122 LESTER BURRELL SHIPPEE foreign encroachments and in controlling the Indians. 2 * This letter Calhoun gave to the President who showed it to Adams, stating to him that he thought this was going beyond the duties of the Secretary of War. 2 * He, the President, thought of sending a message recommending the establishment of a military post on the Pacific and renewing the proposition of the projected Yellowstone post. Adams considered such an exposition of the President's views quite proper, but he ques- tioned the wisdom of expressing them ; in connection with the inquiries of Floyd and Calhoun they were as likely to be construed' in the light of an attempt to defeat the proposed establishment on the Columbia. So important was the matter considered that it was made the occasion of a cabinet dis- cussion. To Adams, Calhoun and Southard Monroe read the draft of a message in which he recommended the es- tablishment of a post high up on the Missouri River and one on the Pacific, either at the mouth of the Columbia or on the Straits of Fuca. This recommendation was accompanied by a strong argument against any territorial settlement on the Pacific and the expression of a decided opinion that the region was destined soon to be separated from the United States. All three cabinet members argued against sending such, an expression of opinion to the House; Adams and Calhoun thought there would be no separation and that the United States would make settlements on the Pacific Coast. In the face of such unanimity of opinion the President de- cided not to send his projected message. As a result of all the discussion, Calhoun replied to Floyd's letter in general terms respecting the utility of troops in the Columbia country, adding, 2 * ". . . but it is believed that so long as the traders of the British Fur Company have free access to the region of the Rocky Mountains from the various posts, which they hold on our Northern Boundaries, they will in great measure 23 Calhoun to Floyd, 10 Apr., 1824. Correspondence of Calhoun, 217-8. 24 Memotrs of J. Q. Adams, VI, 249. 25 Ibid., 428, o. Noted by Adams, 10 Nov., 1824. The negotiations at St. Petersburg and at London the previous winter and spring enabled the administra- tion to have a better perspective than most members of Congress; see below, Chapter III.
