The Union would have been at a disadvantage if Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) joined them. Texas to the south and west, Arkansas to the east were Confederate. Kansas to the north was part of the Union, but very few people settled there. It provided very little, if any, protection for the Indian tribes. The North usually provided food to the South as most, if not all, plantations were used to grow money-crops (Cotton, tobacco, rice). The South usually sold to the Northern or European markets, but when the war started, the North set up blockades in the southern ports so that European sources could not reach them. The South had to turn to Indian Territory for food. The Indians had large herds of cattle and horses, and they produced plentiful
