To Captain William Eaton. The Congress of the United States having made a provision for carrying on trade with the Indian Nations on our borders: and the President having determined to establish a trading post at Colerain, on the river St. Mary's, in Georgia, for the purpose of supplying the Creeks and other southern Indians with goods, it becomes necessary to provide for the protection of the establishment. The disorders committed on that frontier, whence inroads have been made into the adjoining Spanish territory, in violation of the laws of the United States, and of the rights of a neighbouring nation; and the just apprehension that the like or other outrages may be attempted by a set of people who disregard all legal restraint, & [undecipherable] only on plunder & mischief; require that a [undecipherable] be employed, as well to aid the civil authority in bringing to justice the persons who have perpetrated the enormities above mentioned, as to prevent future aggressions, and to preserve peace and order in that quarter of the United States. The preserving of peace between the frontier inhabitants of Georgia and the Creek Indians, by protecting each against the malicious or vindictive designs of the other, is a third important object. Unfortunately the necessity of some further provision in this case has recently become manifest. Seventeen Creek men, some of them known to be great friends of the white people, and all coming to that frontier with peaceable views, have been basely and cruelly murdered. Such at least is the conclusion, authorised by the intelligence received from Georgia. [marginalia: undecipherable] To these, several objects your particular attention must be directed. You will be diligent in your endeavours to train the troops under your command to an exact discipline; & to have them always in readiness to execute any orders relating to those objects. A law of the United States passed on the 5^th of June 1794, having declared, "That if any person shall within the territory or jurisdiction of the United States begin or set on foot, or provide or prepare the means for any military expedition or enterprize to be carried on from thence against the territory or dominions of any foreign prince or state with whom the United States are at peace; every such person so offending shall on conviction be adjudged guilty of a high misdemeanor, and shall suffer fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the court in which the conviction shall be had, so as that such fine shall not exceed three thousand dollars, nor the term of imprisonment be more than three years": And the same law having also authorized the President of the United States or such other person as he shall have empowered for that purpose, to employ the forces of the United States to prevent the carrying on of any such expedition or enterprize: I am to inform you, by command of the President of the United States, that you are hereby empowered to employ the force under your command for the purpose aforesaid; to prevent a repetition of outrages against the Spanish dominions. Lieutenant Col.^o Gaither, the present commanding officer in Georgia, has been apprized of the destination of the troops now embarking for that state, and desired to furnish some officers, of which he has a surplus, to complete their organization. You will embrace the earliest opportunity to inform him of your arrival, and of the number of the troops under your command, which will be upwards of two hundred. Lieutenant Col.^o Gaither's long service in Georgia must have given him an exact knowledge of its frontier, and of the stations most eligible for the protection of the inhabitants & the preservation of peace between them and the Indians. The recent killing of the Creek [undecipherable] may require the reinforcing of some of those stations, or the erecting of new ones. He will be instructed on this and the other objects before mentioned; and you will obey his orders or those of any other your superior officers on duty in that state: except that your permanent residence and command is to be at the trading post of Colerain, or other station at which it may be established; from which you are not to be separated unless occasionally, for the purposes above mentioned. Among the peculiar duties at the trading post will be these. 1. To secure the public goods appropriated to that trade: and if the buildings already erected are inadequate, or need repairs, you will furnish out of your detachment the requisite artificers and labourers, who while employed as such will be allowed extra pay and subsistence 2. To provide comfortable quarters for your troops either by repairing the old buildings or erecting new ones. M^r Price, the factor, for the Indian trade will furnish all the materials which are not found on the post. 3. You will cultivate harmony between the troops and the persons to whom the management of the trading store is committed; and to the latter you will furnish not only the necessary guard, but every aid which circumstances shall require, to fulfil in the most useful manner: and with the greatest economy, the design of the establishment. 4. The Indians who shall resort to the station are to be treated with perfect kindness. All attention to engage & secure their goodwill is to be enjoined on all the officers and men under your command. And to prevent quarrels, and guard against the fatal consequences of drunkenness, the soldiers should not be allowed to mix with the Indians in their camps, or elsewhere out of the view of their officers. These and other precautions which your own observation may suggest will be especially necessary to be attended to at first. When at length a friendly and familiar intercourse [undecipherable] place, probably a relaxation of the rules at first established may be admitted. But no sort of traffice or bartering between the troops and the Indians is ever to be allowed, on any pretence whatever: the practice would certainly be attended with abuses, fraud & over-reaching, and their mischievous effects. And one thing is never to be forgotten; that without showing any signs of jealousy, you keep yourself guarded against surprise. This will be the more necessary on account of the outrages so much at all times to be apprehended, of the frontier people against the Indians, and the custom of the latter to retaliate on the innocent of the same nation: and the injuries to be revenged may happen at places remote from your station, and without your hearing of them. War Dep.^t Nov.^r 26. 1795. Timothy Pickering