were still under the influences of the traditions
which told of a constant march westward through the vast forests, and a
no less constant warfare with a hostile savagery. Moreover, in many of
the communities there were people whose kinsmen or friends had gone to
the border; and the welfare of these adventurers was a matter of more or
less interest to those who had stayed behind. Finally, and most
important of all, though the nation might be lukewarm originally, and
might wish to prevent the settlers from trespassing on the Indian lands
or entering into an Indian war, yet when the war had become of real
moment and when victory was doubtful, the national power was sure to be
used in favor of the hard-pressed pioneers.

The Government Ultimately supports the Frontiersmen.

At first the authorities at the national capital would blame the whites,
and try to temporize and make new treaties, or even threaten to drive
back the settlers with a strong hand; but when the ravages of the
Indians had become serious, when the bloody details were sent to homes
in every part of the Union by letter after letter from the border, when
the little newspapers began to publish accounts of the worst atrocities,
when the county lieutenants of the frontier counties were clamoring for
help, when the Congressmen from the frontier districts were appealing to
Congress, and the governors of the States whose frontiers were molested
were appealing to the President--then the feeling of race and national
kinship rose, and the Government no longer hesitated to support in every
way the hard-pressed wilderness vanguard of the American people.

The Situation in 1791.

The situation had reached this point by the year 1791. For seven years
the Federal authorities had been vainly endeavoring to make some final
settlement of the question by entering into treaties with the
Northwestern and Southwestern tribes. In the earlier treaties the
delegates from the Continental Congress asserted that the United States
were invested with the fee of all the land claimed by the Indians. In
the later treaties the Indian proprietorship of the lands was conceded.
[Footnote: American State Papers, Vol. IV., Indian Affairs, I., p. 13.
Letter of H. Knox, June 15, 1789. This is the lettering on the back of
the volume, and for convenience it will be used in referring to it.]
This concession at the time seemed important to the whites; but the
Indians probably never underst