Fort Towson Nov. 16, 1855
Sir: I have the pleasure to forward a copy of letter, addressed to the Revd S. B. Treat, Corresponding Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, by C. Kingsbury and others—Missionaries among the Choctaws—and request the same may be transmitted to the Hon Comr of Indian Affairs for the information of the Government of the United States.
The letter as you will perceive refers to an exciting and highly important subject—in which the States adjoining the Indian Territory are deeply & directly interested, as well as the Choctaw People.
I cannot refrain from the expression of my gratification at the position assured in this letter by the old and valued Missionaries among the Choctaws. The copy was handed to me by Revd Cyrus Kingsbury, one of the signers to the original letter. Respectfully
Douglas H. Cooper, U. S. Agent for Choctaws
Hon. C. M. Dean, Supt. Indian Affairs,
Ft Smith.
[Inclosure]—Copy
Pine Ridge, Choc. Na. Nov. 15, 1855.
Rev. S. B. Treat, Cor. Secretary of the A.B.C.F.M.
Rev. & Dear Brother, When the Rev. G. W. Wood visited us as a deputation from the Prudential Committee, he treated us, our views, and our practice so kindly, and spoke to us so many encouraging words, that we were constrained to meet him in a similar spirit of concilliation. We were willing to re-examine the difference in views on the subject of slavery, which for a long time had existed between the Committee and ourselves, and to see if there was not common ground on which we could stand together.