On February 23, 1900, Harriet Maxwell Converse alerted Indian Superintendent E.D. Cameron at Brantford, Ontario, of Roddy's illegal possession. She had promised the Chiefs she would try to find the belts and she did.

   On March 13, Cameron informed the Secretary of the Department of Indian Affairs in Ottawa, Ontario. On March 20, he dispatched a letter to Roddy warning him that: "no title has passed to you and on behalf of the Six Nations Indians I hereby notify you not to dispose of the same, except at your own risk."

   Roddy's attempts to sell the belts were also thwarted by Mr. A.C. Parker, State Archaeologist at Albany, New York. He had warned American museums that they had been acquired under questionable circumstances.

   Nine years later, on December 14, 1909, Chief William Sandy made an inquiry about the belts to the Department of Indian Affairs in Ottawa. J.D. McLean, Secretary of the Department, wrote a letter to Roddy on December31, 1909.

   Roddy increased his efforts to sell them in January. One of the firms he contacted, Indian Exhibits Company, New York, N.Y., also dealt with Mr. George G. Heye. Mr. Willis C. Witte, Treasurer and Manager of the company made several inquiries.

   In February, Roddy told the Indian Exhibits Company in a letter written in Niagara Falls, N.Y., that, "I have just returned from Grand River Reservation, Canada, where I spent some time. I found no one who claimed ownership to my belts. They have been in the Jamieson family for 50 years, and were the property of Jos. Jamieson from whom I purchased them."

   On February 15, 1910, Mr. Willis C. Witte purchased what had become titled as the Roddy Collection for $2,000. Belts listed in the sale were, Red Jacket, Black Hawk, French Mission, French Peace, First William Penn, Captain Brant of 1750, Five Nations War, Six Nations Two Roads, Six Nations Peace, Governor Danny of 1758 and Old French Fort.

Four years later, Dr. E. Sapir, Head of the Division of Anthropology, Department of Mines, Canada found the missing belts on exhibit at the University of Pennsylvania. He informed Duncan C. Scott, Deputy Superintendent General of the Department of Indian Affairs that they were part of a collection owned by Mr. George Heye. Scott wrote the first of four letters to Heye in June