156 form; and, nowhere has it been found more difficult, than on th~ western frontier of Texas. The vast extent of the country to be guarded, and the facility is with which, when professed maraud- ers pass into the neighboring territory of Mexico, whither, they cannot be pursued, and where they can form new plans of attack, secure from observation, render it impossible with the force at the disposal of this Department, or with any other, bearing area- sonable proportion to that required in other parts of our country, to give that degree of security in which seems to be expected by the Governor and Citizens of the State. Much of this difficulty could, in my judgment, be obviated by the Government of Texas. While the Indians have no territory of their own, they have virtually a right to somewhere they will, and the military force can only interpose when they assume the character of an enemy, a fact which, under the circumstances, it is frequently difficult to determine until after outrage has been committed. If, on the other hand, the Indians were limited to a defined territory, their presence elsewhere would be an offence, at once, justifying interposition of the military force, which, in a great majority of the cases, could prevent depredations and outrages without bloodshed. This policy has been pursued with perfect success by the Government of the United States; and, besides the certainty which it introduces into the relation between the Army and the Indians, it has been attended with other grati- fying results. If the Government of Texas would in imitation of this exam- ple, set aside a tract of land of sufficient extent on her northern border and would give jurisdiction over it to the United States, it is believed, that the scattered Tribes of Indians in that State, could be gathered and concentrated there, and placed under such restraint as would enable this Department much more effectually to protect the citizens from savage depredations. The removal of the Indians will also afford inducements for the settlement and cultivation of lands now occupied by them, or subject to their incursions, and, according to the experience in the United States, persons, who, in the present unsettlerl condi- tion of affairs, would hesitate to trust themselves within reach of roving bands, would not fear to settle on the very border of the Indian Country. If, in your judgment, these views deserve the consideration of the Government of Texas, and if the measure suggested be adopted, I am confident that mutual benefit will result; and the
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