"These two trades, with the Mexicans and the Indians, centring at this
post, would give rise to a large village of traders and laborers,
and would undoubtedly be hailed, by all that section of country, as a
permanent and invaluable advantage. A few pack-horses would carry all
the clothing and ammunition necessary for the post during the first
year, and two light field-pieces would be all the artillery required
for its defense. Afterwards, all the horses required for the use of the
establishment might be purchased from the Mexicans at the low price
of ten dollars each; and, at the same time, whatever animals might
be needed to supply the losses among the dragoons traversing the
neighborhood, could be readily procured. The Upper Missouri Indians can
furnish horses, at very cheap rates, to any number of the same troops
who might be detailed for the defense of the northern frontier; and, in
other respects, a very limited outlay of money would suffice to maintain
a post in that section of the country.
"From these considerations, and my own personal observations, I am,
therefore, disposed to believe that two posts established by the
government, one at the mouth of the Yellowstone River, and one on the
Arkansas, would completely protect all our people in every section of
the great wilderness of the West; while other advantages, at least with
regard to one of them, confirm and urge the suggestion.
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