Cries for war were increasing at Darlington and agent Miles grew concerned. He wrote that “‘The Chiefs are very much provoked and discouraged…and express the fear that, should nothing be done…and another raid be maid upon them, that it will be impossible for them to restrain their young men from making a like raid on the frontier of Kansas.’”<ref>Quoted in Haley,45</ref>Again, nothing was done to punish the white criminals and the robberies and poaching continued.
[[File:buffhunterscalped1868nearftdodge.jpg|thumbnail|300px|A buffalo hunter discovered near Fort Dodge, December, 1868. The victim has been scalped. ]]At Fort Sill, agent Haworth was faced with the same problem in that his Indian wards were suffering the same deprivations as those at Darlington. Agent Haworth wrote that “‘Since the Indians have camped near the agency, over one hundred head of their stock have been stolen and taken into Texas ̶ ̶ ̶ and none recovered.’”<ref>Quoted in Haley, 47.</ref>Compounding the problem of the robberies was the fact that the horse thieves were at times forced to kill other white men and did so in a manner that suggested the killings were perpetrated by Native Americans. They took scalps, which was the tradition of Native Americans, and convinced the frontier citizens that that it was the South Plains Indians who were guilty. Agent Haworth defended the tribes and wrote, “‘I am fully convinced that many of the offences offenses charged to the Indians are committed by white men in disguise.’”<ref>Quoted in Haley, 48.</ref>
Native American chiefs were also aware of the trickery being enacted by the thieves, which increased the call for war. By spring 1874, hungry South Plains tribes had been infringed upon, neglected, stolen from, and framed for murders of which they were innocent. Their increased anger and hatred of white hunters and the U.S. government had been simmering for years and at last reached the boiling point when hunters established a settlement on the Texas panhandle.
