Andrew Jackson was often a man of action. In 1831, he announced that while Congress continued to deliberate on the ratification of a commercial treaty with the newly independent Mexico, he would keep trade routes with Mexico open by using the U.S. troops to escort American trade caravans along Santa Fe trail.
In 1821, the same year Missouri was admitted into the union as a state, Mexico gained its independence from Spain and legal trade between the United States and Mexico began. Missouri at the time was still struggling from the Panic of 1819 and the economic depression it caused. There was no banking system in Missouri, so paper money was considered worthless. Only silver and gold coins were accepted as payment. The opening of legal trade with Mexico brought an influx of Mexican coins which boosted the state's economy and created a new market for goods from towns like St. Louis. In 1822, the Santa Fe trail was established to connect Franklin Missouri to what is now New Mexico, and traders opened new routes like Boone's Lick Trail that connected it to St. Louis. The opportunities seemed endless, one caravan in 1824 left Missouri with hardware and dry goods and returned with $180,000 in gold and silver along with $10,000 in furs.
In 1825 the Federal government surveyed the Santa Fe trail and established Treaties with the Kansas and Osage Indians. This safeguarded the eastern end of the road but Indian attacks on the plains were still prevalent. The Indians of the plans belonged to several tribes that numbered in the thousands. The most numerous and powerful of these was the Comanches at an estimated 7,000 natives. Nevertheless, the profits if trade with Mexico so profitable that traders continued to risk the chance of being attacked. To lessen the risk, traders began traveling together in wagon trains or a single caravan. To assist in protecting American trade with Mexico, President Andrew Jackson in 1829 ordered army troops under the command of Major Bennet Riley to escort a wagon train along the Santa Fe Trail to the Mexican border.
Two years later, in 1831 President Jackson announced that while the country waits from Congress to deliberate a commercial treaty with the United Republics of Mexico, he would as commander in chief to keep the Santa Fe Trade route open. Jackson would allow trade with Mexico flourish by using troops of the United States "to escort the caravans beyond our boundaries to the settled part of the Mexican territory".
"Few changes have taken place in our connections with the independent States of America since my last communication to Congress. The ratification of a commercial treaty with the United Republics of Mexico has been for some time under deliberation in their Congress, but was still undecided at the date of our last dispatches. The unhappy civil commotions that have prevailed there were undoubtedly the cause of the delay, but as the Government is now said to be tranquillized we may hope soon to receive the ratification of the treaty and an arrangement for the demarcation of the boundaries between us. In the mean time, an important trade has been opened with mutual benefit from St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, by caravans to the interior Provinces of Mexico. This commerce is protected in its progress through the Indian countries by the troops of the United States, which have been permitted to escort the caravans beyond our boundaries to the settled part of the Mexican territory."
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2019). Third Annual Message | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/third-annual-message-3 [Accessed 24 Jul. 2019].Legendsofamerica.com. (2019). The Santa Fe Trail in Missouri – Page 3 – Legends of America. [online] Available at: https://www.legendsofamerica.com/mo-santafetrail/3/ [Accessed 24 Jul. 2019].
Mix, S. (2019). Indians Along the Santa Fe Trail. [online] Santafetrailresearch.com. Available at: https://www.santafetrailresearch.com/research/indians-on-the-sft.html [Accessed 24 Jul. 2019].
Santafetrail.org. (2019). Official Santa Fe Trail Association. [online] Available at: https://www.santafetrail.org/the-trail/history/timeline/ [Accessed 24 Jul. 2019].
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