and  dollars  was  appro- 
priated for  that  purpose  and  that  of  obtaining 
the  Indians’  consent  to  the  road  and  its  unmo- 
lested use.  The  U.  S.  Commissioners  appointed 
to  conduct  the  survey  were  Benjamin  Reeves, 
George  C.  Sibley  and  Thomas  Maher;  and  Jo- 
seph C.  Brown  as  surveyor.

In  1825  a party  left  Santa  Fe  in  June  and 
arrived  in  Franklin,  Missouri,  in  August,  with 
500  mules  and  horses,  and  “the  Santa  Fe  trade” 
continued  to  grow  without  intermission  until  the 
present  time.  But  not  without  interruption  from 
the  Indians,  which  caused  the  committee  on 
military  affairs  to  report  to  congress,  in  1828, 
in  favor  of  a movable  escort  rather  than  a fixed 
garrison.  The  recommendation  was  given  ef- 
fect in  1829,  and  Major  Riley,  with  four  com- 
panies of  the  6th  infantry,  from  Fort  Leaven- 
worth, were  detailed  as  the  escort.  Protection 
was  not  continued  the  following  year;  never- 
theless, there  was  an  increase  in  traffic  of  just 
100  per  cent  over  the  preceding  year.

In  1821  the  Santa  Fe  trade  may  be  said 
to  have  become  a business  propositon.  Captain 
Glenn,  Mr.  Bicknell  and  Stephen  Cooper  were 
the  pioneers  of  that  commercial  enterprise,  al- 
though small  parties  of  trappers  and  traders