Repeated clashes between American fur traders and the Plains Indians following the War of 1812 lent urgency to demands that the United States government protect its territory in the West. To remedy the situation, Secretary of War John C. Calhoun planned a military occupation of the upper Mississippi and Missouri River valleys through a cordon of army posts stretching from Green Bay on the Great lakes west to Montana. Calhoun projected a troop movement, called the Yellowstone Expedition, which grew from one expedition to three-the Missouri, the Mississippi, and the Scientific expeditions. The...
Repeated clashes between American fur traders and the Plains Indians following the War of 1812 lent urgency to demands that the United States governme...
