The numbers of men with tin stars grew in stride with the Klan, from 8,000 deputies to 14,000 in little more than a year. While only those four horses were stolen in all of 1922, the Horse Thief Detective Association added twenty-eight chapters statewide. At the same time, they helped Stephenson swell the ranks of Indiana Klansmen, signing up fellow members of the local horse thief brigade, while distributing stickers for shopkeepers to put in their windows—“TWK, Trade With Klan.” With all these new allies, Steve was on a roll, bringing in upward of 2,000 new Klansmen every week.
