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In 1852, Marcy had cause to meet Comanche bands during a government-sponsored exploration of the Red River between Texas and present-day Oklahoma. In the account of the expedition, he reported,

Within the past few years the Comanches have (for what reason I could not learn) taken an inveterate dislike to the negroes, and have massacred several small parties of those who attempted to escape from the Seminoles and cross the plains for the purpose of joining Wild Cat upon the Rio Grande. Upon inquiring of them the cause of their hostility to the blacks, they replied that it was because they were slaves to the whites; that they were sorry for them. I suspect, however, that they were actuated by other motives than they cared about acknowledging, and that instead of wishing to better their condition by sending them to another world, where they would be released from the fetters of bondage, they were apprehensive, if they permitted them to pass quietly, that in time Wild Cat's followers upon the Rio Grande would augment to such a degree that he would interfere with their marauding operations along the Mexican borders.