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PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF
subjugating the Indians and eventually bringing them under control;
that I had been but recently assigned to the conmnand of the Department of
the Columbia and was much interested in the cares and responsibilities of
that coimmand and in the development and progress of that great northlwTest
country. This ended the conversation, and the subject of my going to
that part of the United States was at that time dismissed.
   Still I watched with great interest the reports from that section of
country; all that was published regarding the depredations of the Indians.
the movements of troops. and the various phases incident to hostilities of
that nature were carefully noted. I traced on the best mnaps that I could
obtain of that country the movements of the Indians according to the
dates as they were reported, observed where and when hostilities were
committed, where and when certain bands of warriors appeared, fron
whence they came and in what direction they were reported to have gone,
comparing one report with another, and thereby tracing as far as practica-
ble the habits and actions of the hostile Indians. I thus became somnewhat
familiar with the raids of the Indians and the routes of travel they most
frequently pursued along certain ranges of mountains the topographical
features of which were given on the official meaps. I kept trace of these
to a certain extent while in commnand of the Department of the Columlbia,
and when afterwards transferred to the Department of the Missouri, with
headquarters at Leavenworth, Kansas, continued to follow the course of
events with more or less interest.
444