The Arkansas advocate., 1834-04-18


 " draft upon his faith to be obliged 10 swallow every statement, whether military or eiyll. which proceeded from any ssaezlssisr of that Committee.
 Mir. HUBBARD replied with son1e warmth. Whatever opinion the gentleman might have expressed, derogatory to the military attachments of the Secretary of War, he reIolced that 1t was not in the power of that gentleman 10 remove that officer from the superinendence of the military concerns of tho country. he able manner in which he discharged the duties of his station, none could deny. Of the military ...siii- ments of the gentleman from Pennsylva- na, he knew nothing-he had never heard Of them. liut God forbid that ho should be of the same opinions with that gentle man on any subject. At all events, he
 foiii ietssiii and should express sli; o:;.
 Mir. ASHLEY expressed great surprise at the opinion put forth by the Secretary oi War, that Fort Gibsion was 10 be inc head quarters of large military force, employed in the protection of the frontiers, and that $100,C00 would be requisite to complete the barracks at that post. The reason given for this by the Secretary was, that numer- our tribes of Indians had been located in that vicinity. A reference to tho Indian agencies in the Blue Book would soon show, that not one tenth part of the Indians, on ous frontier, were Ill that vicinity. The great body of them lay to the North. And, | if there. should ever De an Indian war, it's sea; wotildd probably be Oil the West of Mis- N senr. As to the country West of Arkan- sas, 1t was all taken up already, and the U. States commissioners were now applying to the Pawnees for territory six hundred miles ip the Missouri. Of the iifty-five Indian agencies, 45 were at the North. and on the Northwest. Yet it was proposed to aban- don the Fort at Rock river, and erect ex- tensive Barracks on the Arkansas. 1e pretext for abandoning this most important military point, was. that the Indians had been removed west of the Misaissppi.--- That was true they had been removed about forty miles westward but this, by concentrating their forces, had only ren- dered them the more formidable. The iin- fpoitant points to be defended, were Rock river, Fort Leavenworth, the Arkansas, aud Red river; but the main seat of war would be on the Missouri and Mississippi. As to the necessity of keeping up great post at
 Fort Gibson, because inc Dragoens were to be qiiaftered there, Ai 4. thought that he had had some knowledge, of what was the intention of the Government in locating the Dragoors upon the Arkansas. They were not to be located any where. He had opposed their heinz located at SG Louis.
 To fix them down in any one spot would be to defeat the whole end and purpose for which the corps had been raised. They were to be placed on the Arkansas, in or der that they might avail themselves of the earlier opening of the Spring, and thus be supplied with grass for their horses, when starting or their contemplated tour to the
 West. But their location there was tem- fporary altogether. If they were to be fixed to any spot, he should vote for their being disbanded. And. if they could not erect for themselves such shelter as ,yas neces@ sary, the corps was not worth keeping up. He insisted that the people of Arkansas would be in no danger from aI Indian war.
 Such war, If if ever arose, would arise on the Northwestern frontier; and then of what use would the dragoons be, if they were located in Arkansas However high gen- tlemen's opinions might be as 10 the charac- ter and aitainments of the Secretary of War, he should not be governed in that House by the opinions of the Secretary, nor of any body else, in reference to mat ters which he had himself had aIs eppertH- nity 10 investigate. Now it did happen tbat he had enjoyed better opportunity to sec and know the actual state of things, among the Indians of our frontier, than the Secre- tary of War had, and be should not take his ground upon the opinion of any Sccrc- tary, of other officer of Government. He should be in favor Of the amendment pro- posed by the gentleman from Vermont. I MT. DuNcAN was opposed to the amendment offered by the member frons
 Arkansas: he preferred removing this ni- tary post further cut, f t w;:s 10 bc chang ed, but concurred entirely with fhe views of the Secretary of War, in keeping Up
 and extending the works at Fort Gibson.
 so as to accommodate the corps of Dra-
 goons, and was ready to vo!e for any ap- propration to establish line of posts, with suitable stables for the accommodations of this corps, to extend from the Arkansas riv- CT 10 the 4SofuleIn ldKes. He approved of the policy of displaying q force on tho whole frontier, at least once | year. and be- iieyed they should be changed frequently. He regretted that he conld not view this subject n the same light with hts friend from Missouri (Mr. AsnLEY) as he knew they were equally interested III affording the most efficient protection to the frontier. The corps of Dragoons, he said, were rais- ed for the purpose of defending the whole frontier against the Indians, and to protect 1 the trade which is now extensively carried 1 e., ...iAi, S,an4. E< II O x..re ...<.n r.D.a.4.