Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 8.djvu/300

 292 DOCUMENTS. the Missouri and the Columbia, and on the latter river and its tribu- taries, there should be at le*ast thre'e posts. They would afford present protection to our traders, and, on the expiration of the privilege granted to British subjects to trade on the waters of the Columbia, would enable us to remove them from our territory, and to secure the whole trade to our own citizens. They would also 'enable us to pre- serve peace among the Indians, and, in the event of foreign war, to command their neutrality or their assistance, as we might think most advisable. The posts designated, might be established and maintained at an additional annual expense not exceeding forty thousand dollars. By extending to those posts the system of cultivation, now in oper- ation at the Council Bluffs, the expense of supplying them would, in a few years, be greatly diminished. Mills might be erected at all the posts at a trifling exp'ense, and the whole country abounding in grass, all the domestic animals necessary, either for labor or subsistence, might be supported. This would render the 'establishment more secure, and consequently more formidable to the Indian nations in their vicinity. As to the proposed posts on the Columbia, it is believed they might b'e supplied immediately at a low rate. Wheat may be obtained at New California, at about twenty-five cents per bushel, and beef cattle at three or four dollars each. Salt, in any quantity required, may be had at an island near the Peninsula of California. Should transporta- tion not be readily obtained for those articles, vessels might be con- structed by the troops. To obtain the desired advantages, it is important, not only that we occupy the posts designated, but that we commence our operations without delay. The British companies are wealthy and powerful; their establishments extend from Hudson's Bay, and Lake Superior, to the Pacific; many of them within our territory. It is not to be supposed they would surrender those advantages without a struggle, and though they should not engage in hostilities themselves, they might render all the Indians in that extensive region hostile. Th'e detachment intended to occupy the mouth of Columbia might leave the Council Bluffs in June, and one hundred and fifty men pro- ceed with boats and stores; and, as the country is open, and abounds with grass, the remaining fifty might proceed by land, with the horses intended for the transportation across the mountains, and might drive three or four hundred beeves to the Mandan villages, or to the falls of Missouri; at one of those places the parties should unite and spend the winter. The latter would be preferable, because, there they might be able to establish a friendly intercourse with the Black Foot Indians, or, at all events, by impressing them with an idea of the power of the nation, restrain their depredations upon the neighboring