50 The Winning of the West 



in their belief that the British were really the main- 

 stay and support of the Indians in. their warfare. 



Peace could only be won by the unsheathed sword. 

 Even the National Government was reluctantly 

 driven to this view. As all the Northwestern tribes 

 were banded in open war, it was useless to let the 

 conflict remain a succession of raids and counter- 

 raids. Only a severe stroke, delivered by a formi- 

 dable army, could cow the tribes. It was hopeless 

 to try to deliver such a crippling blow with militia 

 alone, and it was very difficult for the infant Gov- 

 ernment to find enough money or men to equip an 

 army composed exclusively of regulars. According- 

 ly preparations were made for a campaign with a 

 mixed force of regulars, special levies, and militia; 

 and St. Clair, already Governor of the Northwest- 

 ern Territory, was put in command of the army as 

 Major-General. 



Before the army was ready the Federal Govern- 

 ment was obliged to take other measures for the de- 

 fence of the border. Small bodies of rangers were 

 raised from among the frontier militia, being paid 

 at the usual rate for soldiers in the army, a net sum 

 of about two dollars a month while in service. In 

 addition, on the repeated and urgent request of the 

 frontiersmen, a few of the most active hunters and 

 best woodsmen, men like Brady, were enlisted as 

 scouts, being paid six or eight times the ordinary 

 rate. These men, because of their skill in wood- 

 craft and their thorough knowledge of Indian fight- 

 ing, were beyond comparison more valuable than 



