THE AUSTIN PAPERS. 1669 hnbits of civilization and return to their pristine savage condition:- and it then requires less forecast to perceive, that the Country in which they nre to be congregated will be altogether insufficient for their accommodation-Without estimating the certain occurrences of feuds and wars among themselves, and the inevitable dispersions resulting from them, we may deduce from the principles of a purely physical necessity, the fact that many of these Tribes will be com- pelled to spread themselves abroad and to seek a more commodious residence in a Country less densely populated and where the means of subsistence are more plentiful and of easier access-Texas pre- sents every allurement that is calculated to attract their notice and excite their cupidity-Lying contiguous to their newly acquired terri- tory and possessing a climate mild and salubrious-with a soil abundantly prolific diversified by alternate forests and prairies re- plete with every variety of game, and pervaded in every part by perennial streams of water; it has the superior attraction of being sufficiently remote from any powerful white population to promise them an undisturbed occupation, and is still sufficiently proximate to insure ample opportunities of gratifying their ancient animosities and indulging their passions for rapine and war, by depradating on the unprotected frontiers of Mexico.· vVith respect to the fact that many·of these northern Tribes will extend their migrations and eventually select a home beneath the brighter skies of Texas, we are not left to the precarious calculo.tions of conjecture-several of them have already taken up their encamp- ments within the proper jurisdiction of this Government, and they have already declared their determinntion not to relinquish their forcible, uninvited and unauthorized possessions-The names and numbers of those Tribes or parts of Tribes that now occupy our territory are as follows: , The Quapaws are encamped on·the west side of the Red River of Louisiana, a little below the Sulphur Fork nnd it is quite prob- lematical whether they are within this territory or not-This fact cannot be determinately know[n] untill the boundary line between the two Governments shall be finally adjusted-Reducing these families to individuals by supposing 5 souls to each fnmily, we have 7650 souls and allowing one able bodied man to every 5 souls will give the aggregate number of 1530 warriors This number, though sufficiently formidable of itself, considering the wilderness state of Shawnees 550 families Kickapoos 500 " " Delawares 250 " ·" Cherokees· 80 " •" •Quapaws 150 • " "
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