On the tenth of February, 1819, the War Department ordered the Fifth Infantry to concentrate at Detroit, after which it would be transported across Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, up the Fox River, and down the Wisconsin River to Prairie du Chien, where a part would garrison Fort Crawford, a part would proceed to Fort Armstrong, and the remainder would ascend the Mississippi and near the Falls of St. Anthony erect a post which would be the headquarters of the regiment.[58] This movement was closely associated with that on the Missouri River called the Yellowstone Expedition. Both movements were part of one system--a comprehensive attempt to possess the northwestern frontier. The thoroughness of the plan is shown by the program outlined for the troops for the year 1820: three forts were to be built on the Missouri River; the navigation of that river was to be improved; roads were to be opened between the two diverging lines of posts (those on the Missouri and those on the Mississippi); and the Fox and Wisconsin rivers were to be connected by a canal. Thus the transportation of supplies would be facilitated, and in case of hostilities the forts could cooeperate in the military operations.[59] The western part of this general movement was a failure. Indeed, the only result was the construction of a post at the point then known as Council Bluff (now Fort Calhoun, Nebraska), which after an existence of eight years was abandoned. Congress, disgusted with the management of the undertaking, refused to vote the funds necessary for the complete fulfillment of the project.[60] Accordingly, no permanent military post existed upon the upper Missouri until 1855, when the United States government purchased from the American Fur Company their station called Fort Pierre and transformed it into a military establishment.[61] The failure of the Yellowstone Expedition made more difficult the work of Fort Snelling. The range of its influence extended to the Missouri, and for forty years it was of more importance than even its originators had planned.