On his 23rd birthday, March 5, 1858, Kagi (now identified by an alias "Maurice Maitland") writes a very circumspect letter to his sister from Springdale, Iowa, expressing his satisfaction with "the present political prospects"--"Every thing is working just to suit me--nothing could suit me better"--and his interest in knowing "what you have learned about J. H." (presumably, himself, J.H. Kagi).