508
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
trade was found to 'be very lucrative to those engaged in it, and the Indians finding a good market for their Horses and l\•[ules, were en- couraged to prosecute a plundering war t'.gainst the frontiers of Texas, Quahuila, and Nuevo Santender, robbing those Provinces of Horses and Mules to sell to the traders for Merchandise and this traf- fic having continued up to the present time is the real cause of the continuation of the Comanche war- It therefore being a war of individual interest to the Indians will never cease until that inter- est is distroyed, by stoping the Indian trade as it is now carried on, and confining it to a particular channel where it would be under the immediate control of Government- There are three routes by which mules are introduced into the United States from the Comanches-one is by Nacodoches, another is by Pecon Point on Red RiYer above Nachistoches, and the third route is to the north by way of the Kansas River to the Missouri River, the trade on this last route is principally carried on by In- dians from one nation to another until the mules reach the Mis- souri where they are bought by American traders- The first route by Nacogdoches can be easily stoped by a Gar- rison at that place-the second route by Pecon Point can also be stoped by a Garrison on the bank of Red River oposite the mouth of the Kiamiche ~iver where there is a good situation-oposite to this place within the limits of the United States there is a settlement of about two hundred families who are included within the limits of a district of country which has lately been ceded by the United States to the Choctaw Indians, those settlers would willingly remove and settle round the Fort at Pecon Point and in a short time would supply the Garrison with Provisions- The third route to the north by way of the River Kansas to the Missouri is more difficult to stop, the only effectual way of doing it that I can see is by representing the iniquity of this trade to the Government of the·United States, and getting an order from that Government prohibiting their citizens from buying Horses or :Mules introduced from the Comanches either by this or any other route-It is an established principle in the law of nations, and one that has been repeatedly recognized and enforced by the United States that where two nations are at peace, the Citizens of one, can not fit out within its limits, an expedition with an intention of making war, or aiding to make war against the other-now this principle will apply to the Comanche trade-The United Sta~s and this nation are at peace, and are united by the strongest ties of friendship-The traders from the United States fit out expeditions to the Comanches and other nations of Indians who are at war with this nation, and not only furnish them with arm~ and am~nitio~ to carry on ~he war, but a~tually hire them to p1lla~e the iront1ers by purchasing
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