CHAPTER XVII. 



Establishment of Military Posts. Extinguishment of Indian Title. Encouragement to be 



given to Settlements. Wagon roads. 



1. Establishment of military posts. Two posts should be established one at the plateau of the 

 Bois des Sioux, the other at Fort Benton. These posts should consist of one strong battalion 

 (half regiment) of mounted men, with a battery of horse artillery and one of mountain howitzers, 

 and be in strength sufficient to send movable columns in case of an Indian disturbance. In con 

 nexion with these posts, inducements should be held out to the Red river half-breeds to settle on 

 the Red river of the North, in American territory. They now live near the line, partly in Amer 

 ican and partly in English territory. 



The central position, geographically, of the Bois des Sioux, and its being a remarkable key to 

 all the railroad routes in Minnesota, has been already shown. As a military position, it is quite 

 central to many Indian tribes, as the Chippewas, Sioux, Winnebagoes, Assiniboins, and Crees. 

 As a necessary precaution, the Red river half-breeds always move in large bands; a corral is 

 made at night with their carts, and guard is kept, and the animals carefully enclosed at night. 

 It is not doubted that the presence of a military post at that place would remove every hostile 

 view on the part of the Indians, and with prudence, and a small distribution of presents, the 

 Indians could be induced to bring the fruits of the chase to the furtherance of the support of the 

 post, and of building the road. 



Fort Benton, near the probable head of navigation of the Missouri, is central to the several 

 tribes of the Blackfeet nation, to the Crows and the tribes west of the mountains, and within easy 

 reach of the several practicable crossings of the Rocky mountains. A post could be readily 

 selected having the necessary requisites of good water, grass, and land for tillage. 



There would be no special necessity of a post west of the mountains, in consequence of the 

 docility and the honesty of the Indians. Efficient and upright Indian agents will be able to see 

 that their rights are respected, and that they regard the progress of the work without suspicion 

 or alarm. This leads to the consideration of 



2. The extinguishment of the Indian title at least on the line of the road, and for the fertile 

 valleys and regions in connexion with it. 



In Minnesota, the Indian title should be extinguished entirely in the vicinity of and east of the 

 Bois des Sioux, from south of the Minnesota to above Little Falls, on the Red river of the North; 

 the whole of the Mouse River valley; the valley of Milk river, till left by the road ; the region 

 immediately east of the mountains, from the sources of the Teton to the forks of the Missouri; 

 the whole of the St. Mary s and the Flathead valleys, except a small reservation for the Flathead 

 Indians; and, generally speaking, all the Indians west of the mountains, both in Washington 

 and Oregon, should be placed in reservation, and the country opened to settlement. With 

 prudence, judgment, and the display of a small military force, no difficulty will be experienced 

 in accomplishing these arrangements, so essential to the construction of the road. 



3. Encouragement should be given to settlements geographical explorations be followed by land 

 surveys. It is not doubted that, with an energetic land system, not only would a great propor 

 tion of the laborers employed in the construction settle on the line of the road, but that the adja 

 cent valleys, and even distant lateral connections, though separated by considerable mountain 



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