Instructions to M^rs Edward Wright Sir, War Department March 27^th 1799. The President of the united States having appointed you to succeed Edward Price, deceased, late factor to the Indian Store at Fort Wilkinson, on the river Oconee, you will be pleased to repair thither with all convenient haste, and take upon yourself the management and conducting of said factory. 1^st On your arrival at Fort Wilkinson, you will notify your appointment to Lieut. Col^o. Gaither, and to the person who may have in charge the books, papers, goods, effects and property belonging to the factory, which you will immediately take into your possession, and, in the presence of the person in whose custody they may be, make out a perfect Inventory of the several articles, having first previously weighed or measured the same; of which Inventory signed by you both, and sworn to before some Magistrate, you will send a duplicate to this department. 2^d The object of this trade is, by supplying the Indians on such easy terms, to manifest the liberality and friendship of the United States, and thus, by the ties of interest and gratitude, to secure their attachment, and lay the foundation of a lasting peace. 3^d The principle of the trade is to furnish the Indians with goods at such moderate prices that the sales may re-imburse to the United States the prime cost and all charges and incidental losses attendant on carrying on this business. 4^th Keeping in view the fluctuations in the prices, as well of the goods that must be purchased for the Indians, as the articles received from them in return, and the consideration that, whenever it shall please Congress to suspend the experiment, there should be found effects that will bring at publick sale an amount equal to the original capital employed, clear of all expenses whatever, you will so conduct the business as that it shall produce each year, a net profit wherewith to constitute an encreasing fund competent to meet all casualties and contingencies, which might, if not provided against, diminish the capitals. 5^th The Goods are to be sold to the Indians either for money or peltry. For the peltry, the prices usually given by the traders will naturally be your rule; and in this respect, the habits of the Indians must govern. If these prices are so high that a loss would be incurred in the returns when brought to market in Philadelphia, such loss must be countervailed by an addition to the prices of the goods. A list of the rates at which peltries are sold in Philadelphia will be furnished you by the Store Keeper M^rs John Harris. Savannah is to be the Port to which your returns in peltry are to be made, as often as the quantity on hand and conveyances shall present. You will address them to such person as the Store Keeper shall point out, and conform to such directions as may be furnished you by the said Store Keeper respecting the packing and preservation of the same. 6^th One of the greatest difficulties to be apprehended is the demand of goods on credit, either by the Indians themselves or the Indian traders residing among them; but such credits are wholly inadmissible; and selling to the traders with, or without credit, would be subversive of the main principle; for such traders would probably sell at their usual high prices, while the true object of the United States is to supply the Indians at moderate prices. And with these benevolent views of the United States you will, on all occasions, endeavor to make the Indians acquainted. If difficulties should occur in carrying on the trade, by the refusal of credit to the Indians, and by the total denial of goods to the Indian traders, you will make report thereof to the department of War, stating facts, with your opinions thereon, and your ideas of the best mode of furnishing supplies to the Indians to effect the salutary objects indicated in these instructions. 7^th The commanding officer of the troops on the frontiers of Georgia will, at all times, furnish you with necessary guards. One great object of their service is to protect the Indian trade. 8^th Goods to the amount of one thousand five hundred dollars are annually to be delivered to the Creek Nation, agreeably to treaty. These are to be delivered in the presence of the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, or of one of his Assistants, pursuant to his orders. 9^th The Hospital Stores for the troops at the factory are to be in your custody, and issued on returns signed by the Surgeon, expressing the numbers of the Sick for whom the Stores are demanded. 10^th You will keep a regular and frequent correspondence with the Keeper of the publick Stores in Philadelphia; and, in cases which appear to you proper, with the department of War, to whom all your despatches, meant for the Store Keeper, may be directed. 11^th If the trade should succeed, the store may, of course, be exhausted of some particular kinds of goods. You will, from time to time, give the earliest notice thereof; making your remittances, which must be the source of farther supplies. 12^th It would have been extremely desirable to carry on this trade with the Indians, without the use of Rum; but, from an apprehension that the habits of the Indians in this respect, could not be controuled, that article may be provided. Still, however, you are to use your endeavours, by friendly advice to the Indians, to persuade them to let it alone, taking care not to hazard their disgust. But, if you find that Rum must be sold to them, let it be in such small quantities as may guard them against drunkenness during their continuance at the post, for which you will give them this reason: "that, while trading, you desire them to remain sober, that they may know what they do, and be satisfied that the trade is perfectly fair and honest." When they are ready to depart, such quantities as they desire to carry with them, and the stock will allow, for balances due them, may be delivered. 13^th The forms of the Accounts and returns you are to render, have been furnished to M^rs Price by the Comptroller of the Treasury, and, no doubt, will be found among his papers. Should they not, your knowledge of Accounts will enable you to fix on a mode that cannot fail of being satisfactory until duplicates can be sent you. 14^th You will perceive the necessity of kind and friendly treatment of the Indians who may visit your Station, and of perfect candour in all your dealings with them. Patience, in particular, will be requisite, and caution, when any of them get drunk. To avoid the latter evil, you will use your endeavours with the influential men among them to draw them off from the Station as soon as their traffic is over, and until then, you may contrive, as above suggested, to make but small issues of Rum. 15^th As the views of Government extend to the encouragement of Cattle Raising, and Agriculture among the Indians, as a means of approaching them to the civilized State, it becomes an object to find for their cattle and grain a ready and profitable market. I wish you, therefore, to ascertain, and report to the Secretary of War, how far it would be safe for the Store to give goods for the one or the other, that is, whether the store could readily, and without loss or risk, dispose of either, if received in exchange. Good Horses, it is presumed, might be cheaply conveyed to market, and perhaps grain or beef could be sold to the contractors for supplying the troops, or transported to a Seaport and disposed of to advantage, or, rather, without loss. All this you will enquire into, which includes a knowledge of what transportation will cost, from the places where received, to where they may be sold, and all expenses and risks attending the same. You will not engage in this traffick, until it shall be authorized. 16. It has been stated that the factor is sometimes pressed by Officers of the United States, in garrison in Georgia, and by Frontier Inhabitants, to sell to them articles in store; and that it would be a great convenience to both, were you permitted to yield to their solicitations. The institution of the trading house, you will observe, being for different purposes, it would be wrong to divert from the Indians goods expressly purchased for their use. However, should there be more of any article on hand than the Indians may call for, till it can be replaced, and the wants of the above description of persons for that article are pressing, and there should appear to you no other way in which they could be supplied, you may, under such circumstances, sell to them for ready money, but in no case whatever upon credit. 17^th That the state of the trade may labour under no uncertainty, and the progress of the fund be fully known, you will take, and transmit, once every year, an inventory of the effects of the factory, stating their value, and deducting therefrom all the expenses of the year; so as to shew the surplus gained to the fund, to be laid before the President; and will annex thereto your oath that it is a just and true statement of the goods on hand, and the effects of the factory. Your salary will be at the rate of one thousand dollars per annum. You and your Assistants will be found in proper lodgings, and dieted at the publick expense. But, you will keep an exact account of whatever is purchased, and observe the strictest œconomy, and will state the annual expense for the same, in the annual Inventory required to be returned to the Department of War. I am, Sir, &c [Signed] James McHenry