Montgomery writes from Mound City, Kansas Territory, to update Stearns on the activities of "old Harney" (General William S. Harney) and the futile federal government efforts at "enforcing the Fugitive Slave law on us here; it can't be done." Montgomery insists that despite the government's effort to portray "'Montgomery and his band'" as not of the people, popular support for his activities had just been unanimously endorsed at a mass meeting in Mound City.