It had for several years been the hope of the Government that so
soon as the war was ended arrangements could be perfected whereby
concessions of territory could be obtained from the principal Southern
tribes. To territory thus acquired it was proposed, after obtaining
their consent, to remove the several tribes possessing reservations
in Kansas, or at least such of them as were not prepared or willing
to dissolve their tribal relations and become citizens of the United
States. The fertile and agreeable prairies of that State were being
rapidly absorbed by an ever increasing stream of immigration, which
gave promise as soon as the war should close and the armies be
disbanded of an indefinite increase. The numerous Indian reservations
dotting the face of the State in all directions afforded most desirable
farming and grazing lands that would soon be needed for this rapidly
multiplying white population.