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== Seeking Help ==

That evening, under cover of darkness, a hunter named Henry Lease armed himself heavily and set out for Fort Dodge to beg assistance from the military. He arrived at the fort late that evening and asked for military support. Not one of the officers on duty had the authority to dispatch the cavalry; therefore, word was sent to the governor for permission. He was also too timid to act and shunned the responsibility to the military commander, General John Pope, who surprisingly denied the request. Although he was no lover of Native Americans, Pope adhered to the policies set forth in the Medicine Lodge Treaty and was not willing to jeopardize relations with the tribes by enabling the very men who breached the treaty agreements. General Pope disliked the tactics utilized by the hunters and realized the unjust manner in which they encroached on Indian lands and illegally hunted buffalo. Pope believed that the hunters had “‘justly earned all that may befall them,’” and that any troops he sent would be to “‘break up the grogshops and trading establishments rather than protect them.’”<ref>Richard N. Ellis, ''General Pope and the U.S. Indian Policy'' (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1970), 183.</ref>