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Appendix VI Military Small Arms Sales to Civilian Western Emigrants In the early 19th century, the population centers of the United States were along the Atlantic seaboard. As more immigrants arrived, they found this land occupied, and they settled farther and farther west. The general westward shift of population continued through much of the 19th century. One example of the westward migration is often referred to as the “Great Emigration of 1843.” The first large wagon train to travel from Missouri along the newly established Oregon Trail consisted of 800 men, women, and children and 3,000 horses, oxen, mules, and cattle. It arrived in the fall of 1843. At that time, the territory considered to be “Oregon” consisted of present day states of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, and included parts of present-day Wyoming, Montana, and British Columbia. Many additional thousands of emigrants would follow along the Oregon Trail or travel along the Santa Fe Trail to California during ensuing years. Another example was the westward relocations of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly known as the Mormon Church. This church was organized by Joseph Smith in Seneca County, New York, in April 1830. In 1831, Smith led a few hundred church members to Ohio, then to Jackson County, Missouri. Smith’s expanding congregation was driven by angry Missourians back to Illinois, where Smith began to build a town at Nauvoo. Smith was murdered in 1844. The Morman church at Nauvoo had grown to a membership of 10,000 at this time. Brigham Young led the church thereafter. A number of problems in the Nauvoo area caused Young to move the church farther west. The westward emigration of Mormons began on February 10, 1846, and reached Salt Lake City in July 1847. The war with Mexico ended in 1848. The United States’ victories during this war brought the territories of Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, Oregon, and California into the control of the federal government. Because Mexico had adopted an “open borders” policy for the Texas territory in 1821, more than 80 percent of Texas’ population was English speaking. The perceived problem in late 1848 was that the majority of the populations of the other territories were Spanish speaking. The federal government recognized the need to increase the English-speaking populations of these areas if the United States was going to retain them, and so encouraged the westward migration. The westward population movement also received impetus from James W. Marshall’s discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill in northern California on January 24, 1848. Thousands moved westward to “strike it rich” in California. Appendix VI 530 At the end of the Mexican War, the Army was reduced to its prewar size. On November 9, 1849, the adjutant general reported to the president that the U.S. infantry consisted of eight regiments totaling 4,464 men. The federal government also recognized that the Army must be enlarged in order to provide control and safety in the large, newly acquired territories. However, Congress did not authorize the raising of two additional infantry regiments until 1855. These new regiments were initially armed with Model 1841 rifles that had been altered with long-range sights and bayonet studs. Inordertoreducesomeofthedangers(primarilyfromIndians)thatAmerican immigrants to this new land faced when crossing the western plains and establishing their new homes and towns, Congress enacted a law on March 2, 1849, that enabled government-owned small arms to be sold to the civilian emigrants at the government’s cost. The first known letter from the chief of ordnance to a person applying to purchase one of them was dated March 8, 1849. The numbers of applicants for these arms increased rapidly after that. The following Ordnance Department regulations regarding these sales were adopted by Secretary of War George Crawford on March 14, 1849: 1. Each applicant must send to the War Department an affidavit that it is his bona fide intention to emigrate to Oregon, or California, or New Mexico, as the case may be, and must state, distinctly, what arms and ammunition he requires. 2. On receipt of an application and affidavit, as above stated, a sufficient supply of the arms and ammunition designated by him, to arm and equip each applicant, may be delivered to him, or his order, on payment of the cost thereof, provided the government has such arms, and the same can be sold without detriment to the public service; and...

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