During one of his last ventures, Payne insisted on a public trial, so he and his group were hauled the group several hundred miles to Fort Smith. The trip began at Fort Reno and proceed to Fort Sill, Henrietta, Texas, Texarkana, Arkansas, Little Rock, Arkansas and then finally to Fort Smith. During another trip in July 1884, the army seized his "Oklahoma War Chief" press, burned his buildings, and took Payne and his group through the Cherokee Nation after their arrest. The party was paraded through the streets of Tahlequah, past the Indian people who hated him for his attempts to seize part of their lands.