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Despite Woodruff's continuing refusal to debate with Pike through the columns of his newspaper, Pike did not let up his attack for a moment.

Over the months he became a political gadfly with an incessant barrage of satirical poems ridiculing Woodruff, the `` Casca '' letters belittling Woodruff, and long analytical articles vilifying Woodruff.

So persistent were these attacks that in March of the following year, Woodruff was finally moved to action, and Pike was to learn his first lesson in frontier politics, the subtle art of diversion.