Under the command of John C. Fremont (Fremont and Pope did not get along - not a surprise - and Pope was trying to get Fremont's job), Pope during the summer of 1861 was tasked with maintaining order in northeastern Missouri; which was racked by guerrilla warfare, with innumberable bands of night riders swirling sporadically cross country, wrecking bridges, despoiling the farms of Unionists, and in general stirring up trouble. Pope responded aggressively and in a short while this part of the state no longer offered any great problems. But it was still going on in other parts of Missouri where bands of marauders were out to settle old scores with private foes, and by others "who find an enemy wherever they find plunder".