From this it seems that there were but about 300,000 of the various tribes specified yet remaining. But this includes only a small portion of some of the most numerous native tribes, as, for instance, the Blackfeet and others.
The evils attending the proximity of the whites to the Indians, while the latter remained within the bounds of the States, have induced the general government to adopt the policy of their removal to an extensive country west of the Mississippi. The measure was one which was, indeed, attended by great present inconvenience and injustice to those tribes which had become, in a degree, somewhat civilized, as they were forcibly torn from their loved homes, and compelled to commence their journey to an untried country, where they must, as it were, begin life anew. Many perished during their march, from fatigue and disease. But resistance was hopeless, and the only chance that remained of their preservation, as distinct tribes, was in their consent to go; and so they obeyed the mandate, and departed far from their ancient seats of power, and the burial-places of their fathers. They left behind them, in many instances, good houses, well cultivated fields, and various improvements, which were the fruit of the labor of years; and, to the great disgrace of the whites, they were subjected, in some cases, to outrage and rapine, dispossessed of their property, and even wounded, or put to death, while defending it.
The Indian Territory, as it is called, is a tract of country bounded on the south by the Red River, east by the States of Arkansas and Missouri, on the north and northeast by the Missouri and Punch Rivers, and west by the western limit of habitable country on this side of the Rocky Mountains. This has been purchased, at various prices, of the indigenous tribes. The soil is said to be most excellent, abounding in fine water, timber, mines of coal, iron, and lead; at the same time, it is the resort of numerous buffaloes, so that it seems well adapted for the purposes to which it is destined.
The plan adopted by the government has been by purchase to extinguish the Indian title to those lands which they leave, give them others within the new territory, transport them thither, and erect a portion of their dwellings, plough and fence a part of their fields, furnish them teachers in agriculture, and tools, horses, cattle, &c., build school-houses and provide instructors, and make arrangements for the support of those who have not the means at hand, at the outset, for this purpose.