Major General Hindman was Brigadier General Pike's superior in both rank and position.

GENERAL ORDERS, ~ HEADQUARTERS TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DISTRICT, No. 1. ~ Little Rock, Ark., May 31, 1862
I. Pursuant to General Orders, Nos. 59 and 60, from Headquarters Western Depart-ment, the undersigned assumes command of the Trans-Mississippi District, composed of the States of Arkansas and Missouri, the Indian Territory, and that part of Louisiana lying north of Red River, and of all the forces which now are or hereafter may be therein.
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T. C. HINDMAN, Major- General.

And before Hindman asked Pike to send his white troops to Arkansas, Pike had received orders from Major General Van Dorn to do so.

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE WEST, May 19, 1862. General ALBERT PIKE, Fort Smith:
GENERAL: You will please send to General Roane all of the troops (not Indians) which can be spared from your command.
By order of Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn
DABNEY H. MAURY, Assistant Adjutant- General.

Major General Hindman's General Order #6, of June 3, 1862, defined the organization of the Trans Mississippi District, in part, as follows:
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Brigadier General Pike is assigned to the command of the forces in the Indian territory
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Colonel Stan Watie now in Northwest Ark or Southwest Missouri will move with his command into the Indian Territory and along the lines of Arkansas and Missouri and Southern Kansas preventing the incursions of marauding bands into the Indian Country and reporting to General Pike