412
WRITINGS OF 5Al\1 HOUSTON, 1860
upon the dangerous service before them without necessary sub- sistence. The Executive is determined to use all the constitutional means in his power to give security to our border. He will endeavor to send to the frontier efficient and reliable protection, and will call into the field no more men than appears absolutely necessary; but beyond this he has no power. The Legislature can alone provide and appropriate the money. Our frontier people have long been harassed by Indians. They have been compelled, from time to time, to leave their homes in pursuit of them, to punish their aggressions, and recover property stolen. A feeling of insecurity exists which nothing but an active force, continually on the alert, can dispel. Scattered along the border, they are unable to get together in sufficient numbers to punish the enemy, without endangering their firesides. I have therefore determined to send them protection from the interior. If an emergency arise, or the Indians appear in force, they may then be called into service as minute men, without leaving their families long unprotected. The defense of our settlements properly belongs to the Federal Government, and it is only in cases where protection is not ex- tended by it, that we may resort to our own means of defense. It has been my belief for years that mounted rangers are the only species of troops calculated to afford efficient protection against roving bands of Indians. Thus far the Federal Govern- ment has not acted upon such a policy as respects our frontier. I shall at an early period urge upon the President of the United States, and the War Department, the necessity for such a force, as well as the propriety of mustering into the service of the United States the troops now being rais~d for the protection of our frontier. I shall also urge upon the proper department, the importance of authorizing a treaty with all the Indian tribes on our border, and the payment of annuities directly to them, through a Texas agency, instead of by way of Arkansas as at present. The fact that these tribes respect the laws of Arkansas, and the civilized nations of Indians, and that no depredations are committed on that frontier, but altogether upon that of Texas, is a sufficient reason for believing that a change of policy in this respect would be beneficial. In view of the continued depredations upon our frontier and the insecurity arising from the anarchical condition of Mexico, I shall take immediate steps for the organization of the militia,
Powered by FlippingBook