WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1854
476
Is this the way to civilize men? Show them the arts of peace; show them the moral influences that govern us, the benign examples of Christianity, and then you may charm the rudest children of the forest. But, sir, look at the agents gen- erally sent among them, and the traders, with few exceptions, and what is their conduct among the Indians? Sir, look at the Indians pursuing their march through the wilderness in quest of a new home, with their annuities and the moneys which they have received for the sale of their territories, nominal in amount, but no real equivale·nt; they are again cast upon the waters of temptation and adventure, and who are the men who pursue them? To my mind, they represent but one thing; loathsome birds, hungry for offal. They are the harpies that prey upon the destinies of the Indians; they are the men who pursue them, and not the benign influence of the Government, as they are sent on their pilgrimage, in their exodus to the wilderness. Protect them, Senators, guard them. I have a proposition to make, and I will submit it to the intelligence of Senators, though the destruction of the Indians seems to be a foregone conclusion. Military posts are distributed throughout New Mexico and Texas, along the borders of the Rio Grande, to a great extent. It takes an immense amount of money to supply the various garrisons and to carry on the transportation: for the provisioning of the troops. It requires a much greater amount than it would if the troops were garrisoned in arsenals in the interior, or on the sea-board. Now call in, if you please, these troops from every station in Texas and '.New Mexico, and you will then be relieved from all that expense. Estimate what it is, include the cost of transportation and the additional cost of supplies, and then if you appropriate that money to the Indians, you can civilize every Indian east of the Rocky Mountains. Place capable men among them-men who feel higher impulses than a dis- position to rob the defenseless-and you will be enabled to collect these people together, and to teach them the arts of agriculture and mechanics. You will civilize them preparatory to their christianization; you can do all this, and yet have a large surplus left out of the money which you are now expending fo1: the support of these garrisons. There would be no difficulty in relieving the Indian from his present wretched condition if the policy that experience would sanction was recommended and
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