of the military command for the punishment of the murderers.

That many of the Colored people in the Indian Country are living in constant dread of violence, I have abundant cause to believe,