sas jayhawkers or any others from invading Iowa. He further intimated that many of these jayhawkers have gone south to join General Lane. He says four or five of these kidnapers must be punished, and if civil law will do it it will suit him, but if not, he knows what will. He told me that he would at once take the legal steps to reach these men, and that no further invasion of Iowa should take place in the mean time if he could prevent it. I was satisfied while there that he was in earnest, and could and would do as he agreed, and on my return to Sidney Judge Sears says he can and will make his word good in every respect, and I am satisfied there will be no more jayhawking in Iowa for the present.

C. McKinsock, who shot the man at Hamburg, went through Missouri to Bloody Island, in the Missouri River. This island is claimed by Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri, and by the United Sates. He was seen to go there; was followed, taken, and brought to Sidney Landing, in Missouri, where he was arrested by a civil officer for kidnaping and taken to Rockport, and bound over in $2,000 to appear for trial, against English, and say he shall smart for the treatment he gave these men he arrested. He cannot go 4 miles in Missouri by daylight a live man, I don't believe.

On my return to Sidney I found Colonel Hedges and Captain Harvey very anxious that I should call out the militia for thirty days at least for drill. Captain Harvey very plainly told me he had no fear of immediate invasion, but that they might be needed in future, and were very much in need of drill. He says the military companies there have labored under many adverse circumstances; men had been hooted at for joining companies and injured in their business, and something was needed to infuse proper spirit in the men. I told him that it would be very expensive; I suggested it would be poor patriotism that needed $13 a month to keep it up, but that I would state the case to your fairly, and leave the responsibility with you.

In conclusion, I think immediate danger of trouble in Fremont County has passed, but I still think there should be some Federal troops sent here, more to arrest secessionists and secession property that has made Iowa an assylum than to protect us from invasion, but the officers placed in command should be Numbers 1 in every respect. An inefficient or improvident officer would do much harm, but one of the right kind, by making a few arrests of men and property, would in my opinion not only end the present difficulty, but prevent forever its recurrence.

Judge Baldwin has shown me your dispatches, and we have consulted fully in regard to the best course to pursue. He has promised to write you to-day. I will present our views briefly for your commendation, and then, if you think best, I will go to Saint Joe and to the best I can. The troops at Saint Joe are to my knowledge much demoralized, and none that I know to be there are fit for this service. I refer only to the Sixteenth Illinois, Colonel Smith, who is in command there, and were I to go there he would send some of his own regiment and I couldn't object. I think the best plan is for you to write General Halleck at Saint Louis, get cavalry-one company will to-and stipulate for a superior man to take charge of them; give this officer full power to arrest men and property, to be immediately sent to headquarters at Saint Joe or Leavenworth for trial. This takes the matter from the border, and will prove a wholesome lesson for those who are not arrested. If you still think best I will go to Saint Joe, Leavenworth, or Saint Louis, as you may direct, and see what can be done.