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Show return to their homes without the use of troops; that the Department had communicated all the facts to the President and recommended, should the mission of the inspector fail, that troops be used to reruope I the Indians if it could be done lawfully; and that- The Office seriously doubts that Unlted States troops could legally be used for the purpose of apprehending and returning such Indians or for the purpose of preventing them from peaceably leaving their homes, and'has always insisted In such eases on the State's paramount authority, and that the use of troops should not be resorted to, ifnt all, until every effort has been made by the State authorities to meet the requirements of the situation. On October 8, 1906, Inspector McLaughlin telegraphed the O5ce from Newcastle, Wyo., that he had just returned from the Ute camp; that the leader of the absentees refused to return home; that he (the inspector) had succeeded in getting 45 of the Indians to accompany him to Utah; that some of those who did not return would go to the Pine Ridge Agency, and about 100 of the more aggressive would continue northwest to the Big Horn Mountains, where they thought of settling; that no trouble need be apprehended from them if they were not interfered with; but that they were sullen and would doubt-less resist if forced to return while in that mood. Forty-five of the absentees were accordingly provided with trans-portation to their homes. The John Morton Sheep Company telegraphed to the Department on October 11 that the Utes camped 15 miles from Gillette were rob-bing sheep camps and killing cattle and game; that the people of the settlements were becoming aroused, and that serious trouble was feared. . The governor of Wyoming wired the Department on October 14 that nearly all the Indians were then camped at G'lllette, Wyo.; that ' they were drinking, insulting and stealing, and had defied the local police. He requested prompt action in order to avert serious trouble between the absentees and the settlers. The Department telegraphed to the governor the next day, inquir-ing whether he requested the Government to send United States troops into Wyoming to preserve order and arrest and remove the Indians. On receipt of an affirmative response the President directed that the matter be turned over to the War Department, and on October 18 the OEce furnished Capt. S. A. Cloman, of the General Staff of the Army, a brief memorandum about the trouble. On October 19 the Secretary of War telegraphed to the major-general commanding the northern division : It havlng been represented to the President that a band of Ute Indians have entered the State of Wyoming, and have there committed a series of depreda-tions against the proper* and rights of its citizens; and a formal application for protection having been submitted In their behalf by the governor of Wy-oming, the legislature of that State not being in session, and it being impossible |