In former times the trade was carried on in their different camps by paying a number of desperate men (Indians) to restrain the populace from robbing the trader. This force was effective and necessary at the time, because the wants of the Indians were so numerous and pressing, their cupidity so great, that it was impossible for the trader publicly to display his goods or deal with them on anything like fair terms. And the Indians thus employed considered it an honorable station; it flattered their pride to rely for protection on their bravery, and no robberies could be committed nor the traders insulted without killing these men at the door of the lodge, which was never attempted. This gave rise to a body of men called soldiers, and the power first invested in them by the traders formed a nucleus around which collected a superior and coercive force, which, in the course of time, was applied to their own civil organization, producing order in their government, unity of action, and rendering effective the decisions by council. The original natural authority was centered in the chiefs of small bands, supported only by their family connections, who could not or would not enforce decrees for general welfare nor interfere in any public differences not touching their private interests. Power being thus confined and circumscribed, separations into small camps took place and minor subdivisions into heads of families, resembling in this elementary form of government that of the ancient patriarchs who as their interests jarred or covetousness increased made war upon each other and were insufficient for any general purpose. But when the body of soldiers was established and their efforts united to support the chief and council, they soon collected in large bands, from two to four or six hundred lodges each, entered into effective measures of defense from the surrounding tribes, regulated their hunts to advantage, and by this consolidation of interest extinguished the principal sources of private discord. This was a great step in advancement produced by the traders and their commerce, for through the chief and council as the organ of public opinion and soldiers as its support the nation could be spoken to, their interest consulted, their feelings known, and the mass made to advance toward a further point of improvement. Property by means of commerce having been acquired, rates of exchanges established, and hunting operations enlarged and facilitated, other things besides scalps became valuable in the eyes of the Indians. Each having something to lose, perceived the necessity of respecting the rights of others, giving rise to a spirit of compromise in difficulties, so that arms were less resorted to in settling disputes, payment in most cases superseding that ancient and barbarous custom; also they evinced a disposition to aid each other in times of need, which minor obligations bound still closer their hitherto feeble bonds of society.