WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1858
523
the whites, and slaughter them indiscriminately, men, women, and children. That is the way in which the frontier has been protected. But if you give to Texas one thousand rangers, they will scour the frontier; they will be continually moving; the war parties of the Indians or horsethieving parties will not know when they are to fall on them. These men are adepts; they know the country; they understand the necessity of guarding the fron- tier, they have some sympathy with the settlers; their friends are to be secured by their exertions. They are men residing on the frontier who go into this service; it is their interest to give protection to the frontier; but those who are sent there as regular troops may consult their convenience or their ignorance of In- dian service, leaving the people on the frontier to be butchered and massacred. That is the reason why I am opposed to any force but rangers in Texas. I do not intend to reflect on the troops of the United States, on the officers, or the men who compose the rank and file; but I am stating facts and history, that I wish to be understood. Would that I could impress the Senate with the necessity of giv- ing that kind of force to Texas that is indispensable to her pro- tection. I want a force that will be useful, and not one that will lock the door after the horse is stolen. That is done now. As I said before, Indians can pass within one mile, or half a mile, or two hundred yards, of your forts, and pass down inside of the line of the fortress, steal horses, and return without danger, from forts some fifty or sixty or two hundred miles apart. Do you think they cannot pass and re-pass their guns in perfect security? No one can doubt it. You do not give protection to the people now by your Army. But if there were a thousand rangers continually on horseback, on animals accustomed to the range, and who re- quire no forage, you would find that country in a very different situation. The horses used by the rangers are very different from the fine American horses, as we call them, that have been pam- pered and reared and nursed and fed extravagantly. They are inured from their very birth to the time they are taken into the service, to subsist on grass. If they can find that on the prairies they are always ready for action. They do not become useless if they are not fed, or forage is scarce. It is no calamity to them, because their forage is every day where they are. I insist that Texas does not want regular troops. If you will give her rangers you may withdraw every one of the three thousand soldiers that have been stationed there if you please, or you may have them to take care of the permanent forts along
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