New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1851-12-04

OF tie eastern SIZE of he Con.1fn.- AID vutl ft-
ten;iy bad es'ed unfrtnily feelings - sari
abe bite settlers in tbelT hsisieoiaoSd. se'efa
| outorsals, hc-svey, have, within 's% ncfe
psf occurred 90 IN Catalonia aad Oregon. Ibsie
isfssS on Ia believe that instances the a.
cans have been s0aded OF % these acts OF aoS.tD
| by The coDdoct Of Cur oSn people. E:eailes nave
recently ben maze gIih some g these IlSes.
Wheh. Il tEsy az faithfully Observed Oh oas Plf;,
and u TIE white iub sS.tanis are COmpelef to re-
speCt the boundaries O. IRE territory assigned n
them, will 90 far toward recopCiing this unfsriu-
rate race 10 he,r late, and preventing fut IRE od'-
.irIctng Intercourse III the Indians and eneFosch-
meni their lands, b. rgidly enforced, and that II
necessary, more stringent enac tncDts De passed Tor
ihatpnTOss.
1t would not te safe, ho~sver, to rely on any %.
citc policy. however wise and iasi, for he Prosc
ton OF cur r. lowe tiers IN that r. mote region
si.ce he withdrawal OF the regiment OF mounted
nfsmen, the military force on the Pacific isexceed-
IL; IL small. By the rctr ms OF the AtJutlnt Gen
eTai, appt udec to the Report Of the GeGeTAlin-
Chief II appears that the entire force stationed on
the Pacific amounted, AZ the last return, 20 oGly
seven hundred and th;Ity-siy men This force Is
deemed entirely inadequate f,r the protection OF the
Inhabitants, particularly OF Oregon. The Governor
of that Territory has rsprCs nted ais fact and has
urged an increase IF the fo:ce stationed within Il.
The means COW al the disposal OF the Department
co not enable Il TO comply with this demand
In my last annual report recommended the cre-
alton of new regiment Uf mounted men. The
withdrawal OF the regiment of mounted rifemen
from the Pacific, has. u some extent, diminished
tie necessity of creating additional regiment OF
that description Of force, as that country viii DC
supplied by infantry. Nevertheless, by the report Of
the Commander in Chief It viii be seen that he
considers not only this additional regiment OF cav
airy but also increase IN the rank aad file Of the
infantry and artillery. IndlSpcnsably Necessary.
While | feel some hesitation IN urging uDon Con-
gTess any addition TO the force on the frontier,
where the support OF troops Is attended with such
enormous expense, | cannot but acknowledge the
force of his remarks and the We ght that i due to
his recommendation. | hope, therefore, that the
matter will be submitted to Congress.
The entire number OF men borne on the rolls
amounts to lO53S which, according 10 the usual
estimate. will furnish an effective force Of not more
than : 500 men. When It is considered that tins
small force IS scattered over frontier of several
thousands Of miles in extent It's nsuiclency viii be
apparent.
nous mere sc IN the expense Of supporting the army,
and 10 the causes thai produced 1t. These causes
are, principally
than one-ha!f Of the whole army Is stationed on our
remote frontier, and, SO far as expenses are con-
cerned, may be considered as IN active service IN
time Of war.
Second That the military posts on the frontier
were formerly near navlgable rivers, but now,
on the contrary, either far IN the interior of the
country. or on the Pacific, and, consequently, can
only be reached by an overland journey of hun
dIeds Of miles. or by sea voyage Of several thod-
sands.
The following is a list of what were our most re-
mote posts IN lsi3, and their respective distances
from navigation:
Fort Smelling, accessible by steamboats,
FoIt LeavCnwoHth do. do.
Fort wilkins do. do.
Fort Gibson, do. DO.
Fort Smith, do. do.
Fort Jesup ~ miles from steamboat: navigation,
by wagons.
Fort Atkinson, q miles from s,eSmboltnayigaton,
by wagons.
Fort Towson miles from steamboat navigation,
by wagons
Fort Washita, Sc miles from steamboat navigation
Fort Scott, 90 miles from steamboat nav CATION, by
wagons.
Compare this list with that of some ofthc mos; re-
mote posts at the present time.
IndiarOa. low the depot orthe greater part Of the
posts IN Texas and some Of those IN New Mexico. is
five hundred and forty miles by water from New
Orleans From this cepot II is by wagons
TO Form NOlth---.--- -Ig0 mics
To FL Paso.- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 80
To Doha Ana ----.----------------ef9 -
10 the post At the Copper Mines---.----910
Fort Townson and Fort Smith both depending on
New Orleans are the frontier dcp6S for the posts
the north line of Texas The transportation by
From Fort Towson 10 Fort Belknap- $3.50 SO2 miles
From Fort Smith to Fort Ar5uckle- -l67
Fort Leavenworth four hundred and twenty miles
from St Louis by water, is the frontier depot for The
posts on the Santa + and oregon routes Thence II
is by wagons
To Fort Laramie Observation-Disclosures 63s miles.
To Fort tnion OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES ~ miles.
TO Socorro OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES 9Sl miles.
To Saa Juan ..-.-......-.-.---...--1,0ie miles.
From 81 LOUIS to Fort Smelling, by water. is rs
miles, and thence to Fort Ripley, by wagons, l55
miles.
From St Louis to Keokuk, by water, is l;9 miles,
and thence TO Fort Dodge, by wagons, 2s0 miles.
large portion Of the supplies for the posts on
the Pacific, are drawn from the Atlantic States.
Third, The frontier posts, as may be seen by the
fore going list, were then situate IN the midst OF
fertile and productive country, where nearly all the
supplies for the troops could be procured Now, on
the contrary they are for the most part in one OF the
most unprocuctive regions OF the world, which fur
nishes Tut small portion OF the necessary sup plies
for army Those supplies must, therefore, all be
drawn from the older States and transported I'M
mense distances. The consequence Is, tia, While
IN eij the cost OF transportation o troops and sup
pics was ----------.--------.---- Sl5u'0JJ %
In ls5O-5l it amounted ,09i,40e 81
In the former, cost Of forage WIS., 9g79i 20
In the the latter. It was ---;--------l2s1'32' 81
The great increase in this last Item arises not only
from the causes Just mentioned, but also from the
great increase OF animals in the Quartermasters
department, which, in 1915, amounted only to eE,
and in ls5o-jl, to upward OF 1000 and also to the
fact that the mounte force has been greatly in
creased.
Fourth, The great distance which troop, have to
be Transported IN gong TO and trom the seVerai
This is q very important item. Owing TO the
smalness OF our army, changes Of station are very
frequent and instead OF beng made, as they Tor
merry were, by water, they are no" made BY Land.
When Il is recOlec,ed wha: vast amount OF trans
portatop is necessary for an army on long march,
when, no. only their baggage out supplies oil every
Kind Including provisions for their daily cons mp
tom must be carried with them, some idea may be
! formed Of the expense attending these changes Of
station The above facts will serve IN some degree
10 explain the grea, increase that has taken place IN
J the Expenditures OF that department. For fuller
explanations on this subject refer TO the accom-
! panyiIg report Of the Quartermasier General.
II is prooable however, that, IN some instances.
the expeI ditures both in the QuarEermaster's and
! he Commissary departments, may have been IN
creased by maladminisuatlon The transactions OF
! both these departments involve such variety Of de-
tails and their agents are so far removed from the
superyision of their chiefs that abuses may exist
long time before they discovered. Every effort,
baweyer has been used to detect these abuses and
10 nreyent their recurrence. Inspectors have been