Cooper had thrown in his lot with the secessionists and was already working actively in their cause. The defection of Douglas H. Cooper, United States agent for the Choctaws and the Chickasaws, can not be passed by so very lightly; for it had such far reaching effects. The time came during and after the war, when the United States Indian Office came to have in its possession various documents[345] that proved conclusively that Douglas H. Cooper had been most instrumental in organizing the secession movement among the Indians of at least his own agency. It was even reported[346] that material was forthcoming to show how he "was engaged in raising troops for the Rebel Army, during the months of April, May, and June, 1861, while holding the office of U. S. Indian Agent." His successor had been appointed considerably before the end of that time, however, and, when the war was over, the Indians themselves exonerated him from all responsibility in the matter of their own defection.[347] Notwithstanding, he most certainly did manifest unusual activity in behalf of the slaveholding power. Even his motives for manifesting activity are, in a sense, impugned as instanced by the following most extraordinary letter, which, written by Cooper to Rector privately and in confidence and later transmitted to Washington out of the ordinary course of official business, has already been quoted once for the purpose of forming a correct estimate of the recipient's character. It is gratifying to know that such letters are very rare in connection with the history of the American Civil War. _Private & Confidential_ [_Copy_] FORT SMITH May 1st 1861. MAJOR ELIAS RECTOR Dr. Sir: I have concluded to act upon the suggestion yours of the 28th Ultimo contains. If we work this thing shrewdly we can make a fortune each, satisfy the Indians, stand fair before the North, and revel in the unwavering confidence of our Southern Confederacy. My share of the eighty thousand in gold[348] you can leave on deposite with Meyer Bro. subject to my order. Write me soon. COOPER.