General Terry to General Nichols.
General: I have the honor to represent to the Lieutenant General commanding that I apprehend serious difficulty in protecting adequately the emigrant road from this State to western Montana, owing to its proximity to the boundary line between the United States and the British possessions.
Leaving Fort Abercrombie on the Red River of the North, this road runs northwesterly to Fort Berthold on the Missouri river and thence in the river valley to and beyond Fort Benton. From Berthold to Benton, a distance of 500 miles, its general direction is parallel to the boundary, and at no point is it distant more than 100 miles from it.
The country on both sides of the border between the Red river settlements on the east and the Rocky mountains on the west is uninhabited by civilized man, and is occupied only by bands of Sioux, Assinaboines, Blackfeet, Blood, and other Indians who change from one side to the other as their convenience, safety, or caprice may dictate. None of these Indians are friendly to the whites; they can be restrained from predatory attacks upon emigrants only by military force. For such attacks their position gives them admirable opportunities, and the proximity of the boundary line secures them almost absolute immunity from punishment.
The country along the route is open, so open that Indians can move in any direction, and it is manifestly impossible to protect so long and so exposed a route by any system of posts; the Indians can only be held in check by movable columns which shall promptly pursue, overtake, and punish bands guilty of hostilities. But here arises the difficulty: from whatever point upon which a foray may be made, a march of two days will place the Indians in a secure refuge beyond the border, and under its cover they could move to the east or west, avoid the troops opposed to them, and again descend upon the route.
That this is no imaginary difficulty is fully proved by the fact that in repeated instances hostile bands when pursued have sought this refuge.
I can see no remedy for this difficulty Unless the government of her Britannic Majesty would consent that our troops, when pursuing Indians who have committed hostile acts within our jurisdiction, should follow them for a reasonable distance in the uninhabited portions of British America.
I am well aware that no government would consent that the troops of another nation should follow criminals into any portion of its dominions occupied by civilized society; but I have thought it not only possible but probable that in this case, in the interest of civilization as against the enemy of the common civilization of the two countries, assent might be given to the crossing of a merely conventional line running through a pathless wilderness, and I therefore respectfully suggest that a proposition to this effect be made to her Majesty’s government.
I have the honor to be, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Brevet Brig. Gen. W. A. Nichols, A. A. G., Headquarters Mil. Div. of the Missouri, St. Louis, Mo.