Remarks of Father Craft - Missionary to the Indians. 1889 Great Plains: "Indians were not fools but men of keen intelligence... Reductions in rations increased fears. Census takers made grave mistakes, counted less than the real numbers; agents made false reports of prosperity that did not exist... It is not to be wondered that they finally came to believe in a Messiah whom they at first doubted, and listened to every deceiver who promised hope... "Interested whites took advantage of this state and howled for troops; the army protested their false statements but were required to go to the scene of supposed dangers... Persuaded by some whites that their entire destruction was aimed at, the Indians ran away in fear and despair..."