His defense was that the normal procedures were too slow to address urgent needs on the reservations, and that the emergency purchases had been necessary to prevent genuine hardship among reservation populations that were dependent on federal supply.

The House Committee on Appropriations, which had jurisdiction over Indian affairs spending, investigated the contracts.

The investigation was political as well as substantive — Parker’s opponents included people who had lost patronage appointments under his reform efforts and who had partisan and personal reasons to want him removed.

The fact that the committee was controlled by Democrats who were generally hostile to the Grant administration added another layer of political motivation to the investigation.

The committee’s findings were severe in their immediate public impact but ultimately not sustained by the facts.