“Honourable James K Polk,
“Speaker of the House of Representatives.”
The acting quarter-master-general, in his report, makes the following observation:—
“The obligations of the Government in reference to the Western frontier are of a very peculiar character. It is first bound, by a common duty, to protect its own border settlements, extending along a line of one thousand miles, against the incursions of numerous savage tribes, separated from those settlements by mere imaginary lines; and it is next bound, by the solemn treaty stipulations, with such of those tribes as have emigrated to that frontier, ‘to protect them at their new residences against all interruptions or disturbances from any other tribes or nations of Indians, or from any other person or persons whatsoever.’
“If these obligations are to be scrupulously fulfilled in good faith, which would seem to be due to our character as a nation professing a paternal care over these people, a military force of thirty thousand men on the Western frontier would scarcely be adequate to enable the Government to discharge its duties to its own citizens, and redeem these pledges of protection to the Indians.
“It is not my intention, however, to propose such a force. Political expediency, I presume, would not tolerate it, however it might be justified by military considerations. It is merely adverted to here in connexion with the heavy obligations which rest upon Government, and which have probably been contracted from time to time, without any very nice calculation of the means that would be necessary to a faithful discharge of them. I will, therefore, without enlarging upon this point, proceed to state the minimum force that is deemed necessary to give protection to the border settlements, and assist in preserving peace among them and their Indian neighbours along the line of the frontier. These are great and important objects of themselves, without superadding the yet more difficult task of protecting the emigrant tribes, whom our policy has placed beyond the frontier, from the wild and warlike Indians of the Far-West.”
And Colonel Gratiot, in his report, makes the following admission. Speaking of the second, or middle, section, he says:—
“Second, or Middle Section.—The country beyond this line is mostly elevated and free from marshy ground; is abundantly watered, thinly wooded, healthy, and has been assigned for the permanent residence of the tribes which have been, or are to be, removed from the States and territories east of the Mississippi, and is still occupied by the Aborigines originally found within its limits. In numbers they count, according to some estimates, 131,000, and can send to the field 26,200 warriors. As yet, no community of feeling except of deep and lasting hatred to the white man, and more particularly to the Anglo-Americans, exists among them; and, unless they coalesce, no serious difficulty need be apprehended from them. Not so, however, should they be induced to unite for purposes offensive and defensive: their strength would then become apparent, create confidence, and, in all probability, induce them to give vent to their long-suppressed desire to revenge past wrongs, which is restrained, as they openly and freely declare, by fear alone. That such a union will be formed at no distant day, we have every reason to believe; and the period may be accelerated by their growing wants, and the policy of Mexico to annoy Texas, and raise an impenetrable barrier in the direction of her frontier.”
That at present the Western frontier is defenceless is undeniable, and the Florida war does not appear to be at all nearer to a conclusion than it was two or three years ago. That the Indians to the west of the Mississippi are not ignorant of what is going on is very certain; and the moral effect arising from the protracted defence of the Seminoles may eventually prove most serious, and be attended with enormous expense to the United States.
The Federal Government takes every precaution to impress the Indians with an idea of the impossibility of their opposing the white men. The agents persuade the chiefs to go down to Washington to see their great father, the President. On these occasions they are accompanied by the Indian agent and interpreter, and, of course, all their expenses are paid. They are lodged at the hotels, taken to all places of public amusement, and provided with conveyances. But the policy of the Government is to cause them to make a circuit through all the most populous cities, as the crowds attracted by the appearance of the Indians give them an extraordinary and incorrect idea of the American population. Wherever they go they are in a crowd. If they are at the windows of an hotel, still the crowds are immense; and this is what the Government is anxious should take place. I was at Boston when the two deputations of the Sioux and Sacs and Foxes tribes arrived. The two nations being at enmity, the Sioux were conducted there first, and left the town on the arrival of the Sacs and Foxes, or there would probably have been a fight. The Governor received the latter in the Town-hall, and made a speech; I was present. I thought at the time that it was not a speech that I would have made to them, and if I mistook not, it brought up recollections not very agreeable to the chiefs, although they were too politic to express their feelings. But a few years before, their lands east of the Mississippi had been wrested from them in the most unfair way, as I have mentioned in my remarks upon the treatment of the Indians by the American Government.