'I have heard that you intend to set apart a reservation near the mountains of [western Oklahoma]. I don't want to settle; I love to roam over the prairie; I feel free and happy; but when we settle down we get pale and die….A long time ago this land belonged to our fathers; but when I go up to the [Arkansas] river I see camps of soldiers on its banks. The soldiers cut down my timber, they kill my buffalo; and when I see that my heart feels like bursting; I feel sorry.' (Chief Set-t'ainte, 1867)
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