I respectfully suggest the propriety of having stationed at the arsenal a full company of U. S. troops, that they may be made available in any emergency, from fire, insurrection, or any thing else.

[citation needed] Joining Jim Beckwourth and "Old Bill" Williams Smith helped establish the largest horse theft operation in the Southwest until authorities eventually forced the gang to break up in the late 1840s. Thomas L. [citation needed]
Smith later accompanied Alexandre Le Grand's expedition into New Mexico as a scout[citation needed] later learning several Native American languages.

Thomas L. "Pegleg" Smith (October 10 1801–1866) was a mountain man who serving as a guide for many early expeditions into the American Southwest helped explore parts of present-day New Mexico. [citation needed].