In this letter to Colonel David Henley (then serving in Knoxville as the War Department's agent in charge of Indian Affairs), Sampson Williams reports a number of robberies that he believes were committed by Cherokee Indians. According to Williams, Cherokee people have stolen five horses from two of his neighbors (who he describes as "good honest Citizens") and one cow from a traveler named Perkins. The theft of the horses has provoked outrage, and Williams asks Henley to send into the Nation to the Agent to enable him to get the horses for the owners, or "otherways take Such measures as are provided by law to Secure the Value of the Horses." Williams is also concerned that the theft of the cow will cause angry locals to have the Cherokee arrested and taken to Nashville.