Such a post need not be stronger than fifty men;
twenty-five to be employed as hunters, to supply the garrison, and the
residue as a defense against any hostility. Situated here upon the good
lands of the Arkansas, in the midst of abundance of timber, while it
might be kept up at a most inconsiderable expense, such an establishment
within ninety miles of Santa Fe or Taos would be more than justified by
the other and more important advantages before alluded to, leaving the
protection of the traders with the Indian tribes entirely out of the
question.
"This great trade, carried on by caravans to Santa Fe, annually loads
one hundred wagons with merchandise, which is bartered in the northern
provinces or Mexico for cash and for beaver furs. The numerous articles
excluded as contraband, and the exorbitant duties laid upon all those
that are admitted by the Mexican government, present so many obstacles
to commerce, that I am well persuaded, that if a post, such as is here
suggested, should be established on the Arkansas, it would become the
place of deposit, not only for the present trade, but for one infinitely
more extended. Here the Mexicans might purchase their supplies, and
might well afford to sell them at prices which would silence all
competition from any other quarter.
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