[2] Next, they traveled to many of the areas in question to take testimony in person from a variety of stakeholders, including military personnel, Indian Agents and Superintendents, clergymen, members of the tribes themselves, and non-Indigenous civilian settlers.
In August 1865, Senators Doolittle and Foster, and Representative Ross, visited Fort Lyon to confer with the tribes there regarding the Sand Creek Massacre.
[7] They also sought testimony about U.S.-Native American relations in writing through letters to regional authorities and other knowledgeable people in areas where they were unable to visit.
In addition to general requests for information and testimony, the committee compiled a list of 23 questions that Senator Doolittle sent out by means of a circular.
He argued that it would be better policy in both fiscal and humanitarian terms to move forward with Boards of Inspection to ease relations between the U.S. Government and Indigenous tribes, rather than to continue warring with them.
[9] While Senator Doolittle's proposed legislation was not successful, the committee's report brought to light the corruption in the Indian Bureau[4] as well as the poor treatment of Native Americans by the U.S. military and civilians and its impact on their populations.