t as far as Texas and corrupted the Indians and Creoles
by the example of their own restless and ambitious temper; for they came
from among people who were in the habit of saying to their stalwart boys,
"You will go to Mexico." Already the frontiersmen had penetrated even
into New Mexico from the district round the mouth of the Missouri, in
which they had become very numerous; and the Bishop earnestly advised
that the places where the Americans were allowed to settle should be
rigidly restricted. [Footnote: _Do_., p. 408.]

A Conflict inevitable.

When the Spaniards held such views it was absolutely inevitable that a
conflict should come. Whether the frontiersman did or did not possess
deep religious convictions, he was absolutely certain to refuse to be
coerced into becoming a Catholic; and his children were sure to fight as
soon as they were given the choice of changing their faith or abandoning
their country. The minute that the American settlers were sufficiently
numerous to stand a chance of success in the conflict it was certain
that they would try to throw off the yoke of the fanatical and corrupt
Spanish Government. As early as 1801 bands of armed Americans had
penetrated here and there into the Spanish provinces in defiance of the
commands of the authorities, and were striving to set up little bandit
governments of their own. [Footnote: _Do_., p. 447.]

Advantages of the Frontiersmen.

The frontiersmen possessed every advantage of position, of numbers, and
of temper. In any contest that might arise with Spain they were sure to
take possession at once of all of what was then called Upper Louisiana.
The immediate object of interest to most of them was the commerce of the
Mississippi River and the possession of New Orleans; but this was only
part of what they wished, and were certain to get, for they demanded all
the Spanish territory that lay across the line of their westward march.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century the settlers on the Western
waters recognized in Spain their natural enemy, because she was the
power who held the mouth and the west bank of the Mississippi. They
would have transferred their hostility to any other power which fell
heir to her possessions, for these possessions they were bound one day
to make their own.

Predominance of the Middle West.

A thin range of settlements extended from the shores of Lake Erie on the
north to the boundary of Florida on the south;