/ y yy, csy y
PACIFIC TELEGRAPH
RAILWAY,
AN EXAMINATION OF ALL THE PROJECTS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION
OF THESE WORKS, WITH A PROPOSITION FOR HARMONIZING
ALL SECTIONS AND PARTIES OF THE UNION, AND
RENDERING THESE GREAT WORKS
TRULY NATIONAL IN THEIR CHARACTER
B Y J. LOUGHBOROUGH
OF THE SAINT LOUIS BAH.
TRAN
HE
2763
L887
SAINT LOUIS:
BY CHARLES & HAMMOND, BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, CHESNUT STREET.
"i849.
THE
PACIFIC TELEGRAPH
AN D
RAILWAY,
AN EXAMINATION OF ALL THE PROJECTS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION
OF THESE WORKS, WITH A PROPOSITION FOR HARMONIZING
ALL SECTIONS AND PARTIES OF THE UNION, AND
RENDERING THESE GREAT WORKS
TRULY NATIONAL IN THEIR CHARACTER.
B Y J. LOUGHBOROUGH,
OF THE SAINT LOUIS BAR.
SAINT LOUIS:
PRINTED BY CHARLES & HAMMOND, BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, CHESNUT STREET.
1849.
LIBRARY
■ UBEAU OF RAILWAY ECONOMICS,
WASHINGTON, O. C.
, 3. so
MAP 1 0 6
HEa~ yi
TO THE
fongra of fyi MA Itafro,
THE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE,
33q ntiw of tjre (tarn! Committee of |t. louis,
RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
BY THE
AUTHOR.
INTRODUCTORY,
A t an early period during the past spring, the people of St. Louis*
profoundly impressed with the importance of opening a commercial
communication from the Mississippi to the Pacific, for the double purpose
of binding to the Union our colonies on the western coast, and of effecting
a radical change in the route of commerce to China, and the East Indies,
assembled themselves in Mass Meeting, to deliberate upon these important
objects. In this meeting it was resolved that a National Convention, con-
sisting of Delegates from every State and Territory of the Union, which
might take sufficient interest in the grand object to appoint them, should be
invited to assemble in the City of St. Louis, on the 16th day of October, to
give expression to the will of the American people. After ample, discussion,
the following Resolution, among others, was adopted.
Resolved, That the project of a great line of Railway across the Ameri-
can continent is in all its aspects a National project-rthat as such, it is due
to every State and section of the Union that their opinions and views
shall be heard, and their interests fairly considered, -r -and that we depre-
rate any attempt to excite sectional jealousy, party rivalry, or personal
feeling in reference to this important subject.
The Mayor was then authorized to appoint a General Committee of
twenty-five citizens to address the people of the United States, and by cor-
respondence and otherwise, to secure a full representation in said conven-
tion. This committee was appointed accordingly by the M a y or > an< l con*
sisted of the following persons, viz :
L. M. Kennett, Tho. Allen, T. B.Hudson, M. Tarver, Hepry Keyser,
V. Staley, A. B. Chambers, R. Phillips, John O'FaHon, Edward Walsh,
John F. Darby, J. M. Field, L. V. Bogy, Geo. K. Budd, N. R. Cormany,
John Loughborough, Chas. G. Ramsay, J. C, Meyer, John Withnell, G. L..
Lackland, Tho. T. Gantt, Tho, J>. Yeats, Sam'l Gaty, 0. D. Filley, A.
Olshausen.
Acting in strict accordance with this magnanimous resolution, the general
committee of twenty-five, appointed by the M a yor of St, Louis, of which I
have the honor to be the chairman, at its first meeting constituted five sub-
committees, viz: a committee to frame an address to, the people of the
United States; a committee of publication; a committee'of finance and a com-
mittee to prepare statistics for the use of the contemplated convention.
The committee upon the address were instructed to treat this subject as a
great national measure, above all party considerations, and all personal
designs, in the construction of which the whole Union had a deep interest,
and every section of it a right to have its sentiments considered. The
duty imposed upon this committee, of which Thomas Allen, Esq., was the
chairman, was performed with fidelity and eminent ability. The committee
iv
Introductory.
of correspondence received a like instruction. That committee of which
A. B. Chambers, Esq., was the chairman, conformed its action faithfully to
the true spirit of the resolution of the people of this city. Upon the com-
mittee of publication the duty was devolved of collecting from every one
feeling an interest in the subject, essays and facts, illustrative of the great
purpose, and giving them to the people. In consequence of the prevalence
of that most awful of calamities, the cholera, this committee, of which M.
Tarver, Esq , was the chairman, found it impracticable to accomplish much
in reference to the objects for which it was constituted. The committee of
finance, of which John C. Meyer is the chairman, has continued throughout
to perform its duty with fidelity. Upon the committee on maps and statis-
tics, of which J. Loughborough, Esq., was the chairman, the duty was
devolved of collecting and classifying facts and statistics illustrative of the
project, together with accurate maps for the use of the convention. This
was a most serious labor and a most responsible duty ; but I am gratified to
believe that it was performed to the entire satisfaction of the general com-
mittee and of the National Convention.
The first step taken by the committee on statistics, was the composition by
its chairman, of the annexed essay upon a Pacific Railway, which, after being
approved by the committee of publication, and the general committee of
twenty-five was inserted in the Western Journal. A large number of extra
copies of that valuable periodical were ordered by the general committee
for distribution, and we have abundant evidence by letters from all parts of
the Union and through the public press, that its effect upon the public
opinion of the country has been eminently beneficial.
Upon the day appointed for the organization of the national convention,
the delegates met in the Court House in this city. The Hon. Abner T.
Ellis, of Indiana, was unanimously called to preside over the assembly,
pending the appointment of its permanent officers. A committee was then
appointed to select permanent officers for this convention, and reported the
name of the Hon. Stephen A- Douglass , of Illinois, as the President of the
convention, with a Vice President from each State represented, and several
Secretaries, all of which nominations were unanimously concurred in by
the convention.
The following States were represented in the convention, viz:—Missouri,
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Iowa, Wis-
consin, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, New Jersey and Louisiana. The
whole number of delegates was eight hundred and thirty-five.
On the second day of its session a committee of three from each State
was appointed to draft resolutions for the action of the convention. Upon
the retirement of this committee, Mr. Benton being called upon, addressed
the convention. After reading some extracts from private letters received
from Col. Fremont , he said t —
"The brief report of these great results was contained in the extracts of
the letters which he had read; and they showed every thing that the friends
of tKis great highway of nations were in search of—all the requisites for the
great road which was required in-our North America, from ocean to ocean.
First, directness of course ; for the line was between 38 and 39 degrees till
it crossed the Rocky Mountains, then deflecting a little to the north, it
entered the Cfreat. Basin, and touched the Mormon settlements, between 39
Introductory.
v
and 40 ; which, in that part, was about the straight line from St. Louis to
the Bay of San Francisco. He said the straight line, in contradistinction
to the latitudinal line ; and the difference between them from St. Louis to
San Francisco would be about one degree in the middle—of course nothing
at the ends. One great requisite of the road, then, was here found in the
great point of directness of course ; for, keeping between the same degrees
of latitude, you follow the Kanzas four hundred miles; you go on into the
valley of the Upper Arkansas; and, still holding on your course, you enter
the valley of the del Norte near the head of that river, where there is an
easy pass; and after that by only a slight deflection to the north you get
into the straight line. Mr. Freemont did not see this pass : the mistake of
his guide, in the deep snows, led him upon one of the most inaccessible
heights of the Rocky Mountains ; but that did not alter the fact. The pass
was there—.the same through which Roubidoux had taken loaded wagons—
and which information received after his disaster, proved to be a good one,
with a good practicable line beyond it to the Great Basin.
" He had discharged a pleasant duty in bringing this- information before
the Convention ; he had now an unpleasant duty to perform—a duty forced
upon him by circumstances over which he had no control, and which could
not be evaded without injustice to the convention, and injury to the public.
The mass meeting in St. Louis which called this convention had appointed
a committee to collect facts for the information of the convention. That
committee had executed its task, and produced an elaborate report in favor
of a road through the South Pass. It makes some fifty odd pages in the
Western Journal—a periodical published in this city; and at page 398 of
the Journal, this passage is found :
' The only route which has, as yet, been discovered on which a passage
can be had from the northern valley of the del Norte westward, to reach
the settled parts of California within reasonable distance, is the " mule
trail" from Santa Fe to San Angelos, which ascends the Rio Chama to its
head in the Sierre Madre ; then passing the ridge, discends the Juan to the
Colorado of the West, and thence passes through the Wahsatch chain of
Mountains, along the gap through which the Rio £t. Virgin runs into the
southern rim of the Great Basin of California. Col. Fremont, who has
certainly had better means of ascertaining the facts than perhaps any one
else, concurs in the opinion that a railway cannot be taken through the
Rocky Mountains, at any other point than the South Pass. The following
sentence in a letter of Asa Whitney to the author of this article proves this
beyond Cavil : " In justice to Col. Fremont, I should say that I have had
repeated conversations with him,-and his Opinion of route corresponds with
yours." This is the statement of Mr. L oughborough , the author of the ar-
ticle laid upon your tables by the General Committee of St. Louis.
"Mr. B. said that this extract contained a fundamental error in denying
the existence of any practicable pass south of the South Pass; and conse-
quently, the whols system in favor of a roa^L bottomed upon that erroneous
assumption, fell to the ground. It was an error to say there was no practi-
cable pass south of that Pass; there were and are Passes—Mr. Fremont
had described them—at various places further south. Pulliam's fork of ihe
North Fork of the Platte—the Three Parks—and the head of the Arkansas,
Vi
Introductory.
all presented them '; and Mr. Fremont had crossed them all, and described
them all. There was, and is a pass from the head of the valley of the del
Norte leading to the Rio Compadre, a branch of the upper Colorado, and
upon which, (the Rio Compadre,) Mr. Joseph Roubidoux, well known in
this city, did have a trading post; and to which post loaded wagons have
gone from Bent's Fort on the Arkansas, through that pass. Mr. Fremont
knew this. All the men of the mountains knew it. It was a part of his
plan from the beginning to examine that pass ; and that was the object of
his expedition last winter, and the sole object which could have induced
him to explore a new route to California at such a season. He never told
any body that there was no pass south of the South Pass, for he knew bet-
ter—he had spent years in examining several, and fixed their localities and
published their descriptions—and made his great expedition last winter for
the express purpose of fixing the locality, and describing the character, of
this only remaining one which claimed his attention—the one by the head of
the del Norte. He never said that the South Pass was the only route. He
never eVen said it was the preferable route. Mr. Fremont is not the man to
express an opinion before he forms it, nor to form it before he understands
it. He must know all before he speaks : and upon that principle it was he
took his new route last winter, to examine the last route which belonged to
the line of central communication ; and the results of which briefly, but
comprehensively and lucidly told, are in the extracts which have been read
to you from his letters.
" The South Pass, though good in itself, has never met the approbation of
Mr. Fremont for the road to California. It is too far north. He wanted a
route three or four degrees further south, and has found it, and gives the
country the benefit of it. General Persifer F. Smith has now sent a topo-
graphical officer to examine the only link in the chain which Fremont him-
self has not examined. That officer is to make his report in time to be laid
before Congress at its ensuing session. All the remainder of the route, and
all the country through which it passes, has been examined by Fremont him-
self, so that all the information, and in authentic and official form, which is
necessary to the action of Congress, tvill be ready for it at the approaching
session ; and the law may then be passed for the location of the road."
When Mr. Benton concluded his speech, Mr. Loughborough addressed
the Convention at large, giving his authorities for the assertion made ; but
as his voice was quite weak, and consequently quite a number of the mem-
bers did not fully comprehend his remarks, he felt it his duty, on the ensuing
morning, to address a letter to the Convention, of which the following is an
extract :*
" Gentlemen :-^-In Consequence of the feebleness of my voice, I failed to
make myself entirely Understood in the remarks which I addressed to you in
answer to the speech of Mr. Benton , and for that reason I announced
to you that I would address you in another form. As Mr. Benton , at
the close of my remarks, disavowed to me personally any design to attribute
to me wilful error, I shall direct my attention directly to the facts in issue.
•Col. Benton has thought proper to report his speech so imperfectly, that the distinct route which be laid
down as the preferable one, cannot be traced upon the map. This route is correctly traced out, as delivered
by the Senator, in Mr. Loughborough's letter, from which the reader can trace it on Preuss's map, published
by order of the Senate, and on the map copied from it, which accompanies this pamphlet.
Introductory.
vii
"On page 16 of the pamphlet laid upon your tables by order of the Gen-
eral Committee of St. Louis, and written by me, the following passage oc-
curs : ' Col. Fremont, who has certainly had better means of ascertaining
the facts than any one else, concurs in the opinion that a railway cannot be
taken through the Rocky Mountains at any other point than the South Pass.
The following sentence in a letter from Mr. Asa Whitney, to the author of
this article, proves this beyond cavil: ' In justice to Col. Fremont, I should
say, that I have had repeated conversations with him, and his opinion of
route corresponds with yours.'
"To invalidate this passage, Mr. Benton states that Colonel Fremont
never has, at any time, to any person, or in any place, asserted that there
%vas no pass in the mountains between the South Pass and the Passo del
Norte. This is a question of veracity between the honorable Senator and
Mr. Whitney, with which it is not my duty to intermeddle. As the authori-
ty upon which the assertion was made upon my part was quoted verbatim et
literatim, I have incurred no responsibility.
" For the general assertion that there is no pass in the great chain of the
Rocky Mountains between the South Pass and the Passo del Norte, I have
the authority of the universal opinion of the trappers, traders, and freemen
of the mountains, many of whom have lived in those regions for more than
twenty years past—have wandered with Indian parties in search of game, and
for trapping purposes, through all the valleys, along all the streams, and
over all the mountains—to whom their peaks, gorges, and canones are as
familiar as to us are the scenes of our infancy; I have the authority of a
party under the lead of Williams, of Missouri, who was despatched by the
government to accompany ' Big White,' and other Mandan Chiefs, brought
into the States by Lewis and Clarke, on their return trip from the mouth of
the Columbia river, which party passed across the Yellowstone to the head
of the Colorado of the West, and followed the western base of the moun-
tains to the vicinity of Santa Fe, where they surmounted them and descend-
ed into the valley of the del Norte ; I have the authority of Gen. Pike, who
ascended the Arkansas to its sources ; I have the authority of Col. Long who
followed the southern fork of the Platte to the base of the mountains, and
passed thence southwardly to the sources of the Canadian river; I have the
authority of Lieuts. Abert and Peck, who surveyed the whole of New Mexico
in 1847 ; I have the authority of Mr. Hughes, the author of Col. Doniphan's
expedition, whose statement is on the 79th page of my pamphlet; and
finally, the uniform impression of all who have visited those regions. None
of these authorities have mentioned any pass. To invalidate these authori-
ties, Mr. Benton has read you a private letter from Colonel Fremont—of
course accessible to no one but himself—in which that energetic officer
assures him that he was pursuing his way towards a pass in the moun-
tains, at the head of the del Norte, when he met with the great disaster which
created so much solicitude in his family. He did not reach the pass, but
was assured by a trader or guide, that it existed. The integrity of Colonel
Fremont is not questioned by me. I do not doubt that he believes there is
such a pass, nor do I undertake to say that there is not. I only affirm that
the weight of testimony in the present state of our knowledge, is against its
existence.
" Upon mature reflection, I am not satisfied, that admitting the fact of the
viii
Introductory.
existence of such a pass, the route which Mr. Benton has traced through
it to the Bay of San Francisco is preferable in any respect to the one
indicated in my pamphlet, through the South Pass. The route follows the
main Kanzas river between four and five hundred miles; thence passes to
the Arkansas, near Bent's Fort; thence passes into the valley of the del
Norte and follows that stream to its head ; thence through the disputed gap
to the head of the Rio Compadre, and thence down that stream to its mouth,
in Eagle river ; thence across Grand river and the Colorado to the mouth of
the Uintah ; thence up the Uintah to its head ; thence over the dividing range
between the waters of the Pacific and those of the Great Basin, to the sources
of the Utah river, and down that stream into the valley of interposed be-
tween the Utah Lake and Wahsatch Mountains ; thence north to the south-
eastern angle of the Great Salt Lake ; thence along the southern rim of the
Lake to a point near its southwestern horn ; thence over five mountain ridges,
and through three others, into the valley of Humboldt river; thence down
that stream to its sink, and thence through the Salmon Trout Pass to the Bay
of San Francisco.
"This route coincides with the one laid down by me, down the valley of
Humboldt river to the Bay. The only question is, whether it be preferable
to reach that valley through the South Pass via. the Soda Springs, and along
the base of the dividing ridge between Oregon and California, or to reach it
by the zigzag line proposed by the honorable Senator. I have not time to go
into this question in detail at present. I respectfully request that each of
you will follow the route as here indicated upon the ' Map of Oregon
and California, from the surveys of John Charles Fremont, and other au-
thorities, drawn by Charles Preuss, under the order of the Senate of the
United States and then follow the line indicated by my pamphlet, and if
you arc not convinced by your own eyes, that the new route is more tortuous,
more difficult, more interrupted by mountains, and farther in distance than
mine, I shall be disappointed. I have but one copy of this map, which I
have placed in the Rotunda for your inspection. If farther discussion of
this question shall become important, I shall do my part towards its elucida-
tion.
" In the speech delivered by the honorable Senator upon the introduction
of his bill into the Senate of the United States, he described the Three Parks
through which Col. Fremont returned from California in 1845, and added,
that there was a route, short, easy, and direct, discovered by Col. Fremont,
from the sources of the Arkansas to the Bay of San Francisco. Jn the
speech addressed to you this position has been again maintained. To inval-
idate this position of the honorable Senator, I respectfully refer you to Col.
Fremont's second expedition, published by order of the Senate, from page
278 to 288, inclusive. I have not space to quote the journal. I have only
to say that Col. Fremont, in his journey, surmounted the main ridge of the
Rocky Mountains no less than three times. 1st. From the sources of Elk-
head river of the Colorado, into the valley of the north fork of the Great
Platte, heading in the North Park. 2d. Thence into the Middle Park,
where the Grand river of the Colorado heads. 3d. Into the South Park,
where the Arkansas has its source ; and that the ridge, where surmounted the
first time, was 8,000 feet high; the second time 9,000 feet, and the third
ti me, 11,200 feet high. I know of no other authority respecting these Parks
than that of Fremont, and I deem his all-sufficient."
Introductory.
ix
In defence of himself and the committee, and the convention which
endorsed his essay, Mr. Loughborough has furnished the following reply to
the remarks of Col. Benton:
" These extracts from the speech of Senator Benton exhibit a number of
errors, which it is important to a fair and impartial consideration of the
subject should be corrected.
1. From the best information which can be obtained here there is no
reason to believe that any such easy pass in the mountains exists at the
head of the Rio Grande del Norte. Our information, derived from one of
Col. Freemont's party—one who lost a son in the expedition—is, that he
was warned at Bent's Fort, that if he persisted in attempting to pass the
mountains he must inevitably be lost. Our information also is, that
Roubidoux never did take wagons loaded or unloaded through a gap at the
head of that river; but that, finding it impossible to do so he was compelled
to take them to pieces and cache them, taking his goods through upon pack
mules. These wagons were disinterred by Col. Gilpin's men, and picket-
pins made of the spokes of their wheels. Such is the fact as given by Col.
Gilpin in this city. The judgment of a mountain guide—the only authority
for it—is surely rather a slender foundation for the assertion that a practica-
ble track for a great railway may there be found.
2. It is certainly incorrect to state that the route proposed by Col. Ben-
ton lies, with only one slight deflection, between the 38th and 39th
parallels of latitude. From the source of the Rio del Norte it turns nearly
directly south below the 38th parellel to the valley of the Rio Compadre,—
thence northwestwardly upwards of two degrees of latitude to the mouth of
the Uintah,—thence up that stream in a zigzag line to the Mormon settle-
ment—thence a sinuous course as high as Pilot's Peak upon the 41st paral-
lei. It is, therefore, far from correct to characterize this route as keeping
within the space between the great circle and the line of latitude from St.
Louis to the Bay of San Francisco.
3. If Mr. Benton had comprehended the essay upon which he was com-
menting he would not have undertaken to assert that it " contained a funda-
mental error in denying the existence of any practicable pass south of the
South Pass ; and consequently the whole system in favor of a road bottom-
ed upon that erroneous assumption fell to the ground." It matters not to
the system contained in that essay whether this road shall pass the moun-
tains at the South Pass or any point south of it. The South Pass route
was pointed out because the author believed then, and still believes it to be
preferable to any other, and because it has been seriously doubted whether any
practicable line whatever could be pointed out. The author's whole scheme
is founded upon three leading ideas. (See the Essay, page 34.) 1— That of
Empire ; 2 —That of Nationality ; and 3— That of a change in the route
of European commerce with India. He believes that unless it shall be so
located as to bind, by means of branches, both California and Oregon, to
the confederacy, that we shall lose whichever of these colonies shall be
neglected. He maintains that hnless this road can be branched upon the
border so as to afford a fair arid equal participation in the benefits antici-
pated from its construction, that the minds and the hearts of the American
people cannot be united in its favor, and that, therefore, no bill can ever be
passed for its construction. And he argues that unless it shall be so located
X
Introductory,
as to "effect a change in the route of European commerce to the East, that
the tolls paid for transportation will not keep it in repair for many years to
come. The whole merit of the essay consists in its showing that these
•great purposes can be accomplished. When Mr. Benton can prove that
these objects are unworthy of consideration in the construction of a Pacific
Railway, he will upset the system of the author, but not until then.
4. When Mr. Benton makes the assertion that "it was error to say there
Was no practicable pass south of that (the South) Pass', there were and are
passes—Mr. Fremont had described them—at various places farther south;
Pulliam's Fork of the North Fork of the Platte, the three Parks, and the
head of the Arkansas all presented them; and Mr. Fremont had crossed
them all and described them all," this assertion may be emphatically and
explicitly denied. The concluding chapter of this work traces out Fremont's
whole line of travel as given by himself in his reports. No such passes as
are here enumerated are mentioned by him, and if he " had crossed them
all and described them all," these facts are withheld from the government
and he has proved derelict in duty. Of this the reader can satisfy himself
by an examination of Fremont's reports. In respect to the supposed pass at
the source of Pulliam's Fork of the North Fork of the Platte river, it must
be remarked, that there is no sense in alluding to it as a pass in the Rocky
Mountains, in making a speech upon this subject, unless it is such a pass as
will afford a route for a railway; and that the reader has only to turn to
Fremont's first report (1842) to find that the North Fork of the Platte, from
Fort Laramie to its head, is shut in at various places by perpendicular
masses of rock for miles together, and that the mountains in various places
press up to the water's edge on both sides. The author's letter to the Con-
vention is a sufficient answer to the other reckless assertions.
5. It is a radical error to say that " Gen. Persifer F. Smith has now sent
a topographical officer to examine the only link in the chain which Fremont
himself has not examined," (the branch line to Oregon,) and that " all the
remainder of the ronte, and all the country through which it passes, has
been examined by Fremont himself, so that all information, and in authentic
and official form, which is necessary to the action of Congress, will be ready
for it at the approaching session ; and the law may then be passed for the
location of the road." Fremont has never examined the country between
the upper valley of the Rio del Norte, and the mouth of the Uintah river, a
distance of several hundred miles, which the trappers and freemen of the
mountains have uuiformly represented as rugged, interrupted by steep ridges,
and presenting a scene of almost entire desolation.
And pray, will Mr. Benton inform us what there is authentic and official
in a private Quixotic adventure of Mr. Fremont? A cock-and-bull story of
a guide, by which Fremont was duped into the fool-hardy expedition which
ended in the sacrifice of some innocent and valuable men, together with
an imaginary reconnoisance which Mr. Benton, (in a state of clairvoyance
it is supposed,) represents Fremont as having made along a line of several
hundred miles in length, through a region which he never saw,fwill hardly
be taken by the Congress of the Union as " all the information, and in au-
thentic and official form , which is necessary to the action of that body."
It is gratifyingto the author to know that the National Convention assem-
bled here believed that Mr. Benton had failed to sustain his assertion, that
the essay was erroneous. This is certainly proved by the facts—that every
Introductory.
xi
speaker who addressed the Convention at any length, approved of the essay
and complimented, in decided terms, the author of it; and that although it
was well understood by every member of the Convention that Mr. Benton
was opposed to the plan laid down in the essay, and used all the means in
his power to defeat it, the Convention nevertheless adopted that plan. Mr.
Benton prompted his confidential friends here to say for him, that he would
sustain the resolutions as adopted. The author hopes he may fulfil the
pledge—withdraw his impracticable and unconstitutional bill—and give his
aid to one introduced from another quarter, to carry out the true spirit of the
St. Louis and Memphis resolutions.
As an additional evidence that the Convention here thought Mr. Benton
was in error, the following resolution, offered by Judge Birch, of the Supreme
Court, and unanimously adopted by the Convention, is here inserted :
" Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention are hereby tendered to
John Loughborough , Esq., for the industry, ability, and fidelity disclosed
in the admirable paper which he prepared for this Convention, and to which
it has been so much indebted, as having conducted it to the auspicious con-
elusion at which it has arrived."
The Committee upon Resolutions having made its report, the Hon. R. W.
Thompson of Indiana, offered the following Resolutions as a substitute for
those reported by the committee, which he distinctly stated were framed upon
and designed to carry out the plan laid down in the following pages. In
offering them he addressed the Convention in a speech replete with sound
argument and brilliant eloquence—a speeeh which it may be said without
exaggeration has been rarely equalled, and probably never surpassed in a
popular assembly in this country :
Resolved, That in the opinion of this convention it is the duty of the Gen-
eral Government to provide at an early period for the construction of a
central national railroad from the valley of the Mississippi to the Pacific
Ocean.
Resolved, That in the opinion of this convention a grand trunk railroad,
with branches to St. Louis, Memphis and Chicago, would be such a central
and national one.
Resolved, That a committee be appointed to communicate to the convention
to be held at Memphis the foregoing Resolutions, and to request the concur-
rence of said convention therein.
At the close of this great speech, the vote was loudly called for and they
Were unanimously adopted, On the following morning some doubts having
been expressed relative to the constitutional authority designed to be recog-
nized by them as existing in the Federal Government, the following written
explanation was entered of record, as constituting an essential part of the
proceedings:
" Mr. Thompson of Indiana, in explanation of the second Resolution
offered by him on yesterday, and adopted by the convention, said—that in
preparing that resolution it was his especial and earnest design so to frame it
as to express no opinion on the question of the power of the General Govern-
ment over internal improvements within the States; neither to affirm or dis-
affirm that power. His sole object by avoiding that question was to present
Introductory.
to the convention a proposition upon which every member of the conven-
tion, of whatever political party, might stand in perfect union and harmony.
He intended simply to assert that the General Government had power to con-
struct the main trunk of the road, and that the question as to the manner of
constructing the branches—whether by the donation of lands or by the States
themselves—should be left open for the final determination of Congress. He
hoped this explanation of his motive would satisfy every gentleman of the
convention, and that we should be enabled to adjourn in the midst of the
harmony and good feeling which now prevailed."
At a subsequent stage of the proceedings, the following resolutions were
severally moved and adopted :
By the Hon. Samuel Treat : Resolved, That as an important means, as
necessary and preliminary to the construction of such railroad, it is the first
duty of the American Congress, immediately on its assembling together, to
make provision for the establishment of military posts from the western con-
fines of the Western States, to the Pacific Ocean ; that these posts should be
established numerously in all proper places not far distant from each other,
and that civilized and productive settlements should be encouraged around
them by liberal sales and grants of public lands, and by ample protection
to the settlers.
Resolved, That the Congress of the United States be memorialized to
construct or authorize the construction of a national line of telegraph along
the line which may be determined upon by national authority for the great
railway to the Pacific. Said line of telegraph to be constructed in connec-
tion with the military posts named in the preceding Resolution, and to be
pushed to completion as early as practicable.
By J. Loughborough. Resolved, That when this Convention adjourns it
will adjourn to re-assemble in the city of Philadelphia on the first Monday
of April next—that we hereby invite our brethren who will assemble at the
city of Memphis on Tuesday next to adopt a similar resolution—and that
the committee upon an address to the people of the United States, be hereby
instructed to appeal to every state, county, city, and town of the whole con-
federacy to send up a delegation to give expression to the will of the whole
American people.
—Thl Memphis Udnvention.
The following account of the history and proceedings of the Memphis
Convention, has been furnished by a member of the St. Louis delegation to
that convention, and is inserted in this Introduction as additional evidence
of the favor this grand project receives wherever it is canvassed, and as a
further illustration that the people of the United States expect from their rep-
resentatives in Congress speedy and energetic action on the subject:
"During the autumn of the year 1848, a mass meeting of the people of
the State of Arkansas, resolved that it was expedient that a National Con-
vention of the people of the United States should be called at the city of
Memphis, in the State of Tennessee, for the purpose of giving impulse to the
grand design of uniting the valley of the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean,
Introductory.
xiii
by means of a railway. In accordance with the suggestions then made, the
people of Memphis appointed a general committee and subordinate com-
mittees, to address the people of the whole Union upon the subject, and
through the instrumentality of correspondence and publication, to secure a
full attendance in the contemplated convention.
" On Tuesday, the 23d day of October of the present year—just eight days
subsequent to the meeting of the convention held in this city—this second
national convention was organized. The following States were represented,
viz : Pennsylvania, Missouri, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Louis-
iana, Illinois, Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky, New York, Virginia, Mississippi,
and Georgia. The number of delegates in attendance was upwards of four
hundred. Lieut. Maury, of Virginia, was unanimously elected President,
with a Vice President from each of the States represented, and several Sec-
retaries. Immediately after the convention was organized, a committee con-
sisting of two members from each State represented was appointed to prepare
resolutions for the action of the convention.
" On the second day of its session, Mr. Loughborough of Missouri, as
chairman of the delegation appointed by the National Convention at St.
Louis, laid before the body in accordance with his instructions the resolu-
tions unanimously adopted, accompanied with an address soliciting its con-
currence therein. These resolutions were referred to the committee upon
resolutions for its consideration. A number of other resolutions on differ-
ent branches of the subject, and in reference to extraneous matters, were
also during the day referred to the same committee.
" Among other resolutions thus referred, were six offered by a delegate
from the State of Tennessee. These resolutions were framed with the de-
sign of making them correspond in substance to those of the St. Louis Con-
vention. The propriety of branching the great road upon the western border,
and thus giving it nationality , was recognized by them, and the only reason
assigned for not fixing upon the points on the Mississippi where the branches
should be carried, was that in the present state of southern improvement, it
was doubt)ul where their branch should be terminated.
" The first question which arose in the committee was whether it was just
and proper to call upon the convention to take info consideration subjects
other than the important one for which it had been specifically called ; and
whether a Nnational Convention could be justly called upon to act on topics
purely local and sectional in character. Aftemiuch debate it was agreed in
committee that the business should be divided, and that the general reso-
lutions should embody the views of the convention acting in its national
character, and the special resolutions the views of the convention acting
without its appropriate sphere and in reference to extraneous and sectional
subjects. A sub committee was then appointed to draw resolutions for con-
sideration. A member of the committee from the State of Tennessee then
moved to refer the six resolutions alluded to herein, to the sub-committee,
with instructions to make them the basis of the general resolutions. A
member of the committee from the State of Missouri, then moved to refer
the resolutions of the St. Louis Convention also to that committee. The
member of the committee from the State of Tennessee immediately rose
and suggested that this second reference was unnecessary, inasmuch as the
six resolutions already referred to the sub-committee were framed upon and
xiv
Introductory.
designed to carry out the principles embodied in the resolutions of the St.
Louis Convention. Upon this suggestion, the motion to refer the St. Louis
resolutions was withdrawn.
The sub-committee reported the six resolutions which had been referred
to it, and these with slight and immaterial alterations were unanimously
concurred in by the general committee as embodying what was conceived
to be the sense of the convention in relation to the general objects designed
to be acted upon. A number of special resolutions were also agreed upon
in committee, but as these were not deemed by the committee, nor voted
upon by the convention as matters appropriately coming before it as a
National Assembly, farther mention of them here is unnecessary. The fol-
lowing six resolutions were reported by the committee to the convention as
general ones, and they were voted upon separately and each one unani-
mously adopted, viz :
1. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this convention that it is the duty
of the General Government to provide at an early period, for the construe-
tion of a National Railroad from the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean.
2. Resolved, That to facilitate the accomplishment of this object, in the
opinion of this convention, it is the duty of the General Government to
constitute an efficient and competent corps of Engineers to make complete
explorations and surveys of all the routes that have been designated by
public opinion as proper for the line of this road.
3. Resolved, That after the proper surveys shall have been completed,
that in the opinion of this convention, it is the duty of the General Govern--
ment to locate the line of the road; and in making the location that route
should be selected which is easiest of access, best calculated to subserve
the purposes of national defence, most convenient to the people of, and as
far as practicable, central to the United States, and upon which a railroad
can be constructed on the cheapest and best terms.
4. Resolved, That to carry into effect the object of the first resolution, in.
the opinion of this convention the puhlic lands of the United States consti-
tute a legitimate and proper fund.
5. Resolved , That after the construction of the National Railway trunk
from the Mississippi river to the Pacific ocean, in the opinion of this con-,
vention it is the duty of Congress to aid by the appropriation of the nation-
al domain, in the construction of such branch railroads as will best connect
it with the Northern lakes and the great thoroughfares leading to the
Atlantic ocean: and with such other points on the Mississippi river as will
connect it with the lines of improvement completed or in the course of con-
struction—and also to aid in the construction of branches from the main
trunk to suitable points on the Gulf of Mexico either east or west of the
Mississippi river.
G. Resolved, That in the opinion of this convention it is the duty of the
General Government to provide, under liberal conditions, for a connection
between the main trunk of this National Railroad and all railroads now
made or which may hereafter be constructed by the authority of the several
States and Territories of the Union.
The question of the constitutional power of Congress to construct that
portion of this great work which will be within the bounds of sovereign
States of the Union, was not decided in either of these two large Conven-
Introductory.
tions. In the one held at St. Louis, there can be but little doubt that the
resolutions unanimously adopted, would have been rescinded, but for the
timely and satisfactory explanation of Mr. Thompson , of Indiana. In the
one held at Memphis, the question'was very fully discussed, and it is believed
the whole of its members were averse to the assertion of such authority by
the National Government. Both Conventions were no doubt unanimous in
the opinion that it is the duty of the general government to provide by
means of the public domain, for the construction of this whole work ; and
both avoided going into further detail, either in respect to the method of rais-
ing the means from the public lands, or in respect to the system of construe-
tion to be adopted, because they deemed these duties might be and would be
faithfully performed by the Congress.of the Union.
The three great objects of empire, of nationality, and of a change in the
route of commerce to the East —the objects proposed to be accomplished in
the following scheme for a Pacific Railway—were recognised as the great
leading objects, by both of these Conventions; and as it has been shown
that the point at which this road shall pass the Rocky Mountains is imma-
terial to the plan proposed, it is not too much to say that the leading prin-
ciples of this plan have been unanimously sanctioned by the St. Louis and
Memphis Conventions,
That the Congress of the United States, to which the following pages
have been inscribed by the author, will act with promptitude and efficiency
upon the subject, there cari be little doubt; and that a system which has
been sanctioned and approved with such unexampled unanimity, by those
who, from their locality, associations, and pursuits, must be the most com-
petent judges, will receive from that body respectful consideration, is surely
to be anticipated. L. M. KENNETT,
Chairman of the Committee of Twenty-five,
St. Louis, Nov. 25th, 1849.
PREFACE.
In the autumn of the year 1848, after several years of diligent inquiry of those
who had explored the regions in the vicinity of the Rocky Mountains, and the ter-
ritories west of the great range, and after a careful examination of the published
authorities in relation to the commerce of the East, from the earliest period, and
the physical structure of the space between the Mississippi river and the Pacific
ocean, the author of the following essay came to the conclusion that he could sug-
gest a plan for a Pacific Railway, Which should be practicable, free from constitu-
tional difficulty, just in character, and exactly adapted to the accomplishment of
all the objects which the nation could desire, as the results of so stupendous a
work.
He accordingly drew up a series of articles upon the subject, the first of which
was published in the Western Journal , for the month of December, 1848, and
the last in the same periodical for the month of March, 1849. In the January
number, a map, similar in character to the one which accompanies this pamphlet,
was inserted; and in the February number the outlines of the identical plan for a
Pacific Railway, contained in the following pages. Within two weeks after the
publication of this plan, Mr. Benton introduced his bill for the construction of a
railway from St. Louis to San Francisco Bay, into the Senate of the United States.
These facts the author states, lest he should be charged by the ignorant, the thought-
less, or the malevolent, with having derived any of his views on this subject from
the honorable Senator from Missouri.
Since the publication of this essay, he has received from Col. J. J. Abert , the
chief of the Topographical Bureau, among other valuable matter, an estimate of
cost which very far exceeds that which he has made. The estimate made by the
author, was made principally from a report made some years ago by Col. Abert to
Congtess, relative to the cost of the railways of New England, and he is now una-
ble to perceive why the cost of a Pacific Railway should be quadruple the cost of
those of New England. There is, it is true, an additional cost of transportation of
materials, but it should be remembered that the surface over which the author pro-
poses to construct this railway, is much more favorable than the surface of the
New England States. He, however, readily admits that Col. Abert is a far more
competent judge of cost than himself, and taking his estimate as accurate, which
puts down the cost at $75,000 per mile, he is still prepared to prove that it will be
a work of economy, as well as policy, for the United States to provide for its con-
struction.
He has received from Messrs. William Ingalls and others, constituting a com-
mittee upon a Pacific Railway, at the city of Boston, an article in pamphlet form,
purporting to be a response to that portion of his essay, which intimates his opin-
ion that the plan of construction proposed by Mr. DeGrasd is unconstitutional.
Preface.
xvii
He cannot spare space or time now, to give a full answer to this response. He
respectfully requests the Boston Committee to examine the proceedings of the
Convention of 1788, and the letters of Mr. Jefferson , and they will there find
that a proposition to empower Congress to create corporations was distinctly made
and voted down. It is true, that a Bank of the United States has been twice sane-
tioned by Congress, but as the Supreme Court have clearly decided, only as a means
to accomplish an end, acknowledged to be within the purview of the constitution.
And even this exercise of authority has been finally decided by the people of the
United States to be unconstitutional.
Nor will it do to effect one object under pretence of effecting another, as the
committee seem to suppose. They are most certainly aware that the people of the
Union would never consent to the construction of this great work as a mere mili-
tary road, nor as a means of suppressing Indian wars; and they must certainly
know that to make a contract with an incorporated company, for the construction
of a Pacific Railway, under pretence of contracting for the transportation of mu-
nitions of war, or of the mail, across the continent, would be a most shallow and
palpable evasion of the moral and legal obligation to observe the Constitution.
. The truth is, and these gentlemen are surely advised of it, that the people of
the United States want a Pacific Railway, because their growth in agricultural
resources, and manufacturing and commercial power demands it, and all the
reasons which they have given for the assumption of the power to create corpora-
tions, are but the incidental benefits to be anticipated. No one of the reasons
given by them, nor all of them together, would induce Congressional action,
unless to them all be superadded, the agricultural, manufacturing and commercial
interests which are to be promoted. The whole argument therefore, amounts to
less than "the baseless fabric of a vision."
He has also received a letter addressed to the Editors of the Western Journal
by the Boston Committee, in response to an article written by its Senior Editor,
and published in the October number. The fact which is most remarkable in con-
nection with this letter is, that it places the whole merit of Mr. De Grand's
scheme upon the single and simple ground that it solves the problem of " con-
structing the Railroad and Telegraphic line in the shortest possible time."
It may readily be admitted that it is important these works should be constructed
at an early period, but no good reason can be given why the Constitution should
be violated, and every consideration of economy lost sight of in order to con-
summate these works a little sooner. The Pacific Railway will certainly be the
most magnificent work of material improvement in the civilized world; but if it
were of thrice the magnitude and value, it would not be worth as much to the
human race as one jot or tittle of the Constitution of the United States, the only
earthly guarantee of human liberty and progress.
But Mr. De Grand certainly is ignorant of the condition and character of the
Western Territory, or he would never dream of constructing these works within
the space of four years. Had he the power and the resources of the Czar of
Russia, the thing would be impossible. And he is also in error in the supposition
that the following essay was designed to advocate any particular system of admin-
istration for the public lands in order to raise the means. It only asserts that the
B
xviii
Preface.
means can be derived by the sale of those lands in the usual way. But if it be
important to raise the whole sum at the start, let them be hypothecated at once.
There can be no doubt whatever that in this way any desired amount can be raised
at any time.
During the session of the Memphis Convention, Professor Forshey, of Louisiana,
gave an explanation of a new route for a Pacific Railway, which he illustrated by
means of a large map. This route starts from Memphis and proceeds southwest-
wardly across Red river, thence west through the Passo del Norte, thence northward
along the base of the Sierra Madre to the sources of the Gila river, thence down the
north bank of that stream to its mouth, and thence across the Rio Colorado and over
the Cordilleras to San Diego. It is a sufficient answer to this new- scheme to
state that in consequence of the Reports of Emory and Cook, Mr. Buchanan, the
then Secretary of State, was convinced that no practicable military road could be
had on the north bank of the Gila, and that one could be. found along the route
followed by Cooke; and that, therefore, he instructed Mr. Trist to insist upon a
line far enough South to include Cooke's route. This instruction was violated by
Mr. Trist, and thus the only extreme southern line for a great Railway was lost.
To this the author will add that he has seen and conversed with a number of in-
telligent persons who have traversed large portions of country along the north
bank of the Gila, and that they all represent the structure of the country as too
rugged even for a common wagon road.
It has been suggested to the author that he may inadvertently have done some
injustice to Professor Morse in the brief historical sketch which opens the article
upon a Pacific Telegraph. He can only say that he used such means of ascertain-
ing truth as were accessible to him,—that the libraries of this city are not very
fully equipped with scientific works, and that he neither had the motive or the in-
clination to do injustice to any one. Jf he has done so he trusts that this frank
statement of facts will satisfy Professor Morse and his friends of his integrity of
purpose.
i The proceedings of the two great National Conventions held at St. Lonis and
Memphis, together with a number of letters from public men of long experience
and high character, have convinced the author that there is a very general impres-
sion upon the mind of the nation in favor of surveys and estimates, before the exact
line of this railway shall be designated by public authority. In respect to this
branch of this subject, he trusts he will not be deemed arrogant or over officious in
making some suggestions. He has assiduously labored for years, to comprehend
this whole subject, and his opinions, on that account alone, may possibly be of
some service.
There is no doubt whatever that a railway can be constructed from the Missis-
sippi to the Mountains, any where between the latitude of Council Bluffs, and the
Red River of Louisiana. The difficulties and expense will be increased as we pro-
ceed southward from the mouth of the Kansas river, as any one acquainted with
the geography of the country will easily perceive. The main question, then, to be
determined, in- order to fix the eastern terminus upon the western border, and the
western terminus on the Pacific, is, at what point can the work be carried through
the Rocky Mountains? When that is ascertained, the line east and west should
follow a great circle of the globe, as near as may be, and surveys should be directed
accordingly.
Preface.
xix
Probably the plan for a survey which would accomplish the object in the shortest
possible period, would be to detail a competent number of topographical engineers,
supplied with three or four distinct sets of instruments, and direct them to proceed
directly to the South Pass. At that point a section of the party might proceed
westward, and survey all the routes to the Bay, which the emigrants and others
have found, keeping as near a direct line as possible; and the other section could
follow the mountain range as far south as the Passo del Norte. If no other gap
equal to these two can be found, this section of the party can proceed along the
northern bank of the Gila river to the Pacific, if the government is not already
satisfied in regard to that route. If, on their arrival upon the shores of the Pacific>
these parties, or either of them, are satisfied that a route can be had from the moun-
tains westward, let them return forthwith to the South Pass and the Passo del
Norte, or either of them, as the case may be, and from thence follow the most
direct route to the western border, at such point or points as may be designated by
Congress. The author is satisfied that wherever this road passes the mountains, it
must be so terminated on our western border, as to give a fair and equal participa-
tion in the benefits likely to arise from it, to all sections of the Union. He is
satisfied of this, because from all the information he has been enabled to procure,
no other road can be made sufficiently acceptable to the people, to secure the requi-
site number of congressional votes; and because, moreover, a road of any other
character would be unjust, unequal and impolitic, and calculated to divide instead
of bind these States together. He, therefore, believes that Congress should fix upon
at least a segment of the line of longitude on our western border, within which
its eastern terminus shall be. This can be easily done by a measurement of dis-
tances upon a good map of the Union. If any other pass or passes should be found
in the intervening space between the South Pass and Passo del Norte, a party or
parties can be detailed to proceed westward from thence to the Pacific; and on
their arrival there, govern themselves afterwards by the suggestion already made in
reference to the sections which go from the South Pass and the Passo del Norte
westward.
It seems to the author, that for the sake of celerity, the same bill which provides
for these surveys, should have provisions in it authorizing the President or the Sec-
retary of the Interior, under' his supervision, to enter into a contract upon just
terms, with competent parties, for the construction of a line of telegraph along the
line which shall be finally designated by the surveys as the one best adapted for a
railway. The outlines of a scheme for the accomplishment of this object will be
found in the following pages. To the suggestions there made, he deems it unne-
ce96ary to add any thing more here.
The maps which accompany these articles are, both of them, believed to be un-
commonly accurate. The first one is a copy, with some additions, of the one sub-
mitted to Congress by Mr. Whitney, in his memorial; and the second, exhibiting
the railways of the Union, and the country westward, is made up from a large map
published by Congress, to illustrate Mr. T. Butler King's report upon the Panama
Railway, with some additions; and from all the authorities on file in the office of
the Topographical Bureau at Washington. They may, therefore, be relied upon as
being as accurate as the state of our knowledge will admit of.
xx
Preface.
The writer cannot reconcile it to his feelings to close this preface without giving
expression to his gratitude to those who have given essential aid and encourage-
ment in the prosecution of his labors. To Col. J. J. A bert , he is indebted not
only for what his office could yield in respect to this subject, but for a large variety
of valuable matter in reference to the general geography of the west, kindly trans-
mitted, to contribute towards the completion of a work upon the history and re-
sources of the west, which he has had in hand for some years past. He owes deep
gratitude to the general committee of St. Louis, for the firmness and decision with
which they have sustained his views, and more especially to its chairman, who,
with so much of intelligent ardor, has labored to aid in carrying out a system
which entirely accorded with his own views. Time can never obliterate from his
memory, the obligation which the whole delegation of the State of Missouri in the
National Convention, has imposed upon him by the unanimity with which they
contributed to the adoption of his plan, by the National Convention; and to say
how much he feels indebted to the Convention itself, he feels to be beyond his
powers of expression.
To every member of the Convention who addressed the body, it is his duty to
return thanks, and this is a special duty which he owes to the Honorable R. W.
T hompson , of Indiana, whose eloquent appeal had so decisive an influence; and to
the Hon. S. A. D ouglass , of Illinois, the Hon. C harles N aylor , and the Hon.
G eorge D arsie , of Pennsylvania, and Mr. R obinson , the distinguished civil engi-
neer. He has received a very large number of letters, from almost every State in
the Union, signifying the approbation of the writers, of his plan for a railway.
Some of these are addressed to him by gentlemen distinguished in public life; a
large number by gentlemen connected with the great pnblic works of the different
States; and numerous others by enterprising citizens engaged in mercantile, manu-
facturing and other industrial pursuits. To each and all of these gentlemen, he
tenders his grateful thanks, and begs leave to intimate to them that a steady perse-
verance in demanding the construction of a Pacific Railway, must result in success
in a representative and republican government.
St. L ouis, D ecember 1, 1849.
PACIFIC RAILWAY.
VARIOUS ROUTES OF COMMERCE WITH THE EAST.
From the earliest period of authentic history, the commerce of the East has
been deemed an object of the first importance to civilized nations. In the
East, religion and civilization had their birth, and those nations—and those
only—which have largely partaken of the profits of oriental commerce, have
successively been elevated to power and pre-eminence. The Assyrians, the
Persians, the Tyrians, the Egyptians, the Romans, the Greeks, the Byzan-
tines,Jhe Venitians, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English, have all re-
spectively, in the course of ages, enjoyed a supremacy in Eastern trade ; and
hence, the national power and glory of these nations were chiefly derived,
and its loss has been uniformly followed by disaster and degradation. The
dangers and difficulties encountered by the ancients in their struggles to mo-
nopolize the treasures of Asia, very far exceeded those now hazarded in the
pursuit of commerce. They were destitute of accurate geographical knowl-
edge—they had no conception of the mechanical principles, and improve-
ments which have given to our times an almost absolute sovereignty over the
elements—-and they suffered in consequence of a deficiency of all those means
and appliances which have well nigh' converte d the variouspursuits of life
from labors into pleasures. Yet with all these difficulties a commerce with
eastern" Asia, from the western provinces, and from Europe, was steadily pur-
sued as the leading object of enterprise, with an ardor and perseverance which
could have been justified only by the value and magnitude of the end at which
they aimed. Sacred and profane history abound with the details of the toils,
the dangers, the difficulties, the wars, and the intrigues to which this trade
gave birth ; and indeed, the very routes over which the adventurers succes-
sively passed in their efforts to acquire the control of it, indicate alike the
importance which they attached to its possession, and the lengths to which
they were willing to go to secure to themselves the monopoly of so rich a
prize. First, the wandering, but hardy Arab with his patient camel, is depic-
tured in the page of history, traversing thousands of miles of trackless and
burning desert, exposed to the daily hazard of famine and the poisonous
breath of the Simoon, to bring into the markets of the west the jewels and
precious stones, which rival princes struggle to possess ; next, the frail and
imperfect barque of the coaster of Hindoostan, with its light sails and oars,
appears upon the bosom of the Indian Ocean, where capricious w-inds, whirl-
ing currents, and rocky reefs, continually threatened it with destruction, and
then entering the sacred Euphrates, deposits its precious burthen at the city
of Thapsacus, whence the Arab transports it over hundred of niiles of deso-
lation to the swarming shores of the Mediterranean; next, the Indian mari-
ner, grown more hardy and skilful by time and practice, may be contemplated
sailing calmly and confidently by the debouchure of the Euphrates, and along
6
Pacific Railway.
the rock-bound coast of Arabia, until rounding its southern point in the teeth
of those Monsoons which yet excite the terror of the children of the sea, he
safely distributes his rich cargo among the eager crowd who have collected
from Egypt and the Levant to traffic with him at the head of the Red Sea;
next, the seat of Empire is transferred to the Nile, and the India merchant
lands his goods at Berenice, about two hundred and fifty miles south of Suez,
whence the millionaire of Alexandria transports them with camel caravans to
Coptos and to Alexandria, where they find their way into all civilized nations ;
next, we behold the growing influence of the trade of the East in the Grand
Canal, which united the waters of the mysterious Nile to those of the Red
Sea ; next, we behold the beginning of that great emigration of the northern
nations which from age to age has successively extinguished the sovereignty,
and in some instances the civilization of the south ; and the Turks fix the
seat of their power on the Bosphorus, whence daring and adventurous semi-
robber bands prosecuted a trade with Asia by crossing the Black Sea, ascend-
ing the river Phasis, descending the river Cyrus, encountering the storms and
currents of the Caspian, and finally ascending the Oxus to its head, and tra-
versing the base of the great chain of the Himalayas through ferocious and
hostile bands, to the western provinces of China.
Wherever the fertilizing current of Eastern commerce flowed, in ancient
times, civilization, power, and splendor followed in its wake. Petrae, Balbec,
Palmyra, Tyre, Alexandria, and Byzantium, were all created by the riches
of the East. Every stone of their magnificent temples—every material im-
provement which secured to the masses of their people the comforts and lux-
uries of life—every triumph of their genius in poetry, and the fine and useful
arts, and every exhibition of their military vigor and strength, may be dis*
tinctly traced to the one all-pervading source. Time has bedimmed the bril-
liant pages of their glorious history, and darkened the oriental splendor of
their traditions ; but the fragments of their gorgeous palaces and shattered
columns yet speak to us in a language more solemn than that of history, at-
testing the value of eastern commerce and the fatal consequences of its loss.
Fired by the progress of more ancient nations, the Venitians, who were
among the first to awaken from the long sleep of the middle ages, concen-
trated all their energies upon the successful attempt to wrest from the Otto-
man the sceptre of eastern commerce. Building up a naval power which
commanded the Mediterranean, they asserted a supreme dominion over eas-
tern trade ; and Brussels, Antwerp, and other northern cities derived, by their
permission, benefits from it, which may yet be recognized in their public edi-
fices. At length the passage of the Cape of Good Hope, by Yasco de Gama,
again revolutionized the commerce of the civilized world, and Portugal ascend-
ed to political and military supremacy. Next, the vigor and perseverance of
the Dutch, the French, the Danes, and the English, gave each of these nations
a position in power, corresponding to the extent of their possessions and in-
fluence in the East; and a series of the most ruthless and bloody wars which
have polluted the history of the human race, was waged for ages, by these
nations, for the sole purpose of monopolizing the trade of the Indies. And,
finally, the maratime skill and superior energy of the English character hav-
ing triumphed over the combined powers of all European rivals, an empire
has been attached to the British crown, containing hundreds of thousands of
square miles, and an industrious, submissive, and patient population of one
hundred and fifty millions of people.
Pacific Piailway.
7
Nor did the anxiety of the nations of Europe to reap the rich rewards of
Asiatic intercourse stop with the military and naval rivalries which followed
the discovery of the passage around the southern extremity of Africa. Those
of them who found themselves too weak to cope with their rivals upon this
channel of intercourse, devoted themselves to the task of finding new routes
to the treasures of Asia. All the northern coast of Europe, from the west-
em border of Norway to the northern point of Kamschatka, was explored
by adventurers fitted out successively by the Dutch, the English and the
Russians ; and the latter power traced out an overland route, through Siberia
and Mantchoo Tartary, over which caravans to this day travel with safety,
regularity and great profit.
Inspired by the hope of immortality, Christopher Columbus turned his
eyes from the bloody scenes which disfigured the regions of the rising, to the
dim, mysterious, brilliant and dreamy splendors which his imagination depic-
lured as encircling the setting sun ; and over that broad and tempestuous
ocean which is interposed between the Old and the New World, without
chart or guide, this heroic spirit ploughed his way, in the full confidence
that he would penetrate the Indies in a briefer space of time than those who
rounded the tempestuous point of Africa. He died in the conviction that he
had accomplished the object of his ambition, and in ignorance that he had
brought to the knowledge of the civilized world a new and magnificent con-
tinent. This grand discovery opened up new and extensive fields for the
gratification of the spirit of adventure and the reward of chivalric ambition ;
but the mines of Mexico and Peru, the wealth and splendor acquired by the
conquerors, and the boundless expanse of rich, diversified and fascinating
landscape, were all insufficient to divert the attention of Europe from the
grand idea which led the great discoverer westward— T a new and shorter route
io the Indies. Every expedition fitted out by the authorities of Spain, Portu-
gal, France and Italy, for discovery, conquest and colonization, had, as its
ultimate purpose, the solution of this all-important problem. The coasts of
the two continents were surveyed with the utmost care and diligence, from
Terra del Fuego to the 50th parallel of north latitude, in search of some
inlet which might lead through the great continent into the Pacific ; all the
great rivers were ascended, and all the great lakes encircled ; Cortez exam-
ined the long isthmus which unites the two continents for more than twelve
hundred miles ; and the military adventurers, who sought plunder as well as
empire in the interior, were all awakened to the immortal fame which he
should acquire who made the great discovery for which all Europe absolutely
longed. Nor were the English slow in perceiving the vast importance of
obtaining the command of such a route, should it be found to exist. This
constituted the leading inducement to the voyage of Sebastian Cabot; and,
from that period to the present, that powerful nation has not ceased to take
a deep*and abiding interest in the subject. She has equipped more than
thirty expeditions for the exploration of the coasts and harbors of northern
America ; and, whilst we are writing this article, the whole civilized world
is filled with anxiety and solicitude relative to the safety of the heroic and
devoted Captain Franklin, who, with an ardor and energy worthy of all ad-
miration, has consecrated his talents, his time, and his life, to the solution of
the only geographical problem which can ever again excite the efforts of
science-and enterprise.
8
Pacific Eaihvay.
After the hope of finding a nearer route to the Indies for commerce, by sea
voyages, was abandoned, the ambitious spirits who led bands of European
adventurers into the interior of the North American continent, for purposes
of conquest and plunder, devoted themselves to the interesting task of tra-
cing out a connection between the Eastern and Western Oceans, through in-
lerior lakes and streams. Ferdinand de Soto, who united in himself the
character of the chivalric hero, the daring brigand, and the ruthless and
bloody bigot, after traversing thousands of square miles between the Bay of
Spiritu Santo and the Ozark chain of mountains, as early as the year 1540,
without finding the rich mines which he had been deluded to anticipate,
boldly turned his steps westward from the outlet of Red River, and toiled
onward through deep morasses, turbid bayous, and putrid lakes, infested with
loathsome and venomous reptiles, until issuing into the boundless and sterile
plains which expand in stern and solitary grandeur from the 100th.degree of
longitude to the base of the Rocky Mountains, he was appalled by the dread
sublimity of the scene, and retraced his weary way.
Jacques Cartier, Father Marquette, and the Sieur de la Salle, were all
animated by the high ambition of finding a natural navigable passage through
the continent by interior lakes and streams. The first of these daring ad-
venturers, in three successive voyages, ascended the St. Lawrence as high as
the point where the city of Montreal now stands; the second, sustained by
a pious spirit and unswerving faith, descended the Mississippi in 1673, as
low as the mouth of the Arkansas, in expectation of finding a connection of
the latter stream with the Californian Gulf; and the third, whose fame is
consecrated by the Muse of History, as the founder of colonization in the
Mississippi Valley, after parting with his friends near Montreal, in 1689, to
whom his last words w%re, " La Chine," descended the Father of Waters,
to the spot where his turbid current is mingled with the Mexican Gulf. In
a subsequent voyage, he landed at Matagorda Bay, and from thence attempted
to toil his way by land to Canada, but was cruelly murdered by his com-
panions in the plains of the Arkansas. La Salle died in the conviction that
a connection would be found between the Illinois, a tributary of the Arkan-
sas, and the waters of the Pacific.
In the year 1766, Capt. Jonathan Carver, then in the British service,
traversed the regions in the vicinity of the great lakes of Canada, and pene-
trated as far westward as the St. Francis, where the children of the wilder-
ness told him of the river Oregon ; in 1769, Mr. Ilearne, starting from Fort
William, on Hudson's Bay, had his feet torn to pieces, and sprinkled his
blood over the frozen and jagged plains of the arctic circle, until he reached
the Northern ocean, in the vicinity of the Coppermine river, in latitude 70
degrees ; and in 1789, Sir Alexander McKenzie, leaving the Athabasca lake,
passed through Slave lake, and down the stream to which he gave his name,
to the Arctic Sea, whence he returned ; and turning his face westward, and
surmounting the stupendous chain of the Rocky Mountains, pursued his
hazardous way on foot, through strange and ferocious tribes, and amid scenery
which is unrivalled in grandeur and sublimity, to the shores of the Pacific,
upon the 52d parallel of latitude.
Finally, the expedition of Lewis and Clark, fitted out by that man of
genius and common sense, of profound abstract thought and practical ability—
Pacific Railway\
0
Thomas Jefferson —forever determined that there was no natural navigable
passage from the Atlantic into the Pacific Ocean.
Baffled thus in every effort to change the route to the Indies, by the dis-
covery of new avenues of intercommunication, the ambition of statesmen
and the avarice of traders were directed, for a long period, to securing
the free use of the route around the Cape of Good Hope, and a permanent
footing at various points in the Indian Seas. To effect these purposes, the
genius and skill of statesmen, and the power of military and naval anna-
ments, have been respectively brought into requisition ; and the final result
has been, that the naval strength of Great Britain has given her a prepond-
erating influence in the East.
SCHEMES FOR CROSSING THE ISTHMUS.
The idea of uniting the two great oceans, by a canal, across the Isthmus
which connects the northern with the southern part of the American conti-
nent, for the purpose of opening a new channel for the commerce of Asia,
was never entirely lost sight of from the period when Cortez caused it to be
examined. Projects for this purpose, ending in signal failure, were set on
foot by M. Martine de la Bastide, and subsequently by William Patterson, a
native of Scotland. No less than four routes by canal or railway have been
proposed at various times.
1. By the Isthmus of Panama.
2. By the Lake of Nicaragua.
3. By the river Atrato.
4. By theTsthmus of Tehuantepec.
1. Panama. —This portion of the Isthmus lies between 8 and 10 deg, of
north latitude, in the Province of New Granada, and varies in width from
twenty-eight to forty-eight miles. It was first surveyed by order of Bolivar,
and subsequently under a secret order of the French government; and lastly,
the United States having acquired by treaty the right of way, a company has
been chartered by the State of New York for the construction of a railroad
from the city of Panama to the head of navigation on Chagres river, and
thence to Navy Bay in the Gulf of Mexico. The stock, we understand, has
already been taken in the City and State of New York. The results of the
survey show that the road can be certainly constructed on a line not exceed-
ing forty-six miles in length, with a grade no where exceeding fifty feet per
mile. The company are now making energetic efforts to prosecute the work,
and there is no reason to doubt of its completion within the next two years.
Ocean steamers have already been built in anticipation of the completion of
this project, and lines are now in successful operation from our eastern ports
to Chagres, and from Panama to California and Oregon. If, as is believed,
steam power can be profitably introduced upon this new route to China, the
construction of this railway must seriously affect, if not entirely change, the
channel of the commerce of the East.
2. Nicaragua. —This lake is situated between 11 and 12 degrees of north
latitude, at an elevation of 134 feet above the Pacific Ocean, and is con-
nected with the Gulf of Mexico by the river San Juan:
The entire route was surveyed by Mr. Bailey in 1837 and 1838, under the
authority of the government of Nicaragua. He estimated the cost of a canal
with one mile of tunnel, and two miles of deep cutting through volcanic
10
Pacific Railway,
rock, and a number of locks, at $30,000,000. Were reasonable tolls col-
lected on commodities transported over a work of such great cost, it could
not compete successfully with the Panama railway, more especially as the
tunnel will involve the necessity of trans-shipments.
3. Tehuantepec. —The width of the isthmus here is one hundred and thirty-
five miles. The route proposed for a canal or railway, ascends the Guasce-
cualco river, which flows into the Mexican Gulf, as high as the town of Ta-
rissa, and thence over a plain through a depression of the Cordilleras to the
Chicapa, which flows into a lake in the vicinity of the Pacific. This route
was surveyed by Moro in 1832, under the orders of Don Jose Garay; but as
this survey has proven to be very erroneous, no reliable induction can be
made from it. A Mexican, professing to have the exclusive right of way
across this isthmus, memorialized the Congress of the United States, at its
last session for aid towards opening a canal on this line. And the English
commercial house of Manning & Mcintosh have also claimed the right of
way, and at our latest accounts were proceeding to the practical assertion
of it.
4. Atrato. —This route follows the river Atrato, which empties into the
Gulf southeast of the Isthmus of Darien, to its source, and thence through a
gap of the Cordilleras to the source of the San Juan, along the line of the
ancient Peruvian canal, and down that stream to the Pacific. It is, however,
too far south to come in competition with either of the three routes already
mentioned.
The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is about five hundred and twenty miles north
west of Panama, and therefore, this route would be at least one thousand
miles nearer to Canton than that by Chagres and Panama, for vessels sailing
from New York to the Isthmus, and from the Isthmus to Canton. It is,
therefore, obvious, that if a canal or railway can be constructed at Tehuan-
tepee which will afford equal facilities with the railway at Panama, that the
latter route cannot compete with the former. And if this work shall be com-
pleted under English authority, her merchants can afford to undersell us in
our own ports, and will, therefore, become our carriers in the trade of the
East. Did the declaration of Mr. Monroe, reiterated by the late President
Polk, respecting European colonization upon the North American continent
mean nothing ?
NAVIGATION OF THE MISSOURI AND COLUMBIA.
During the progress of these schemes for crossing the Isthmus, new plans
for changing the commerce of the Indies have been broached by distinguished
individuals in the United States. The first in order of time was that of Sen-
ator Benton, published in 1818. The proposition was, to substitute steam
navigation upon the Missouri and Columbia rivers, for the sea voyage, and
connecting those streams by natural or turnpike road. With the informa-
tion which we now have in respect to this route, it is scarcely necessary to
remark, that it does not merit the slightest consideration ; we will, however,
mention some of the physical obstructions which, in our opinion, render it
impracticable. In low water, the Columbia river descends over a long sue-
cession of rapids and falls to the Pacific—one of these, the Kettle Falls, is
one hundred and sixty feet, and the Great Falls, from their head to the foot
of the Dalles, (9 miles,) has a descent of 70 feet. Lewis and Clark found
Pacific Railway.
11
forty-two rapids and falls in their descent of the river; and moreover, Clark's
river—the one proposed for steam navigation—is absolutely filled at its mouth
by the fall of an overhanging precipice. But if there was not a solitary
rapid, or other obstruction, the navigation of the river would be impossible,
because it descends at the rate of more than three and a half feet per mile,
and we are advised that no steamboat can be constructed which will stem
such a current.
And, when it is known that owing to ice and low water, the navigation of
the upper Missouri is totally worthless for all commercial purposes, except
during the summer tide, it is evident that this route would not meet the de-
mands of our Pacific trade, even if the navigation of the Columbia was as
good as that of the lower Mississippi. Our present condition as a nation,
and the age in which we live, demand other and more efficient facilities of
travel and transportation than this, or either of the routes before mentioned can
afford ; for, since the invention and introduction of the railway and the steam
car, and the rapid progress of population and trade towards the Pacific—
since the colonization of Oregon and the conquest of California—since the
discovery of the rich mines of the precious metals along the spurs of the
Sierra Nevada—and since the vast impulse which all these causes have given
to emigration to the shores of the Pacific, and to the great and growing com-
merce of that mighty ocean, the minds of statesmen and philanthropists—of
projectors and of enterprising commercial men, have been directed to the
vital importance of facilitating our intercourse with our Pacific colonies—of
providing the means of conducting our rapidly increasing trade—of enlarging
the boundaries of civilization—and of creating that last grand revolution in
the commercial intercourse of the world, which, through all future time is to
preserve it under a settled, permanent and beneficial system. It is perfectly
obvious that the only possible means of accomplishing these magnificent ob-
jects is the railway ; and to the solution of the question respecting the prac-
ticability of such a work, and the advantages of its construction, a number
of intelligent and laborious minds have been directed for years past. None
of the plans for crossing the continent hitherto proposed, promise to produce
a radical and permanent change of the route of commerce to the East; be-
cause none of these improvements will enable the people of Europe or Amer-
ica to conduct this commerce as cheaply and safely, as it may be conducted
by sea voyages. Fortunately for us, and for the world, the discovery of the
railway and steam car has placed in our hands the means of doing that for
which the nations have vainly struggled for the past three centuries ; and
for which they have expended more in time, capital and men, than would
have sufficed for the construction of a work of thrice the magnitude and cost
of a Pacific railway.
VARIOUS PLANS FOR A RAILWAY ACROSS THE CONTINENT.
Several plans for the construction of a railway across the continent, have
been laid before the public within the last ten years. These plans differ es-
sentially, as respects the route upon which the railway shall be carried, the
manner in which it shall be constructed, the sources from which the means
are to be drawn to pay for it, and the authority under which it shall be built
and controlled in future time. . The principal of these schemes are the fob
lowing:
Pacific Railway..
1. From Rampico to Mazatlan.
2. From Yera Cruz to Acapulco.
3. From Natchez to Mazatlan.
4. From Galveston to San Diego.
5. From Memphis to San Diego, Monterey, or San Francisco.
6. From Lake Michigan to Puget's Sound or Francisco.
7. From St. Louis to San Francisco and Oregon.
1. Tampico to Mazatlan. —The practicable distance between these points
would be about seven hundred miles. If there was a prospect of a settled
government and a prosperous condition of agriculture, manufactures and
commerce in Mexico, it is probable that an improvement of this character and
magnitude might be undertaken ; but the known habits of the Spanish race
and of the cross races which have been brought into existence by their inter-
communication with various native tribes, precludes the probability, not to say
possibility, of the accomplishment of such an enterprise.
2. Vera Cruz to Acapulco. —This plan is much more feasible in many re-
spects than the former, because, if the time should come when even simple
security can be given to capital invested in Mexico, the interest of European
commercial men might induce them to furnish the means for the construction
of a road between these points, intersecting in its course such a number of
important interior regions. The route, as it has been frequently proposed and
commented upon, would pass through Jalapa, Cordova, Puebla, Cuarnavaca,
and the city of Mexico. The distance, as now traversed by mules, is five
hundred and twent} -two miles. Two great mountain chains cross this route
the ridge of Rio Frio, between Yera Cruz and the city of Mexico, and the
ridge of El Marques, between that city and Acapulco—and both these granite
ridges are upwards of ten thousand feet high.
3. Natchez to Mazatlan. —This route has been most elaborately advocated
by Professor Forshey in De Bow's Review. The whole distance, as calcu-
lated by him, would be 1491 miles, and the cost is estimated at $22,000,000.
The estimated cost is evidently far too low. Moreover, taking his own ac-
count of the route as correct, (which is more than doubtful,) the difficulty of
construction would be far more than upon any route yet projected. We have
mentioned these routes through foreign territory more as matter of historical
curiosity than from any other motive ; for it is perfectly certain that no pro-,
ject can command the approbation of the people of this country, which pro-
poses to build up the prosperity of a foreign State, or to place the interests
of the United States in any degree under its control.
4. Galveston to San Diego. —A memorial in favor of this route was pre-
sented, we believe, at the last session of Congress, under the resolutions of a
mass meeting of the citizens of Texas. The line of the railway would pass
from Galveston Bay northwest to the 32d degree of latitude; thence, west-
ward, across the Rio Grande and through the Passo del Norte ; or over the
Sierra Madre, to the sources of the Gila, thence down the valley of that
river to its mouth,, and thence over the Cordilleras to San Diego. The dis-
tance would certainly exceed fourteen hundred miles. We apprehend that a
railroad so far south, if constructed at all, must be constructed by some other
authority than that of the general government. Too small a portion of the
Union would be directly interested in it.
5. Memphis, to San Diego, Monterey or San Francisco. —The first sug-
gestion of the city of Memphis as the eastern terminus of a railway to the
Pacific Railway.
13
Pacific, was made by Lieut. Maury, of the National Observatory, in a letter
to the Hon. T. Butler King, under the date of January, 1848. Since that
period, a large number of public meetings have been held in the Southern
States, to express popular sentiment in favor of this suggestion ; and a con-
vention of delegates from all these States is to be held at Memphis, in Octo-
ber next, for the purpose of giving the public opinion of the South the
respectability and force of deliberate, organized action. It seems to us that
it would have been well if our friends of the Southern section of the Union
had examined with more care the letter of Lieut. Maury, before they under-
took to invoke the influence of his high character in favor of any specific
route for a railway to the Pacific. He has not asserted, or even undertaken
to say, that he believed that a railroad could be constructed from Memphis
to Monterey. He has only said that if the earth were an uninterrupted plain,
the geographical line of commerce would indicate this route as the preferable
one. He qualifies his opinion by adding, " I wish you to understand that I
do not pretend to know any thing as to the nature of the ground, or the ob-
stacles in the way, further than what may be gathered from a mere geographi-
cal knowledge. San Diego or San Francisco may either offer a better termi-
nus for the railroad than Monterey." As the sole desire of those who favor
Memphis is, that it shall become the eastern terminus of the railway, the
original proposition has been recently varied, so as to include any and every
scheme which proposes a railway either to San Diego, Monterey or San
Francisco.
The line proposed by Lieut. Maury is an air line, because of his want of
topographical information. Practically, of course, this line would have to
be varied to suit the structure of the country through which the road would
pass. Let us follow the proposed line, and examine the face of the country
through which this route passes, and see whether it be practicable to construct
a railway from Memphis to either of the three ports of California.
The proposed line would cross the St. Francis, the Languille, the Cache,
the White and the Arkansas Rivers, with numerous tributaries, through a
region of swamps and river bottoms, which annually overflow. An able
article in Be Bow's Review for July, written expressly to aid in the
advancement of the Memphis scheme, in speaking of this portion of the
route, excuses it thus: "The danger of overflow in eastern Arkansas can,
without doubt, be obviated entirely by proper levees, constructed in the north-
eastern part of that State." " Our facts are too meagre, however, to venture
any precise calculation of obstructions and expense." " There are, also,
good lands upon a greater portion of the way ; and to us it is perfectly clear,
from all the facts we can gather, that the passage from Memphis to Santa
Fc presents, to say the least, no greater obstacles than that from St. Louis to
the South Pass, or some other pass in the mountains." How can this be
clear to one who, a few sentences before, confesses his ignorance of thq
" obstructions" from Memphis through Arkansas ? and how can it be clear
to one who has glanced at Fremont, or any one of the twenty works of
travelers to the South Pass, and there seen that the wide world affords not a
better route for a railway ?
Moreover, it is incorrect to say, that " our facts are too meagre" respecting
the route from Memphis to the mouth of the Canadian. The country has
been surveyed by Long and Featherstonhaugb, and described by Nutiall,
14
Pacific Railway.
Hunter and Dunbar, and numbers of others. It has also been surveyed under
the authority of the General Land Office, and is as well known, scientifically
and popularly , as any other portion of the Mississippi Valley. If -these
authorities had been consulted by the reviewer, he would have escaped the
necessity of complaining of a meagerness of fact. He would then have found
that a great portion of this region is alluvial, and affords no stable basis for
a railway ; and that, to secure it from annual overflow, it would be necessary
to incur the expense of throwing up levees along the banks of the Missis-
sippi, the Arkansas, and their tributaries. Is this a work of economy ? And
he would then have been convinced thatjmuch of the line of a road through
the State of Arkansas must necessarily be elevated upon piles. Is this either
a secure or a frugal work ? From the mouth of the Canadian, the road must
either follow the valley of the stream or ascend to the high table lands be-
tween that river and the Rio Colorado. If it be attempted to follow the
valley of the Canadian, it will be found so sinuous, as to add at least forty
per cent, to the direct distance from its mouth to its head,—it will be found
that the stream meanders through this valley, from the north to the south line
of bluffs, in such a manner, that scarce two miles of its whole course can be
traversed without the necessity of crossing it, and the consequent necessity of
constructing numberless and expensive viaducts, and these viaducts must be
so elevated as to be above the stream during the season of floods. It is mani-
festly impossible to do this, because, during every freshet, the stream submerges
its whole valley several feet in depth. Such is the testimony of Long, Pike,
Col. Boone (of the Army,) Mr. Stanly (a Santa Fe trader,) and finally, of
Dr. Gregg. But even supposing these difficulties overcome, there is one other
which renders it altogether impracticable to ascend the valley of the Cana-
dian. The stream, in a number of places, flows through canons for miles
together, where the narrow chasm is shut in by solid masses of perpendicular
rock. At the Angostura (or narrows,) Dr. Gregg says, "We found the point
of a table land projecting abruptly against the river, so as to render it impos-
sible to pass. Ascending the main summit of these craggy promontories, the
eastern ridge of the Rocky Mountains may be seen." And in another place
Dr. Gregg adds, The Canadian river flows through a canon, for a distance
of more than fifty miles, throughout the whole extent of which the gorge is
utterly impassable for wagons, and almost for horses." The valley of this
river cannot, therefore, be ascended with a railway.
If it be attempted to traverse the table lands of New Mexico, difficulties
not less serious will be found constantly interposed. The whole of New
Mexico, with the exception only of those portions traversed by great moun-
tain chains, consists of elevated table lands, forming a succession of plateaux,
increasing in height, and diminishing in circumference, from the line of the
State of Arkansas to the base of the Rocky Mountains. These plateaux are
intersected in various directions by numerous streams and gorges, which, in
the course of ages, have cut their channels to the depth of many hundreds
of feet. This peculiar tendency of the streams of New Mexico to cut deep
and narrow chasms—in many places through solid rock:—has been remarked
by all travelers, and is in direct contrast to the topographical appearance of
all the more northern portions of the continent, except California and Ore-
gon. As a general remark, it is correct to say, that the peculiarity is con-
fined to volcanic regions. To whatever cause the fact may be attributed,
Pacific Railway.
15
certain it is that, in respect to New Mexico, it has been thoroughly established
by Lieut. Abert, by Lieut. Emory, by Long, by Pike, by Humboldt, by
Gregg, by Kendall, by Hughes, by Wislizenus, and by all travelers, scientific
and unscientific, who have given us descriptions of the country. One of
them says, when upon the table land overlooking the Canadian, " The valley
below could only be reached by descending a frightful cliff, of from 1200 to
1500 feet, and very precipitous." The descents to the level of all the streams
are uniformly abrupt. In consequence of this physical structure of the
country, a railway across the table lands of New Mexico cannot be built
without building viaducts across streams and ravines without number, and
many of these viaducts would be from one to five miles in length. Of course
it is possible to construct such a work, but should such a region be selected
as a matter of choice ?
After arriving in the valley of the Rio del Norte, the road must be diverted
southward to the Passo del Norte, and then directly northward again, to the
valley of the Gila ; for, we presume, no sane man proposes to surmount the
stupendous mass of the Sierra Madre with a railway, or to bore a tunnel
through eight or ten miles of primitive rock. This portion of the route is
intersected by a number of streams and chasms, and the part of it from the
Passo northward interrupted by numerous spurs of the Sierra Madre.
The only scientific account of the country from Santa Fe westward to the
Pacific, is that of Major Emory, who accompanied General Kearney upon
his expedition to California, during the late war with Mexico. We will give
the reader some idea of the structure of the country, by the following facts
gleaned from the tables published with his " Reconnoisance," by order of
Congress.
The elevation of Santa Fe is 6,846 feet. From Santa Fe, General Kear-
ney passed, in nineteen days, over a broken, precipitous region, to an eleva-
tion of only4,138 feet; and in five days more, ascended to 6,167 feet. On
the following day, he descended to 4,587 feet; and, thus varying up and
down through a peculiarly desolate and rugged country, to the Colorado, 176
feet above the level of the Pacific. From the Colorado, General Kearney
ascended the Cordilleras of California, and surmounted them through a pass
3,050 feet above the sea. The following ascents and descents will show the
general character of the route pursued by General Kearney:
September 21, in 40 miles, 49| feet per mile.
" 29, in 46 " 44} " "
October 17, in 38 " 33 " "
« 20, in 8 " 225 "
November 1, in 10 " 220 " "
« 6, in 38 " 43 " "
From the Colorado to the Ocean.
December 1, in 15 miles, 141^ feet per mile.
6, in 10 " 233J «
Now, it must be borne in mind that the Rio Gila is the boundary between
us and Mexico, as settled by the late treaty,—that, therefore, we must con-
struct a railway altogether on the north bank of that stream,—that General
Kearney crossed the river no less than fourteen times between the copper and
gold mines, where he entered its valley, and the 112th degree of west longi-
16
Pacific Railway.
tude,—"-that, from thence to its mouth, he followed its south hank, now Mexi-
can soil,—and that it is palpably impossible, as the " Reconnoisance" proves,
to follow the valley of the stream along its north bank, becaus.e numerous
stupendous walls of primitive rock, sometimes miles in length, rise perpen-
dicularly up from the very surface of its waters, hundreds of feet.
The route followed by Col. Cook, farther south, is altogether within the
Mexican boundary ; otherwise, it would be preferable, because it shortens
the distance 150 miles, and passes over a surface far less interrupted by
mountains and chasms. The whole number of streams to be bridged along
this whole line from Memphis to San Diego, would probably be several
•hundred, so numerous are the streams and the deep dry gorges cut by sue-
cessive floods.
If from Santa Fe, it is proposed to go to Monterey, or the Bay of San Fran-
Cisco, pray where is the route to be found ? It is evident we cannot descend
the Gila, and it is still more evident that no route can be found north of that
stream, until we ascend as high as the great South Pass, that can'be graded for
railway without any expense in cutting, tunneling, and bridging, which will
far outweigh the profits to be anticipated from the work. We will not assert
that it is an impossibility —for what is impossible to American skill an ener-
gy, directed by American practical genius ?—but we will say that the most stu-
pendous monument which antiquity has left for our imitation and admira-
tion, would sink into insignificance, as a labor of man, compared to a rail-
way through such a region. We profess to understand the geography of this
district, as well as any one living, because we have attentively examined all
the authorities, and we have repeatedly interrogated a number of intelligent
trappers and traders, to whom every ridge and peak, pass and stream, valley
and canon, are as familiar, as to us are the scenes of our nativity. The only
route which has, as yet, been discovered, over which a passage can be had
from the northern valley of the Del Norte, westward, to reach the settled
parts of California, within reasonable distance, is the " mule trail" from Santa
Fe to San Angelos, which ascends the Rio Chama to its head in the Sierra
Madre ; thence passing the ridge, descends the Juan to the Colorada of the
West, and thence passes through the Wahsatch chain of mountains, along
the gap through which the Rio Virgin runs into the southern rim of the great
basin of California. Col. Fremont, who has certainly had better means of
ascertaining the facts than perhaps anw one else, concurs in the opinion that
a Tailway cannot be taken through the Rocky Mountains at any other point
than the South Pass. The following sentence, in a letter of Mr. Asa Whit-
ney to the author of this article, proves this beyond cavil: " In justice to Col.
Fremont, I should say that I have had repeated conversations with him, and
his opinion of route corresponds with yours."
6. Lake Michigan to Pugefs Sound, or San Francisco.— As far back, we
believe, as the year 1840, Mr. Asa Whitney, of New York, presented a me-
morial to the Congress of the United States, praying for the right of way to
the mouth of the Columbia, and propo'sing to build a railway to that point.
Mr. Whitney, rye learn by a private letter from him, has expended many
years, a great deal of capital, and much labor in endeavoring to frame a plan
which would revolutionize the commerce of the globe, and make all nations
tributary to us in the prosecution of the trade' of the East. A large portion of
this time was consumed in making voyages to and from the East Indies, for
Pacific Railway.
17
the purpose of making estimates of the value of the trade. We say, therefore,
that Mr. Whitney does not deserve to be denounced as a stock-jobber and
speculator, as we have known to have been done by men without a tithe of
his merit and good sense ; and that, on the contrary, he richly deserves, and
will receive, the commendation of all true men, and the gratitude of those
who are to come after us.
His proposition is to construct the road as a private enterprise, in consid-
eration of a sale at moderate price, to him, by Congress, of thirty miles in
width of land on each side of the road, from its eastern terminus at Lake
Michigan, to its western, at Puget's Sound, or the bay of San Francisco.
The sale of the lands, he has calculated, will afford the means of construct-
ing the road within a period of twenty years. Alter a certain period, the road
is to revert to the government.
*
Let us examine the whole line proposed by him with some minuteness.
Commencing at Lake Michigan, the line will run by Prairie du Chien entirely
across the State of Iowa, and strike the Missouri river at or near Council
Bluffs, in nearly a southwest direction, over an undulating surface, about
equal to almost any other which could, be selected from the Mississippi to
the west line of the States. The streams to be crossed are Turkey river, the
Wabixipinikan, three branches of Red Cedar river, the Iowa river, the Des
Moines, with several tributaries, the Raccoon river, and Boyer's river. The
amount of grading is inconsiderable, but the number of bridges, culverts, &c.,
great.*
At Council Bluffs, it is proposed to bridge the Missouri, and follow up the
north bank or bluff of Platt& river to its forks, and thence, upon the North
Fork, leaving it to the south, to near its head ; and thence to the great South
Pass. On this portion of the route, Major Long traveled as far as the mouth
of Platte. From him, as well as from personal observation, it is here asserted,
that the country on the north bank of that river is much more broken than it
is upon the south bank, or upon the divide between that stream and the Ivan-
sas. A railroad is certainly practicable along the route, but it will require
much more of expense and labor than one south of that river. After passing
the forks of the Platte, the route will enter the Black Hills ten miles west of
Fort Laramie, and continue through them to the Sweetwater, a northern
branch, and from thence to the South Pass. Now, the author of this article,
whilst at Fort Laramie, not only made several excursions into the Black Hills
upon the North Fork, but entered upon minute inquiries of traders, trappers,
and Indians, and he is satisfied that a mule cannot be traveled up the North
Fork to Sweetwater, nor can war parties of Indians, on foot, pass through
without extreme difficulty and hazard. These inquiries were made in 184-3,
and made with the express purpose of tracing out a railway line through the
South Pass. There is no book from which the facts may be learned, and
therefore, Mr. Whitney has only guessed that it might be done. The streams
to be passed from Council Bluffs to the Sweetwater, are the Elkhorn, the
Loup Fork of Platte, Wood river and a number of small streams to the Black
Hills, from whence a multitude of rapid torrents fringe the stream to its head.
His route, therefore, must necessarily be changed to cross the North Fork at
Fort Laramie, and thence follow the emigrant trail.
•Nicollet's Hydrographical Basin of the Upper Mississippi; Report to Congress, 1843.
2
IS
Pacific Railway.
From the South Pass to the Soda Springs, in the northern bend of Bear
river, the country begins to grow more broken and mountainous. Descend-
ing from the South Pass, the route strikes and follows Sandy creek to its con-
fluence with the Green, (or Colorado of the West,) and crossing that stream,
strikes Black's Fork ; thence up that stream to the head of Muddy creek,
(its main branch ;) thence over a sudden dividing ridge to Bear river ; and
thence down that stream—making some detours to avoid canons —to the
Soda Springs. This portion of the route presents no insuperable difficulties.
The country, after passing Green river, becomes much broken, and the road
winds much, until it arrives at the foot of the dividing mountain ridge, between
Green and Bear rivers. This ridge is 8,234 feet above the sea, and the valley
of Bear river is 6,446 feet; but the Pass no where ascends at a greater rate
than 100 feet per mile.
From the Soda Springs to Fort Hall, after passing a dividing ridge, the
route descends the Portneuf river valley, to Fort Hall. The Soda Spring is
at an elevation of 5,738 feet, and Fort Hall 4,779 feet, a descent of 23^ feet
per mile ; but the altitude of the dividing ridge is not given.*
From Fort Hall to Walla Walla, on the Columbia, the route cannot fol-
low the river bottom, because in many places the mountains present perpen-
dicular walls for miles together. Lewis and Clark attempted to descend
Lewis' Fork in canoes, but found it impracticable on account of the canons
and falls ; and Fremont says of Fort flail that it " obtains nearly all its sup-
plies from the distant depot of Vancouver, by a difficult water carriage of 250
miles up the Columbia river, and a land carriage, by pack animals, of 600
miles.") With this account, that of Captain Bonneville, who traversed this
whole region, entirely agrees ; f and the author of this article has conversed
with a number of old trappers and Indians, some of whom were with Bonne-
ville, and they all concur in these facts. The route of Mr. Whitney must
therefore follow the usual road of the emigrants, and that of Fremont, who
expressly states that he sought the one which could be easiest traveled. De-
scending the rough and barren valley of Lewis Fork, this route crosses this
river 160 miles below Fort Hall, then passes to the head of Boise river, and
follows that steam to its mouth, at Fort Boise ; here it recrosses Lewis river,
after passing over immense mountain chains for many miles, descends into
the valley of the Grand Ronde; and thence through the great mass of the
Blue Mountains to the head of Walla Walla river, and down that stream to
its mouth, at Fort Walla Walla. The streams crossed on this part of the
route are Pontneuf river, Panack river, Fall creek, Raft river, Swamp creek,
Goose creek, Rock creek, a nameless creek, Lewis river, four creeks, Barrel
Camp creek, Rock creek, five other creeks, some tributaries of the Boise, the
Boise river, Lewis river again, the river Aux Malheurs, Birch creek, Burnt
river, Powder river three times, three bran'ches of Grand Ronde river, the
Umatikih river, and the Walla Walla, with several tributaries.
From Fort Hall to Walla, let is here add the result of barometrical obser-
vations, as given by Fremont:
On the 23d September, in a distance of 12 miles, we have, first: in one
hours travel, a descent of 83 feet; in another hour an ascent of 113 feet; in
another hour an ascent of 21 feet; in another, 3 feet; in another, 36 feet;
in another, 7 feet; in another, descent 3 feet; in another, ascent 4 feet; in
*Fremont. flbid 1G3. tlrving's Adventures ofBonneville.
Pacific Railway.
19
another, descent 30feet; in two more, ascent 1 foot; in another,descent 22
feet; in another, descent 71 feet; in another, descent 6 feet ; in another, de-
scent 21 feet.
On the 24th, in a distance of ten miles. Between sunrise and noon, a de-
scent of 31 feet, and between noon and sunset, a descent of 117 feet. On the
25th, in a distance of 13 miles : from sunrise to 2 P. M., ascent of 57 feet;
one hour more, 10 feet; another hour, 15 feet ; another, 13 feet; another,
67 feet,
On the 26th, a distance of 17 miles. Sunrise to noon, ascent 88 feet;
noon to sunset, 295 feet.
On the 27th, a distance of 20 miles. Sunrise to sunset, 322 feet, 16 feet
per mile. '
On the 28th, a distance of 25 miles. Sunrise to sunset, 623 feet, ascent
24 feet per mile,
It must be recollected that the ascents and descents are, for the most part,
sudden and precipitous, and that barometrical observations as here given,
are far from conveying an accurate topographical idea. In passing the Blue
Mountains, Fremont broke his barometer, and from the Grand Ronde, tho
altitudes are now added from his topographical map. "From the waters of
Powder river," says Fremont,"the road ascended to a dividing ridge," and
then " directly descends into the Grand Ronde, by the face of a hill so very
rocky and steep, as to be apparently impracticable." This valley is 2,660
feet, the base of the Blue Mountains Is 2,700 feet. After traveling twenty-
one miles, the mountain is 3,830 feet—54 feet per mile. In three miles
more the elevation is 4,760 feet—311 feet per mile. In seven miles more,
the elevation was 5,000 feet. On the western side these mountains descend
more suddenly, and they are therefore'impassable by a railway.
From Fort Walla Walla to the mouth of the Columbia, the proposed routo
must descend immediately along the emigrant road, on the river bank, for
some distance ; but this is impossible, for the river rises sixty feet, in the
spring, and submerges this road. If the river is left, amass of abrupt rnoun-
tains present themselves between the Walla Walla and John Day's river, and
again between the latter and Fall river. Below Fall river the great Cascade
range presses up to the very waters of the river, completely shutting it in.
Fremont says of the river, " entering among the lower mountains of the Cas-
cade range, high and steep rocky hills shut it in on either side, rising abrupt-
ly to the height of 1500 feet above the water, and gradually acquiring a moio
mountainous character, as the river approaches the Cascades." Again, " near
the shore, the river is bounded by steep escarped hills and huge vertical rocks,
from which the waters of the mountain reach the river, in a variety of beauti-
ful falls several hundred feet in height." Beyond the Cascade range, tho
coast stretches north from California, west of the Wilhamette valley, and
across the Columbia, presenting another impassable barrier to a railway. Of
this portion of the toute, about three hundred miles is through a fearful sue-
cession of volcanic mountains, intersected with frightful chasms, where a
wagon wheel was never turned, (though many attempts have been made) and
where a solitary horseman finds it well nigh impossible to toil his serpentina
course. Is it not the extreme of absurdity, to dream of a railway here ? Let
those who are haunted with hopes or doubts, examine Fremont, Lewis and
Clark, De Smedt, Burnett, Farnham, &c., and they will be satisfied.
20
Pacific Railway.
Recently Mr. Whitney seems to have an idea that by turning northward
from the South Pass, to head of Salmon river, a more feasible route can be
found. We are assured this is not so. Lewis and Clark, in their expedi-
tion westward, struck Lewis' Fork of the Columbia river, near its source and
made an attempt to descend it in canoes. This attempt was frustrated by the
interposition of narrow cKasms, through which the stream rushed with fearful
rapidity, the wall of which rose from the water's edge, to the height of more
than 1200 feet. Captain Clark then attempted to find a practicable passage
for horses down the right bank of the stream. In a few days he came upon a
tremendous ridge of volcanic rock, so rugged and precipitous, that it was evi-
dently impassible even for men on foot. In his attempt to ascend this ridge,
he received serious injury, and was compelled to retrace his steps. The In-
dians, too, assured him that no trail existed in that direction. The travelers
then took a trail pointed out to them by the Indians, which followed the base
of this great chain, to the dividing ridge between Lewis and Clark rivers,
with which it united ; and surmounting the latter, followed the valley of
Clark's river for some distance, a"nd then passed over a dangerous and pre-
cipitous mountain ridge into the valley of Salmon river. With this account
of Lewis and Clark, that of Captain Bonneville entirely concurs, and the
accounts derived by the writer, from the companions of Bonneville, and other
old trappers, confirms and fortifies the statements of the journals of the trav-
elers.
7. St. Louis to San Francisco and Oregon. —During the last session of
the Congress of the United States, two proposals for a railway from. St. Louis
to the Bay of San Francisco, were submitted for the consideration of that body.
The first proposition Originated with Messrs. Bayard & Co., and proposed to
construct the road in eight years, upon certain specified conditions, from St.
Louis into the valley of the Arkansas, and thence through the'Rocky Moun-
tains along the 38th parallel of latitude, or near it, to the Bay of San Fran-
cisco. The company also proposed to deposit in the treasury of the United
States, five millions of dollars, as security for their fidelity to their engage-
ments. There are two insuperable objections to this proposition. The first
is, that the Congress of the United States has no authority to create corpora-
tions, the power to do so, having been refused by an express vote of the fra-
mers of the Constitution. It is no answer to this objection, to cite the charter
of the late Bank of the United States, because that institution was created as
a means, and not an end; and it was because it was deemed a " necessary and
proper" means to facilitate the collection and disbursement of the public rev-
enues, that the Supreme Court decided it to be within the purview of the Con-
stitution. The second objection to the scheme is, that a railway through the
mountains south of the South Pass, cannot be constructed, at least, without an
amount of labor and expense for which there is no inducement,'"when a shorter
and less difficult route has already been discovered ; and furthermore, this
scheme involves the necessity of making the road earn dividends for the stock-
holders, an objection which will be noticed in a subsequent part of this ar-
tide.
The second proposition for a railway from St. Louis to San Francisco, was
introduced by a bill in the Senate of the United States, by Col. Benton, of
Missouri. It was gratifying to all the friends of this great measure,, to find
that Col. Benton, who liad so long cherished his original scheme of 1818,
Pacific Railway.
21
for the navigation of the Missouri and Columbia rivers; and who had, as
late as the session of 1846, elaborately and ably defended that scheme, in his
place in the Senate ; had at last reconciled it to his feelings, to unite with
those friends of a Pacific railway, who had pressed the matter upon public
considation for the last fifteen years. Our gratification was enhanced by the
consideration, that to support this great measure, Col. Benton had not only
to abandon along and deeply cherished system, but to adopt another which
was in direct conflict with his feelings, personal and political.
The bill of Col. Benton proposes that three-fourths of the proceeds of the
sales of public lands in California and Oregon, and one-half of the proceeds
of the sales of all other public lands of the United States, shall be set apart,
by Congress, for the construction of the road, with a branch to the Columbia
river. The bill also provides that in portions where a railway cannot be
constructed, macadamized, plank, or other suitable descriptions of road, shall
be substituted ; that a space of one mile in width from the State line to the
Bay of Francisco, shall be forever reserved for roads in all future time ; that
the road shall be built under the direction of the President of the United
States, and that when completed, it shall be let out by contract to companies,
conditioned to be repaired, and certain rents to be paid into the Treasury .
Col. Benton, also, as we infer from his speech upon the introduction of this
bill, indulges an expectation that a route can be had near the sources of the
Arkansas, through the mountains, to the Bay of Francisco. As an incipient
measure, the proposition of Col. Benton is unexceptionable ; but we appre-
hend that quite a number of material alterations must be made in the provis-
ions of the bill, before it can receive the sanction of the public, or of Con-
gress. The means provided for the construction of the work, are evidently
insufficient to complete the latterhalf of it, before the first portion will have
become worthlesswith age. The sales of the public lands, at the best, have
rarely yielded over $3,000,000 per annum, altogether, and a little over one-
half of this sum would not construct the work in twenty years. Besides, it
must be remembered that the military land claims, created by our late contest
with Mexico, will materially diminish the sales, for some years to come, and
that in California, we shall probably find ourselves compelled, by public
opinion, to make gratuitous grants to actual settlers, as has already been
done in respect to Oregon.
As late as the 19th day of April, 1849, a mass meeting of the citizens of
Boston was held, by which a series of resolutions were passed, approbatory
of a plan presented to the meeting by P. P. F..Degrand, Esq. It was propo-
sed " that a company be chartered by Congress, to construct a railroad from
St. Louis to San Francisco, with a capital of $100,000,000 ; and that the
company, after having paid in $2,000,000, shall have the right to borrow
United States 6 per cent, stock, to such an amount (not exceeding $98,000,-
000) as may be sufficient to finish the road, and carry it into full operation
with a double track. It is farther proposed, "that Congress shall give the
company a strip of public land ten miles wide, on the north side of the road,
and the land for the bed of the road, and for depots, and the right to take from
the public lands, wood, gravel, stone, iron, and other materials necessary to
construct the same." The proposition contains other minor details for the
rapid prosecution of the work.
This plan is liable to the constitutional objection already alluded to, re-
22
Pacific Railway.
specting the power of Congress to create corporations, and also to the objec-
tion that the road is to pay dividends to the stockholders.
Let us now proceed to a topographical examination of the route from St.
Louis to the Bay of San Franiscisco. The route which we shall propose for this
great railway, is not one through a region unknown to science and the world.
We make no guesses, as has been done, and must be done by all who ad-
vocate the claims of other routes. We do not say, that passes through the
mountains may be found, and that the probabilities are that a practicable line
for a railway may be had from St. Louis to San Francisco, as has and must
be said by the advocates of all the routes but ours. We shall propose a route,
which, with but slight variations (and those variations undoubtedly for the
better.) has been already surveyed along its whole line—a route along which
barometrical and other scientific observations have already been made-—a
route which has been minutely described by an authorized and eminently well
qualified officer of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, and maps and pro-
file sections of which, are already deposited in the Topographical Bureau at
Washington. We shall propose a route which was traveled by Mr. Henry,
a fur trader of intelligence, as far as the vicinity of Fort Hall, in the year
1809—which has been familiarly known to the children of the mountains,
from that day to this—over which they have constantly carried wagons and
carts laden with merchandize—and over which more than twenty thousand
emigrants to Oregon, the Salt Lake, and Calfornia, have already passed. We
shall propose a route, the last portion of which, from the Salt Lake to the
Bay, was discovered by Mr. Peter Ogden, a fur trader in the employ of the
Hudson's Bay Company, as far back as 1811—-which has been repeatedly
followed since by intelligent bodies of traders-—by which a party of men
under the orders of Capt. Bonneville, proceeded to Francisco Bay—which
has been traversed and described by Bryant, Bidwell, and other travelers—
which has been surveyed by Col Fremont, and over which emigrants with
families and wagons have repeatedly passed, and more than thirty thousand
men with six thousand wagons, and one hundred thousand head of stock are
now passing.
The portion of this route from St. Louis to the western boundaries of the
State has been so much better described than we can hope to do it, by W.
R. Singleton, Esq., in the last number of the Western Journal, that we shall
here insert his observations, with the assurance to the public that they are
the observations of an accomplished engineer, and one who is, probably,
more familiar with the topography of this section of the State than any one
living:
"After a careful examination, I at once pronounce it by all means the
most practicable and economical to pass from St. Louis westwardly, until,
by some small stream, the valley of the Missouri can be reached just above
the Big Bonhomme Bottom, thence around the slopes of the hills on the
south bank of the Missouri, to the Lamine ; up the valley of this stream to
Black Fork, to Davis' Fork, and thence on to the main or Lamine ridge,
between Buck Knob and Wagon Knob, in LaFayette county ; thence on
said divide to Cool Spring and Lone Jack, in Jackson county ; and thence,
crossing the breaks of Little and Big Blue, reach the 1 plains,' as they are
familiarly called, on the Santa Fe road, at Black Jack Point. That this
toad can be constructed at a less cost than any other, all must admit. From
Pacific Railway.
23
St. Louis to the Missouri river but one small bridge is required ; thence,
twelve other small bridges to the Gasconade—a large one there; thence
three small ones to Osage—a large one there ; thence eleven to mouth of
Lamine—total, twenty-seven small bridges, average of one hundred feet,
and two large ones. It is preferable, for two reasons, to use the valley of the
Missouri : first, the grades will be uniform ; and second, the branches of any
main streams will all be crossed at one point, thus avoiding the difficulties
always encountered in crossing a country over the breaks of the drainage ;
thereby giving a zigzag grade to the road. In addition, the amount of water
to be passed can always be done at one point much better and cheaper than
in fifty or a hundred. Again, the Missouri itself will be avoided ; whereas,
on the north side, it must be crossed twice. That the south side of the Mis-
souri is preferable is obvious ; the amount of water received into the river
from the north is much greater than from the south ; almost all the streams
on the north side head some distance in Iowa ; and the whole drainage of the
north half of the State, is through the Missouri river; whereas, qn the south
half, not more than two-thirds of it is drained by the Missouri. These are
important considerations, and have influenced me in forming my opinion."
To coincide with the line indicated by us, the latter part of Mr. Single-
ton's section must be slightly varied to cross the Kanzas river near its
mouth.
From the mouth of the Kanzas to the forks of Platte river, this route as-
cends the fertile valley of the Kanzas to Blue river, and follows that stream
nearly to its head, from whence, in twenty-five miles, it strikes the Platte near
the head of Grand Island, and follows the valley of that river to its forks. This
part of the route is absolutely free from impediments, and needs no grading,
so admirably does it lie for a railway.
Crossing the South Fork, where a bridge is requisite, it follows the North
Fork to Laramie, through a valley well nigh as level as a floor, and without
crossing a stream, until it arrives at Laramie's Fork, which is about ten
yards wide.
From Fort Laramie to the South Pass, the road will need but little grading. ■
Fremont says, " The road which is now generally followed through this re-
gion is a very good one, without any difficult ascents to overcome." He
adds : " From the mouth of the Kanzas to the Green River valley, (west of
the mountains,) there is no such thing as a mountain road on the line of
communication."
The South Pass is 7,490 feet above the Gulf of Mexico. August 13th,
Fremont's descent, in 24 miles, was 22 feet per mile. August 14th, in 25
miles, 11 feet per mile. August 15th, in 29 miles, 15 feet per mile. August
16th, in 26 miles, 3 feet per mile. August 17th, in 21 miles, 3 feet ascent.
August 18th, in 32 miles, about 15 feet ascent. August 19th, in 28 miles,
about 6 inches per mile descent.
From the South Pass, the route would follow the line of a road'habitually
traveled by the traders, and called " Sublette's Cut-off, to the Soda Springs
situated on the northern bend of Bear river ; and from thence it would pass
a little south of west to the valley of Humboldt or Mary's river. This is
the only portion of the route not actually surveyed by Col. Fremont. That
enterprising officer traveled from the South Pass up a western tributary of
the Colorado of the West, and over a dividing ridge, into the valley of Bear
24
Pacific Railway.
river, and followed that valley in its semi-circular course to the entrance of
the river into the Great Salt Lake, and thence proceeded westward, over
some mountain ridges, to the valley of Mary's river. " Sublette's Cut-off"
derives its name from the fact that there is a saving of 75 miles of distance
from the South Pass to the Soda Springs, and of upwards of 100 to the val-
ley of Mary's river. It is also the preferable route, because the whole of
the mountain ridges are entirely flanked, from the South Pass to Mary's
river, and the general course of a right line from St. Louis better preserved.
On this part of the route but little grading would be required. The section
from Soda Springs to the valley of Mary's river was traversed by a party of
Bonneville's men, and by Bidwell, and no mention is made of mountains or
other impediments in his narrative. Besides, we have ourselves traveled the
whole line as far as the Colorado of the West, and have seen more than fifty
men who have passed from thence to Mary's river, and therefore speak ad-
visedly on the subject.
Down the valley of Mary's river there is not a single canon which may not
be easily turned, and for nearly its*whole length there would be but slight labor
in grading. Where the emigrant road strikes this river it is 4,700 feet above
the sea, and at the point where it sinks, it is 4,200 feet. The termination of
this river is within fifty miles of the base of the Sierra Nevada, and opposite
the Salmon Trout River Pass, which is only 7,200 feet above the level of the
sea, and less than half that above the level of the Basin.* This pass is forty
miles above New Helvetia, by which the route descends the valley of the
Sacramento, directly through the gold region, to the bay of Francisco, with-
out any impediment whatever.
There are two other passes of the Sierra Nevada. One of these leads into
the valley of the Sacramento by following Carson river to its source, and
then descending the American fork of the Sacramento ; and the other pro-
ceeds south from the sink of Mary's river into the valley of the San Joaquin
near'its mouth. It may be possible that one of these passes will be found
preferable to the Salmon Trout Pass, but that is uncertain ; and as we have
lound a pass through which thousands of loaded wagons will go during the
present season, and which has been found by Col. Fremont to be practicable,
our object is attained.
WHY THE NEW ROUTE IS PREFERABLE.
Having shown that the routes proposed by Lieut. Maury and Mr. Whitney,
if practicable at all, (which is difficult of admission,) pass over a country
,much worse than the new route proposed, let us now give some additional
reasons why the new route should be preferred.
The new route, as far as the South Pass, does not cross as many streams as
either of the other two, nor does it pass over as much broken country, where
" cuts " and " fills " would be requisite. This will be a great saving of ex-
pense.
The new route passes over a larger quantity of fertile land than either of
the others. The route to Santa Fe, beyond Council Grove, (only fifty miles
from the State line,) where it has been shown Maury's road must pass, is
absolutely sterile to Santa Fe.f Lieut. Emory says: "Nov. 24. All of
Northern Mexico, embracing New Mexico, Chihuahua, Sonora, and southern
•Fremont's Geographical Memoir. tGregg, J, T. Hughes, Emory, and others.
Pacific Railway.
25
California, as far north as the Sacramento, are, as far as the best information
goes, the same in the physical character of its surface, and differs but little
in climate and products. In no part of this vast tract can the rains from
Heaven be relied upon to any extent, for the cultivation of the soil. The
earth is destitute of trees, and a great part also of any vegetation whatever.
A few feeble streams flow from the great mountains. These are separated by
plains, or mountains, mostly without vegetation, and may be called deserts.
The cultivation of the earth is, therefore, confined to those narrow strips of
land which are within the level of the waters, and it involves a degree of sub-
ordination, and absolute obedience to a chief, absolutely repugnant to the
habits of our people. The chief who directs the irrigation, must be implicitly
obeyed. A departure from his orders may endanger the means of subsistence
of many people." And, in many other places, Major Emory represents the
whole of this country in even worse colors. His testimony is amply fortified
by others.* There is, then, no agricultural region on this route.
From the mouth of the Platte river, west to the mountains, there is no cul-
tivatable land on the north side of that stream. This is the testimony of
Long, and many others. Nor is there a single spot of soil on Whitney's
line, until the Bear river valley is reached ; and his road leaves this valley
at the Soda Springs, including only one-half its length. From this point,
several hundred miles down Lewis river, to the Grande Ronde, the angel of
desolation has set his seal upon the whole land. Fremont says, at Fort Hall,
" Beyond this place on the line of road along the barren valley of the Co-
lumbia, there does not occur, for a distance of 300 miles, a fertile spot sufii-
ciently large to produce the necessary quantity of grain, or pasturage enough
to allow even a temporary repose to the emigrant. The Grande Ronde is
only twenty miles in diameter, and beyond this, except a small patch at
Walla Walla, the country is uninhabitable to Vancouver.! As to the portion
of Whitney's line through the State of Iowa, that is more than overbalanced
by the* connecting line through Missouri, herein noticed.
Now, from the mouth of Kanzas, for two hundred and seventy-five miles
■west, there is as fine and fertile a soil as the world affords, well timbered and
watered.t Thence up the southern valley of the Platte to the Forks, the
soil is better than on the north side, and from the Forks to Fort Laramie, Col.
Fremont, who analyzed the soil, found it a fertile formation of marl and
earthy limestone. Thence to Bear River Valley, the soil is indifferent; but
down the whole course of that stream, Fremont states the valley to be de-
lightfully fertile. And down Mary's river, its valley is fertile, and upon the
Sacramento we have the largest body of rich arable land west of the Rocky
mountains.
The new route should be preferred because the territory north of the Platte
has already an ample commercial outlet for such a country, down the Mis-
souri river; and because the Missouri and Columbia, in the far future, when
population has spread along their banks, will be sufficient for the purposes of
interior trade from Oregon to the Mississippi Valley; and because, unless
Tve unite California to the Union, by a railway, it will be to all intents and
purposes, cut off from us commercially, and as a necessary result, in social
and political feeling and interest. Of what advantage will the commerce of
the Pacific coast, with all Asia, be to us, without a railway? We cannot
•Emory's Report, Abert's Survey, Hughes, Gregg, Humboldt and Pike, tFremont, tFremont.
Pacific Railway,
buy their products, because ours are nearly the same. No exchanges can be
made between us. California will command the markets of all Asia, because
she can substitute a barter for a trade in cash, and because she can undersell
all others.
The new route should be preferred because a railroad can be constucted on
it for less than half of which would be required on either of the other lines.
East of the mountains the other two are more cut up by streams and bluffs,
and west of them they run absolutely for hundreds of miles across immense
mountain chains ; whereas the new route is nearly free of intersecting streams,
and is only intercepted by the Salmon Trout Pass, which we have shown to
be practicable.
The new route is preferable because the western terminus is better. The
mouth of the Columbia cannot be entered by large vessels, and to take the
road to Puget's Sound would involve the expense of a bridge across that
great river; and besides, there is no safe harbor at Puget's Sound. The Bay
of Monterey, although good, is not equal to that of Francisco, and upon the
latter and its tributaries, nearly all the good soil of California lies; and
therefore, this must be the centre of businesss and population.
The means for constructing the work abound more plentifully upon the
new route than upon either of the others. Timber is abundant on the lower
Missouri, the Mississippi, and their tributaries, and there is good timber for
200 miles upon the Kanzas river. From the mountains westward to the Salt
Lake, good timber is abundant, and down Mary's river and in the Sacramento
valley, there is the finest timber in the world. On the route of Lieutenant
Maury, there is not a solitary stick of timber west of the State line. On
that proposed by Mr. Whitney, there is none this side of the mountains, and
none beyond Bear river, until we reach the Blue mountains, five hundred
miles below. Directly on the line from St. Louis there is the richest and
most extensive bed of iron ore in the known world ; and who can doubt that
if this work should be undertaken capital would instantly seek investment
where there was so great a "demand ? Even at this time, the best judges are
of opinion that the working of this ore would yield enormous profit. Here,
then, enormous transportation would be saved, and a rich source of wealth
and prosperity be developed.
Those who are not in the habit of reflecting upon the subject, are apt to
imagine that the shortest line between any two points, situated upon a given
degree of latitude, is the line which folllows that parallel. In the construe-
tion of works of no great magnitude, this practical error is of little moment;
but when it is proposed to construct a costly work like a great railway for a
distance of over two thousand miles, the differenc between the length of the
parallel of latitude, and the shortest line which can be traced upon the
sphere of the globe, becomes a matter well deserving serious consideration.
As this is an error which nearly all who have written and' spoken upon this
subject have fallen into, including even all those venerable Fathers of the
Senate who have given us their views, it should be corrected Once for all.
The shortest line, then, between two given points upon a sphere is the arc of
the great circle in the plane of which they are situated. A great circle of
the globe is a circle so drawn around it, that its diameter will pass precisely
through its centre. The Equator is a great circle of the gl obe and the par-
allels of latitude north and_south of it, are a series of smaller circles. Con-
Pacific Railway.
21
sequently the farther a given parallel is from the Equator, the farther does it
diverge from a direct line drawn between any two points situated upon it.
In the construction of a railway as far north as any line proposes for this
work, this difference becomes a consideration of great interest. This expla-
nation has been given for two reasons, The first is, that a great circle passing
through St. Louis and San Francisco would approach much nearer to the
great South Pass than to the sources of the Del Norte, the Arkansas, or any
other point proposed for the passage of the Rocky mountains ; and that con-
sequently the route for the road which most nearly coincides with this great
circle, must of necessity be the shortest. Therefore, the route indicated in
this article is the preferable one as respects distance.
The second reason for the explanation given is, that Mr. Whitney, in a pri-
vate letter to the writer, urges that his route must be the shortest because it
starts and terminates three and a half degrees further north than the line
herein proposed. This argument might pass muster if Mr. Whitney proposed
to carry his railway through the North Pass at the sources of the Missouri, to
Puget's Sound; but it does not suit his views to make that proposition, be-
cause the people of the country will not consent to the construction of any
road which does not promise, in the future, to bind to the Union both our great
colonies on the Pacific coast. The argument of Mr. Whitney on this point
is palpably erroneous, because, in order to get to the mouth of the Columbia
or Puget's Sound from Lake Michigan, through the South Pass, he will be
compelled to deviate from the great circle route between those points, even
farther than the parallel of latitude does, because the South Pass is farther
south than either the eastern or western terminus. The argument is clearly
fallacious.
Precisely the same objection lies to the proposed route from Memphis to
Monterey or San Diego,—for Memphis is situated in latitude 35 degrees and
about 30 minutes north; San Diego is situated in latitude 32 degrees 37
minutes, and Monterey in latitude 36 degrees 40 minutes ; and no one who
possesses any knowledge of the country dreams that a railway can pass the
Sierra Madre at any other place than the Passo del Norte, and this is situated
in latitude 31 degrees 40 minutes,—not only out of the line of the great circle,
but far more out of it than the parallel of latitude.
The only other consideration necessary .to be weighed in a comparison of
the relative merits of the routes proposed, is that of distance. The distance
is material in two aspects of the subject: 1st. In respect to its influence on
the trade between Europe and Asia ; and 2d. In respect to the trade between
the Atlantic States and the Pacific ocean. In both these aspects of the sub-
ject, a single glance at the map of the Union and of the world, will be sufli-
cient to satisfy the reader that the route from Memphis westward cannot come
in successful competition with, either of the other two. It is evidently much
farther out of a direct line from Europe to China; nor can it be made to
connect as favorably and justly with the systems of internal improvement
completed and in progress within the United States. The question as be-
tween Mr. Whitney's route and the one from St. Louis, westward, is, at first
glance, more doubtful; but deliberate examination will give a decision in
favor of St. Louis.
28
Pacific Railway.
From Lake Michigan to Prairie du Chien is ■ 150 miles.
Thence to Council Bluffs .... 350 "
" South Pass ..... 800 "
" Walla Walla .... 770 "
" Puget's Sound ..... 300 "
2,370
From Puget's Sound to Changhae 5,200
Total 7,570
From St Louis to the mouth of Kanzas river - 275 miles,
Thence to the South Pass ..... 900 "
" Humboldt River • 400 "
" Northern bend of said river - ■ 100 "
" Salmon Trout Pass - - - 350 "
" New Helvetia ..... 146 "
" Francisco Bay .... 40 "
2,211
From Francisco Bay to Changhae ..... 5,500
Total 7,711
From St. Louis to the South Pass • - - 1175 miles.
Thence, by the northern bend of Humboldt river,
to Puget's Sound .... 925 "
2,100
Thence to Changhae ....... 5,200
Total 7,300
These distances are given after an examination of Nicolet, Fremont, Long,
Bidwell and Bryant. There are, however, satisfactory reasons why the dis-
tance must be too short as respects Mr. Whitney's route, and too long as
respects the one from St. Louis. These reasons are as follows : Mr. Whitney
has estimated his distance to the South Pass, from Col. Fremont's estimate
from the mouth of the Kanzas to the Pass. The estimate is unfair, because
the route which Fremont traveled proceeds with tolerable directness to the
Pass, and neither Mr. Whitney nor any one else can assert that the moun-
tains can be passed on the north bank of the north fork of Platte river, in a
route as direct as the one from Fort Laramie to the South Pass. We speak
advisedly, because we made many inquiries of those best informed, who have
spent years in that region,.and we have found no one who could tell us of a
practicable bridle path along the north fork of Platte river to the South Pass.
Nor is it fair for Mr. Whitney to estimate the distance for a railway from the
South Pass to Walla Walla by the distance of the road pursued by Colonel
Freemont, because there are several places on this part of the route where a
railway cannot be carried. Such is the fact in regard to the passage of the
Blue Mountains, which press up to Lewis's fork of the Columbia, in a solid
wall, and must, therefore, be turned in some other direction. How far would
this take a railway from Fremont's line of travel ? It is impossible to say.
Nor is it fair to make an estimate of distance beyond Walla Walla, on the
hypothesis that a railway can follow the valley of the Columbia as Fremont
Pacific Railway..
29
did. This is evidently impossible with an annual flood which submerges the
whole bottom to the depth of many feet. If his railway leaves the river
bottom, where can it be taken in as short a distance ? The question cannot
be answered, because it is impossible to do it satisfactorily. On the other
hand, if a railroad is taken from St. Louis to the Bay of San Francisco, with
a branch to Oregon, the distance is greatly lessened in two respects. First,
the branch to Oregon will leave the branch to Francisco Bay at the northern
bank of the Humboldt river, and passing the dividing ridge between Oregon
and California, descend the valley of the Walla-mutte. From the South
Pass to the valley of the Columbia, we are Informed by Mr. Applegate,—
formerly a citizen of Missouri, and now a citizen of Oregon,—by the way of
Humboldt River and the Walla-mutte valley, the distance is some 200 miles
less than by Fremont's route down the valley of Lewis river. Mr. Apple-
gate we know to be an intelligent and truthful man, and a good surveyor.
He emigrated to Oregon by the way of Lewis river ; but having experienced
unanticipated hardship and difficulty, and lost a son thereon, he determined
to find, if possible, a better road. For this purpose, equipped with a good
compass and chain, he traversed the valley of the Walia-mutte, passed the
dividing ridge, and descended into the valley of the Humboldt river, and
thence to Fort Hall. He describes the road as in all respects the best, and
it would have superseded altogether the use of the one down Lewis river,
but for the ferocity of the Klamath Indians, who seem to be the Ishmaelites
of Oregon. Second. Leaving the route pursued by Fremont at the South
Pass, the new route follows Sublette's Cut-off to the Soda Springs, in the
northern bend of Bear river, where it intersects the route of Fremont,—thus
saving 75 miles of distance in that brief space of travel.
The proposed line from St. Louis to San Francisco and Oregon is prefer-
able to either of the others proposed, because its connections from the Mis-
sissippi eastward, and on the Pacific side of the mountains, will be in all
respects more just, more natural, more economical, better adapted to the
physical structure of the country, and better calculated to conform itself to
the future destinies of the whole United States.
If the line from Memphis to San Diego, Monterey or San Francisco, shall
be adopted, how is it proposed to connect the vast territory of Oregon with
it? It is obviously impossible to do so. The topography of the country
absolutely forbids the hope. And is it not an object of primary importance
to us, that this connection shall be made ? Most assuredly it is—otherwise
we may lose that great colony altogether, and we may lose with it the shortest
route to the coasts of Asia, and these are certainly considerations of great
moment. But it may be, as it has been said, that this route should be pre-
ferred because it passes through New Mexico, and will consequently
bind that territory indissolubly to us, and build up a system of overland
trade which will ultimately prove very productive. The answer to this is,
that the security of Oregon, through which the great thoroughfare to the In-
dies must ultimately pass, and which may be seriously endangered at any
moment, upon the occurrence of a difference with England, from the con-
centrated and powerful military and naval force now collecting on the south-
ern point of Vancouver's Island, and in the adjacent Sound, is certainly a
question of more pressing interest than a slight extension of trade with New
Mexico. And moreover, a branch can be made from the vicinity of Fort
30
Pacific Railway.
Laramie, along the fertile eastern base of the mountains through the valley of
Taos, to Santa Fe.
If the line advocated by Mr. Whitney shall be adopted, the road must be
branched in the vicinity of the Soda Springs, instead of farther westward.
To this there are the following objections :*
First, because the branch which descends Lewis river passes over a district
so hopelessly desolate, that science herself could not convert it into a pro-
ductive country ; and second, because the length of the branch will be about
seven hundred miles greater than if the road shall be branched at the north-
em bend of Humboldt river, as proposed in this article, and consequently
enlarge the expense of this great system of political and economical improve-
ment, about $14,000,000 ; while, on the other hand, if the Oregon branch
shall be taken along the line we suggest, it will pass directly through the
heart of the only large fertile tract of territory in Oregon, and confer upon
that great colony, incalculable benefits in all future time. Nor is it a suffi-
cient answer to this argument to say that the valley of the Kooskoosie and
of Clark's river, including a vast tract of fertile land, and blest with a salu-
brious climate, could be connected with a branch descending Lewis river ; for
that whole district can be much more easily, readily and cheaply connected
with the coast, by a shorter line of railway from the northern bend of Clark's
river to Puget's Sound, as a glance at the map will satisfy the reader.
It has already been shown that the route from Memphis westward, could
in no event compete with either of the others as a route from Europe to China ;
and it has also been shown, that in consequence of the physical structure of
the country from the Mississippi to the Pacific, the route proposed by Mr.
Whitney, diverges very far from the line of a great circle, whilst the one from
St. Louis westward, very nearly coincides with it, and that for this reason
alone, (if there were none other,) the latter route must be the shortest from
Europe to the Asiatic coast. It only remains to be proven that the route
from St. Louis will connect more favorably, more beneficially, and more
justly, with all the interior natural and artificial lines of commerce in the
Union, than either of the others ; and this is easily done.
With a terminus at Memphis, the only connection which can be made,
will be with the Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri rivers, and their tributaries,
and with the great southern chain of railways from Chattanouga through
Georgia, South and North Carolina, and Virginia, to the Potomac, and the
line from Mobile northward towards the mouth of the Ohio. The commerce
of the Pacific would not be connected with the great lines of improvement
•The following from the Scientific American, if correct, as we deem probable, renders the new route to
Oregon of still more importance, and is entirely decisive in favor of our scheme for a railway, over that of
Mr. Whitney :
" It has been supposed, until lately, that the shores of Oregon, south of the Columbia river, were without
indentation or harbors. Explorations for a considerable distance south of the Columbia have been made,
which is producing an entire change in public opinion, and not only bays are found, but beautiful prairies, fine
timber, rivers, ana water power. Tilamuke Bay, situated about fifty or sixty miles south of the mouth of the
Columbia river, is several miles in extent, receiving fine rivers, some of which are good mill streams. Below
Tilamuke Bay, two others have been discovered, which are worthy of being noticed ; the first of which is
known to the natives by the name of Celeste, and the second by the name of Yacquina. The bay is from a
fourth of a mile to a mile in. width, three miles long, and receives the waters of two rivers. A bed of excel*
lent coal has been discovered on the banks of Celeste river, ten miles from its entrance into the Celeste Bay.
There are several rich level prairies on the Celeste river. The Yacquina Bay is three-fourths of a mile wide
at its mouth, from a mile to two and a half further in, and extends parallel with the coast from six to ten miles,
perfectly sheltered from the ocean winds. There is considerable prairie in the vicinity of this bay. All the
rivers abound with salmon, and the bays with clams, crabs, &c. Within the Yacquina Bay the water is
deep and the waves roll into the mouth fitun the ocean, without obstruction."
Pacific Railway.
31
north of the Ohio, and in ascending the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, it
would be absolutely traveling on the back track. With a terminus at Prairie
du Chien, the connections which could be made conveniently would be with
Chicago, the great lakes, the eastern line of railway from Chicago along the
southern border of the lakes to Buffalo, Albany, Boston and New York, and
the Mississippi and its tributaries. This system of connections would cer-
tainly be preferable to those to be found at Memphis.
With a terminus at St. Louis, the connections would be—1st. With the
Missouri river, at the mouth of the Kanzas, where a depot for the trade of the
Pacific would grow into existence. 2d. With the Mississippi and Ohio and
all their tributaries. 3d. With the great southern system of railways, the
surveys and contracts for which already bring them to the mouth of the Ohio,
where a branch from St. Louis will instantly meet them. 4th. With the
direct line to Cincinnati, which will bring St. Louis in connection with wes-
tern Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina, by a branch to
Nashville; also with the central and eastern portions of Kentucky, and
with the State of Virginia by a branch to Louisville. 5th. With the great
line leading east through the States of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and part of
Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh, and thence to Philadelphia, traversing the cen-
tral region between the Ohio river and the great lakes. 6th. With the navi-
gation of the northern lakes via. the Illinois and Lake Michigan Canal, the
Wisconsin and Fox River Canal, and a northern branch of the great central
line, which would of course be forthwith constructed to Chicago, there to
unite with the railroad line which fringes the great lakes to Buffalo and the
east.
These are the connections which can be anticipated for each of the three
proposed routes, witji lines of improvement already constructed or in contem-
plation, and we think that no fair-minded or reflecting mind can compare
them without giving the decided preference to St. Louis, as the eastern termi-
nus of the Pacific railway. And looking to the progress of the country, for
ages to come, is it possible to anticipate a state of circumstances where fu-
ture lines of improvement, looking to the permanent union and welfare of the
whole country, will connect as favorably with either of the other points named,
as the city of St. Louis ? As to the fancy of Mr. Whitney, that St. Louis
would take the Boston and New York merchants out of their direct road to
Asia, it has been already answered by tracing the course of his road from
Lake Michigan to Puget's Sound. We undertake to say that the route
through this city is, beyond cavil, the shortest practicable one to the commerce
of the East.
A COMPROMISE PROPOSED, TO UNITE ALL SECTIONS OF THE UNION.
But deeply important to the present and future prosperity of the whole
Union, as the project of a Pacific railway must be admitted to be, by all who
will take the trouble to reflect upon the subject, there is great reason to doubt,
whether party warfare, sectional jealousy, and personal ambition, may not
delay its construction for many years to come. But all these causes united,
cannot finally crush the scheme. The progress of population and of emigra-
tion westward, the steady growth of manufacturing power, the rapid devel-
opment of our agricultural and mineral resources, and the increasing neces-
sities of commerce, all point, as with the finger of destiny, to the consumma-
32
Pacific Railway
tion of the grand design. Even now, if the friends of the measure could all
be harmonized in opinion, and act vigorously in concert, the authorities of the
Union wouid be ovewhelmed by the moral force which could be brought to
bear upon them. It is gratifying to believe that thus far, although great di-
versities of opinion have been expressed, relative to the route upon which a
railway should be constructed, the means by which it is to be paid for, the
manner of its construction, and the disposition which should be made of it
when finished ; no irreconcilable, or implacable sentiments of jealousy and
hostility, have been manifested. If we are wise, we shall continue to culti-
vate this good understanding—we shall reason with one another calmly, de-
liberately, and fairly, and we shall preserve a settled determination not to
mingle this great subject with the transient personal jealousies, and party
strifes of the day. Our settled purpose should be to bring about the con-
struction of a Pacific railway, in the briefest possible time, along the most
national route ; and we should invoke upon the heads of all who attempt to
pervert this great question to personal or party ends, the maledictions of the
present, and the contempt of future generations.
We have no fault to find with Mr. Whitney and his friends, nor with Lieut.
Maury, and those other estimable and intelligent citizens who are exerting
themselves in favor of their respective projects. All these parties deserve
and receive our hearty thanks for their efforts to enlighten the poblic opinion
of the country, and to move the whole mass of the American people to prompt
and decisive action in favor of the grand design. They are as much entitled
to their opinions, and to the respectful hearing of the community, as we are;
and so long as they shall forbear to violate the truth of history, and the in-
tegrity of existing facts, to subserve the purposes they have in view, we shall
give them our respect and confidence. Cultivating, as»we do, this cordial
and single-hearted sentiment, we feel assured that whatever we shall urge
upon them for the benefit of the common cause, will be received in the same
spirit in which it is .addressed, as the expression of an anxious solicitude to
do justice to all, and to reconcile all minor differences for the sake of the
great end.
If, unhappily, our present diversities of opinion as respects details shall
be aggravated, by imprudence or design, into settled hostility, it needs no
prophet to foretell, that the consummation of the end of all our labors will
be indefinitely postponed. Upon the supposition that one, and one only, of
the three routes now prominently before the public shall be finally insisted
upon, irrespective of the clpims and interests of others, what must be the in-
evitable result ? Suppose, for a moment, that the bill of Mr. Whitney shall
be insisted upon, where are the votes to come from to pass it through Con-
gress ? It is perfectly certain that not a single vote from the Southern States
would be cast in its favor, because the route proposed is too far north to ac-
commodate their commerce. It is no answer to this to say, that Mr. Whit-
ney's bill leaves the choice of a route to him, and binds him to none. We
know what his opinions are respecting the route ; and if we did not know
it, the simple fact that a bill proposes to confer such a power upon a single
individual, would be an insuperable objection to it. The whole of the south-
em vote, added to the strength which the friends of St. Louis could bring to
bear, would then most certainly defeat th# bill, and every attempt to pass it
would result in the same way. Again, suppose that the friends of Memphis
Pacific Railway.
33
determine to insist upon their scheme as against all others, what must be the
result ? Certainly, not a solitary vote will be cast in its favor from the North-
em States; and moreover, the State of Missouri would join them. This
result is palpable.
And lastly, if the friends of St. Louis should be so unwise as to make w : ar
upon other sections of the Union, and other plans for a railways, a like fate
would assuredly await them for a long time to come, for the whole South
would move in a body against them, and Mr. Whitney's plan has been so
long before the public, and so indefatigably nurtured, that he can always se-
cure votes sufficient to defeat St. Louis in conjunction with the South. It is
barely possible, that if a war shall be gotten up between the friends of the
three routes, it might terminate after years of malignant hostility, in a corrupt
and unprincipled, but successful compact between two of them, at the expense
of the third, and consequently, to the permanent detriment of the country.
But we will not anticipate a result so disgraceful; we will indulge the fervent
hope that peace and unity shall still continue to be cultivated, and that this
great work shall be not only one of material advantage to the country, but a
perpetual monument of the wisdom, the integrity, and the patriotism of its
founders.
We have pursued this course of argumentation, because it is just and le-
gitimate, and because we are anxious to produce entire harmony and concert
of action among the friends of the measure. He who should imagine for
one moment, that our suggestions proceed from any apprehension concerning
the strength of our cause, would be wide indeed of the mark. We have
shown, we believe, unanswerably, that St. Louis is preferable to any other
point on the Mississippi, which has been, or can be proposed as an eastern
terminus for a Pacific Railway. We know that in a controversy of this
kind, we have everything to gain, and nothing to lose by procrastination ;
we feel assured, that sound fact an l sound argument, will, in the end, have a
controling influence upon the public opinion of a free country ; we see daily
evidences that public sentiment is already with us, and we have an abiding
and fixed faith, that if a war is waged upon us, we have, and can procure
strength to defend ourselves, and defeat the'schemes of others; and that
finally, the necessities of the country will compel the people to select our
route as the only one which can be carried. But knowing and believing all
this, we yet feel no inclination to engender jealousy and hostility—to do in-
justice or injury to other sections, or to postpone to a future indefinite day, a
magnificent work, which a frank spirit of conciliation can consummate at
once.
There is, however, a serious difficulty which lies in the way of all the three
routes proposed. This difficulty neither originates in sectional or party
causes. It operates quietly and silently, to the detriment of any plan for a
railway over the whole Union. It is the opinion that Congress has no con-
stitutional authority to construct works of this character within the hounds
of sovereign States. It is needless for us to attempt to argue, or even to
give an opinion on this constitutional question. Whether the opinion Le
right or wrong—just or fallacious—well or ill fortified by authority, can make
no difference so far as we are concerned. It is a fixed fact, that it has always
existed, and has been acted upon'by a large number of our public men in
their official capacity; and that a very large portion of the American people,
'3
34
Pacific Railway.
perhaps even a majority of them, sanction its validity. If the friends of a
Pacific Railway are wise and discreet, they will take advantage of the exis-
tence of this opinion, to come to a fair understanding, instead of permitting
it to hang as a millstone about the neck of the project; and we say to them,
that nothing is easier than to do this, if they will only divest themselves of
sectional and personal motives, and resolve to act in good faith for the ad-
vancement of the cause.
Three important objects should be kept steadily in view, in fixing upon the
route and the details of this work. The first object, is that of empire; the
second, that of nationality; and the third, a revolution in the commerce of
the civilized world. To the world at large, the last mentioned object is of the
greatest consequence; but for us, the preservation of our dominions, and the
jrerpetuity of the Union, take precedence. We have endeavored to prove
conclusively, that the entire plan proposed by us, is better calculated in all
respects, to secure to us our colonies upon the Pacific coast, than either of
the other two, and that it is better adapted to meet all future contingencies
and conditions of our territory and population. With a route from Memphis
x to California, the territory of Oregon cannot be united to us but by another
full line of railway from the Mississippi to the Pacific ; and with the route
proposed by Mr. Whitney, the branch to California, must cost fourteen mil-
lions of dollars more t'han upon the Scheme we have advocated. The con-
sideration of empire, then, is in our favor. As respects the consideration of
nationality , we think it has been shown that all the great commercial points
of the Union could be more fairly and equally reached from St. Louis than
from Prairie du Chien or Memphis ; but we feel no inclination to claim what
the other parties concerned, may honestly deem a monopoly of the benefits
to be anticipated from the construction of the work; and we are willing to
take advantage of the existence of the constitutional difficulty .already al-
luded to, to make a suggestion, which if acceded to, will unite every friend of
a Pacific Railway upon one distinct and clear system, and enable them to
compel Congress to consummate the work at once. This suggestion is, that
the general government be memorialized to undertake the construction of a
railway from a point at, or near the mouth of the Kanzas river, on our
western border, to the Bay of San Francisco, with a branch to the Colum-
bia river, or Puget's Sound ; and that Congress be further memorialized to
donate to the States, so much of the public lands within their borders, as
may be needful to aid them in the construction of three branches of the Pa-
cific Railway, from the mouth of the Kanzas river to the Mississippi river;
the first branch to be taken to St. Louis, the second, to Memphis, and the
third, to such point on the upper Mississippi as will most favorably connect
with the great lakes and the lines of railway along their southern shores to
the eastern cities.
After mature deliberation, we can perceive no plausible ground for objec-
tion to the suggestion now made. It frees the whole three schemes for a
railway, from a serious constitutional difficulty ; it will abundantly provide
for all the objects desired by the Southern States, and give them the addi-
tional benefits of a connection with Oregon, and a shorter route to China,
than the one proposed by themselves ; it will carry out as completely Mr.
Whitney's idea respecting the commerce of Europe with Asia, as his own
plan ; because the northern branch will reach the South Pass as directly
Pacific Railway.
35
upon this line, as upon the line suggested by him ; and more completely, in-
asmuch as we have shown a new and shorter route to the mouth of the Co-
lumbia, than.the one down Lewis river ;* and finally, it adapts itself to the
interior improvements of the Union, in a manner precisely corresponding to
the wishes of the friends of each of the three routes. What say you, friends
of a Pacific Railway, in the North and in the South ? Shall we unite upon
fair and just principles, and hasten the completion of this glorious work ?
Or shall we continue to wrangle about the route without sense or reason, and
thus procrastinate it indefinitely? We entreat you to reflect deliberately
upon these things; to meet us in St. Louis, on the third Monday in October—■
compare notes with us—and see for yourselves, whether our fairness and
fidelity can be justly questioned ?
COMPARISON OF ALL THE PRESENT ROUTES TO THE,EAST.
The foregoing portion of this article has been principally addressed to the
friends of the cause,—those who have read, reflected and written upon the
subject, and who have a just appreciation of the magnitude and value of the
contemplated work. But, unlike the people of Athens, of whom the Apostle
complained that they were ever in chase of "some new thing," the people
of the United States slowly and reluctantly suffer themselves to entertain
new ideas, or give countenance to novel schemes ; and the degree of their
reluctance seems to correspond to the importance of the project presented
for their consideration. This habitual prejudice of the American mind is
derived to us from the race from which we sprung. From the earliest period
of Anglo-Saxon history, habit and custom have exercised a far more potent
influence over the Anglo-Saxon mind, than reason, hope and faith. It was a
sufficient answer to a bill in the English Parliament, to say, as the Barons
many times have said, " It proposes to alter the ancient usages and statutes
of the realm and to this day, whatever is new is habitually denounced as
vulgar and perverse, and consequently unfit to be countenanced by a people
who are prouder of the ancestry from whom they sprung, than of the personal
traits and virtues of their own character. Too much of this spirit is yet
visible in American character. It may be detected in our constitutions and
laws,—our religious and our social arrangements,—and until we can tho-
roughly rid ourselves of it, we shall advance but with a snail's pace in that
career of glory and grandeur, which science and reason have opened up in
the long vista of the future.
The remainder of this article shall, therefore, be directed to the sound
judgment and the ^practical common sense of all classes of the .community.
We shall endeavor to show, by irrefragable testimony and rigid induction,
that a railway to the Pacific is not only practicable, but that it is needful to
the people of the United States, in every aspect in which the subject can be
considered ; that the new route from Europe across our continent will inev-
itably supersede all others, and can never be rivalled in the future ; that the
route from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean will have a beneficial ten-
dency in the preservation of our Union, and the impulse it will give to every
department of business; that it can be constructed so cheaply as to justify
• In a private letter to the author, Mr. Whitney suggested that his road might turn southward after cross-
ing the Missouri, so as to afford an easy connection with St. Louis. The proposition here made, precisely
conforms to the idea of Mr. Whitney, and, of course he must approve of it.
36
Pacific Railway.
the expenditure of the necessary sum as a mere commercial speculation ; and
that it will exercise a more controling influence over the future destinies of
the human race, than any other single work ever achieved by human agency.
There are four causes which tend to effect a change in the course of trade ;
a saving of distance, a saving of time, a saving in the expense of trans-
portation, and the opening of new markets. In some instances, great changes
have been effected by the operation of some one of these causes only, in
others two, and in others three ; but we may safely defy any one to find in
the page of history an example where the whole four causes were combined,
and failed to effect a change in a reasonable time. An absolute iron despot-
ism may possibly retard the operations of these causes, for a brief period, as
respects the people-under its rule ; but the invariable and inflexible law of
nature will finally conquer even the most vigilant despotism. If, therefore,
the new rdlite proposed from Europe to the Indies can bring to its aid the
operation of these four causes, the revolution of the commerce of the world
will be as certain as the decree of destiny ; and if the structure of the earth
is such that no other route can be found, to the end of time, which can be
fortified by these four pauses, that revolution will be a final one, and the
commerce of the world, fixed upon. this permanent basis, will assume the
character of science, and be conducted with regularity, certainty and safety.
With the means of transportation which the genius of modern times has
introduced into the world, but one of the ancient routes to the riches of the
East can ever again be brought into use,—the route through Egypt and the
Red Sea. No railway can ever be constructed through the swamps of south-
em, or the mountains of central Asia ; nor, if it could, would it compete
with the route across our continent, for a variety of reasons. The question
of route, therefore, is reduced to a comparison between the " overland route"
through Egypt and the Red Sea, the route discovered by Vasco de Gama,
around the Cape of Good Hope, the route across the isthmus which unites
the American continent, and the route across the North American continent.
We shall compare all these routes, as respects each one of the conditions
which we have enumerated as infallibly governing the course of commerce.
1. The route through Egypt and the Red Sea. —Herodotus states that Ne-
ehos, the son of Psammeticus, opened a canal from .the Nile, above the city
of Bubastisto the Red Sea, (B.C. 616;,) which Darius Hystaspes, (B.C. 521)
perfected. Aristotle intimates that the work was once commenced, but had
been abandoned because the Red Sea was more elevated than the Nile.
Diodorus Siculus attributes its commencement to Nechos, and its final com-
pletion to Ptolemy Philadelphus, (B.C. 280.) Strabo corroborates, in the
main, the account given by Herodotus. Pliny asserts that it was begun by
Sesostris, (910 B. C.) near Bubastis ; that Darius proceeded with it to the
Red Sea ; and that Ptolemy completed the work ; and the geographer Pto-
lemy, in the reign of Trajan, gave this canal the name of Trajan's river.
Omar Abor el Hattab ordered Amrou, who had conquered Egypt about the
year 635 B.C., to open the canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, for the pur-
pose of conveying the contributions of corn to Arabia ; and the canal was
finally closed by the Caliph Almanzor. Whether ships passed from the
canal into the Red Sea, history does not inform us, but there was probably a
trans-shipment. It is certain that the canal was abandoned, and the com-
modities of India landed at Berenice, some four hundred and fifty miles south
Pacific Railway.
87
of Suez, and thence were transported by caravans. Mohammet Ali contem-
plated re-opening this canal, but was deterred from doing so by an apprehen-
sion of its being filled by the sands of the desert. More recently, two other
projects have been under advisement,—the one for a ship canal from Tineh
to Suez, the other for a railway from Cairo to Suez. The Red Sea has been
steadily filling up with coral reefs for the last four centuries, and it is proba-
ble that these industrious little creatures will finally close the only European
route to the Indies.
From London to Alexandria the distance is' 3000 miles.
Thence to Cairo - - - . - 112 "
" to Suez - - - - 16 "
" to the Gulf of Aden - - - 1420 "
" to Bombay .... 1500 "
" to Calcutta ..... 1050 "
" to Canton .... 2500 "
9,658
From London to Alexandria, the time for steamers is 20 days.
Thence to Cairo ....... 1 "
" to Suez ....... l "
" to the Gulf of Aden ----- 6 "
" to Bombay - - - * - - 32 "
" to Calcutta ...... 20 "
" to Canton - - - - * - - 40 "
• 120 days.
2. The route around the Cape of Good Hope.
From Liverpool to Calcutta - - - 16,000 miles.
Thence to Canton - - . - - 2,500 "
18,500 miles.
On this route steam vessels cannot be introduced, on account of the defi-
ciency of coal and coaling stations. The time for sail vessels from Liver-
pool to Canton is 170 days.
From New York to Calcutta the distance is - - 17,500 miles.
Thence, to Canton ....... 2,500
->20,000
The time for sailing vessels to Canton is 180 days.
3. The route via the Isthmus.
From Liverpool to Panama the distance is . - 4,500 miles.
Thence to Changhae ' - - - - - - 8,400 "
12,900
From New York to Panama the distance is - - 2,000 miles.
Thence to Changhae ...... 8,400 "
10,400
From Liverpool to Panama the time for steamers would be 22 days.
" Panama to Changhae - - - - - 41 "
63 days.
From Liverpool to Panama (sail vessels) ... 55 days.
" Panama to Changhae 75 "
130 days
88
Pacific Railway
From New York to Panama the time for steamers is • - 10 days.
Thence to Changhae ....... 41 "
>51 days.
From New York to Panama (sail vessels) - - - 50 days.
Thence to Changhae • - - - - - - 75 "
125 days
4. The route across the American Continent.
From Liverpool to New York the distance is - - 3,000 miles.
Thence to Puget's Sound ..... 3,000 "
" to Changhae - . • - - - - 5,200 "
11,200
From the Bay of San Francisco to Changhae is 5,500 miles.
From Liverpool to New York the time for steam vessels is 12 days.
Thence across the continent, by railway, to Puget's Sound 7 "
" to Changhae, in steam ships, - - 18 "
—37 days.
Or, if the Bay of Francisco be substituted for Puget's Sound, the whole
time from Liverpool to Changhae will be. - ■ 39 days.
From New York to Changhae, via Puget's Sound by railway and
steam vessels, the time would be - - - - 25 days.
And via Francisco Bay, the time would be - - 27 "
The time for sailing vessels on the Atlantic and Pacific, connecting with
a railway would be from 100 to 110 days.
Now let us compare the new route proposed for the commerce of the
East, with each of the others named in succession, and see whether it has or
has not the advantage in the four conditions we have designated, as govern-
ing commercial routes— Distance, time, cheapness of transportation, and
new markets.
1. RED SEA ROUTE.
1. The route via of the Red Sea to Canton, is shorter than the one across
our continent from Liverpool, by 1542 miles; but it is longer from New
York than the route across the continent, by about 1500 miles. If there-
fore, the routes were equal in respect to the other three conditions, the one
via the Red Sea would be the preferable one for Europe, and the one across
the continent for the United States, But this is not so, for
2. The trip can be made across the continent of America, by steam
vessels and railway, eighty-three days sooner than it can be made via the
Red Sea, in steam vessels, with a railway through Egypt. We have no
means of comparing the time for sail vessels in this comparison. Without
a satisfactory explanation, it may seem strange to the reader, that a route
having so much the advantage in distance, as the Red Sea route has, should
yet fall so short as respects time ; but the reason of this disparity is perfectly
conclusive, and is, besides, one which must exist for all time to come.
There is a constant current from Bombay, westward, to the African coast:
with this current the trade wind coincides, and steamers passing out of the
mouth of the Red Sea, have to strike nearly south by east several hundred
miles, to escape this wind and current. In the Indian Ocean, between Su-
matra and the African coast, and from 20 degrees south latitued to the Arctic
coast, including the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal, the monsoons blow
Pacific Railway.
39
from September to April, north-east, and from April to September, they veer
to the south-west, and move in with the land to the west south-west. Ano-
ther monsoon blows from April to October S. S. West, between Madagascar
and the African coast, and from October to April, resumes the direction of
the trade winds and blows north-east. A monsoon of less strength occurs
in the Chinese seas, extending from Sumatra to Japan, blowingin various di-
rections, but generally from north to south. And lastly, the great Equatorial
currents of the Pacific, blow westward from America, and strike the coast of
China, and rush down that coast to the Peninsula of Asia. These causes
must forever prevent this route from competing with ours as respects time.
3. The causes already enumerated are all sufficient to satisfy the world
that, in cheapness of transportation, the route by the Red Sea can never
rival the one across our continent; for the dangers and difficulties of navi-
gation, as well as the time expended, must forever preclude such rivalry,
and
4. The route by the Red Sea can never create a new demand, or open a
new market, because the want of facilities in time and cost of transports-
tion will operate as a perpetual bar.
II. CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.
This route is 7,300 miles longer from London, and 11,300 miles longer
from New York ; and, according to the estimates of Mr. Whitney, it cannot
compete with our route across the continent in any one of the four requisites
insisted on. Mr. Whitney says:*
"The saving in time, so all important to the merchant, giving him the
control of markets, would force commerce over this route even at much
higher tolls or freights than for the present routes. Freights in ships are
charged by measurement of 40 feet to the ton, while on railroads it is by
weight only. Young Hyson teas are of the heaviest description, but require
two tons measurement for one ton weight. Now, from Changhae to the
terminus on the Pacific, $7 per ton measurement would be a large freight,
compared with this to Europe ; thence to Lake Michigan, 2,000 miles, at a
half cent per ton per mile, would be, for a ton measurement, a half ton
weight, $5 ; and stopping here, as would all for the consumption of the
Mississippi valley, would be $12 only, and $15 less than if by the present
route. From the lake to the Atlantic cities, 1,000 miles, (roads to earn divi-
dends,) at one cent per ton per mile, for the half ton weight, $5 more, toge-
ther $17. For the present voyage around the Cape, §22£ is but a fair freight,
and often much higher.
III. THE ROUTE VIA THE ISTHMUS.
1. This route is 1500 miles longer from Liverpool than the one across the
continent, and 2,500 miles longer from New York. Should the English
Government acquire the right of way across the Isthmus of Tehuantepec,
the difference of distance would then be reduced to from five to seven hun-
dred miles. With this inconsiderable difference of distance, the advantage
which the English possess in cheap wages to seamen, and cheaper outfit in
other respects, might enable them to compete with the new route across the
continent, unless upon the latter the tollage is reduced to what is only neces-
* We make this extract from Mr. Whitney's pamphlet, page 37. We understand that Mr. Whitney is an
accomplished merchant, and his character for veracity and fairness is calculated to inspire the fullest confi-
dence in his statement of facts, in respect to commercial matters.
40
Pacific Railway,
sary for repairs. Hence the importance of enforcing the declaration of Mr.
Monroe, respecting the further colonization of the North American continent
by European powers.
2. With steam vessels and the railway, the trip across the continent can
be made in twenty-three days less time than via the Isthmus of Panama, and
in twenty-one days less time than via the Isthmus of Tehuantepec ; or, in
other words, three trips can be made from Europe to China across the con-
tinent, as soon as two can be made via the Isthmus. This advantage of time,
in a commerce like this, is one of the very first importance. Where the
trade is inconsiderable, time is an element of no comparative consequence ;
but where, as in this case, a trade will certainly be opened for which it will
be difficult for the world to supply carriers, time is a consideration of such
consequence, as to give a decisive preponderancy to the route which possesses
the advantage of it, even when the distances approach equality.
3. Cheapness of transportation depends, partly at least, upon the hazards
to be incurred by the carrier. The hazard to be anticipated in steam navi-
gation from Europe, to and from the Isthmus, is very considerable—much
more than would be incurred in the route across the continent. On the
other hand, the cost of transportation on a railway across the continent is
somewhat greater than one upon the Isthmus. The expense of trans-shipment
will be the same upon both routes.
4. The route across the Isthmus will not open a new market for any con-
siderable quantity of the products either of European or American industry.
The products of agriculture, especially, will not bear carriage through the
tropics.
It may possibly enlarge the demand, in some small degree, for some arti-
cles now carried into the Pacific. The route across the continent not only
en'' 1 ge= the demand for such articles as are now carried into the Pacific, and
to the East Indies ; but it absolutely opens up a market forhhe products of
European manufacturing industry, and the products of American industry,
agricultural as well as manufacturing, with the exception only of hemp
and cotton, and even these articles may find a new market upon our western
coast.
We extract the following paragraphs from the Report of Senator Breese,
chairman of the Committee on Public Lands, to show the opinion of the
Committee in respect to the nature and extent of the new markets which
would be opened to us by a railway across the continent. The Committee
had access to every source of information that could be desired, and appear
to have examined the subject in all its aspects. Speaking of the Chinese,
the Committee say :
" They take our lead and copper, our ginseng, furs, and our flour, and if
we i on Id send to them short of the long voyage twice across the equator,
(almost sure to destroy all produce, animator vegetable,) they would take
our Indian corn in any quantity, our rice, our tobacco, our pork, beef, hams
and lard. All foreigners now there depend upon us for these articles, as
well as butter and cheese, both of which, your committee are informed, being
sold frequently at one dollar per pound. It appears that, in 1838, they
commenced taking leather and hides from Russia,. The amount more than
doubled in four years. As they keep but few animals, they cannot supply
themselves with leather, and this is no doubt the cause why it has not been
Pacific Railway.
in general use ; but should its use increase as it has commenced, the demand
■will soon become very great, and to us alone must they look for a supply.
" The Committee have mentioned a few leading, important articles ; but
should we succeed in opening a direct way, whereby a free, frequent and a
cheap exchange could take place, they fully believe the variety on each side
would be endless, and the amount without limit; and we should have an ad-
vantage over the present sea voyage, or any other route or channel, which
would be incalculable, and will all pass, both ways, in north latitude, from
above 30 to above 40 degrees, so that teas and products, our Indian corn,
flour, beef, pork, hams, butter, cheese, &c., &c., will escape the great danger
of injury and destruction from the long sea voyage around the Cape, or any
route twice across the equator."
We have now made the comparison between all the routes in use and the
routes proposed, and we have found, that in the four conditions which always
have governed, and in the nature of things, must govern the route for com-
merce, the new route across our continent has a decided advantage over all
others. We conclude, therefore, that those inflexible and eternal laws, which
Providence has instituted for the regulation of commercial affairs, will divert
the commerce of the East from all other channels to the one across the Ameri-
can Continent. Whether this result is to come sooner or later, may depend
in a great measure, upon ourselves ; upon our readiness to conform to the
order of events as they have been arranged by Divine Providence ; or upon
our disposition to delay, to thwart, and to embarrass the natural progress of
events. A change in the route of commerce to the East has been decreed by
the fiat of destiny ; and although human effort may procrastinate, it cannot
finally prevent the grand result.
OBJECTIONS AS TO SNOWS ANSWERED.
An objection which has been started to this great project deserves serious
consideration ; because it has tended more than almost any thing else to
create an apprehension in the popular mind, that a railway to the Pacific is
impracticable ; and because, we have seen even the halls of Congress, mo-
tions made, and long debates carried on upon the hypothesis that the objec-
tion was a valid one. And, moreover, the' advocates of a southern route,
without reflection or knowledge of the fact, that the route proposed by them
is as open to attack upon this ground, as a more northern one, have urged
this objection with great pertinacity. The objection is, that a railway would
be rendered useless for the greater portion of the year, by snows in the moun-
tains. If the difficulty, were an insuperable one, it would apply equally to
all routes ; for the mountains of New Mexico are as elevated as those farther
north, and the descent of snow is governed by elevation and not latitude.
Indeed, if there be a difference, snow falls in greater quantities in the south-
em portion of the temperate zone, than any where else, as Humboldt has re-
marked. But the objection is entitled to but little consideration. In the first
place, dry snow constitutes no greater impediment to a railway car, than a
shower of eider-down ; and wet snow is rarely, if ever seen one hundred
miles west of the line of the State, and north of the SJth parallel. South of
that line, the fact may be different. In the second place, we can easily es-
cape all trouble with the snows, by elevating our railway a few feet above
the surface. This has been done by the Emperor of Russia, upon his grand
42
Pacific Railway.
central line of railway from St. Petersburg to Moscow, and this line of
railway commences near the 60th and terminates about thi 55th degree of
north latitude, nearer the arctic circle than our northern line across the Rocky
Mountains. With an elevated railway, a scraper preceding the wheel of the
wheel of the car, is all sufficient to keep it clear.
THE MEANS OF CONSTRUCTION.
We are satisfied that the people of the United States can never be prevail-
ed upon to give their consent to a bill, which proposes to raise the means of
constructing a railway to the Pacific, by an increase of the duties on imports
and exports ; although we of the west, would cheerfully give our consent to
this or any other constitutional method which promises to yield the requisite
means. Our opinion, here expressed, is founded upon the history of the past.
The union of these States.was once in imminent danger of being severed,
because the people of the Southern States deemed themselves unjustly mulcted
and oppressed by a protective tariff; which, they alledged, operated solely to
the advantage of the North, and prejudice of the South. To propose, there-
fore, to raise by means of duties, several millions of dollars over and above
what is needful for the current expenses of the government, would again
open the door for the adoption of that line of protective policy which has
already engendered so much dissatisfaction ; and he understands but little of
human nature, who does not perceive that when this temptation is presented,
it will be eagerly seized. Hence we infer, that the whole of the Southern,
and perhaps some of the Northern States, would be found in opposition to a
railroad bill sustained by this system of raising the necessary means of con-
struction ; and our opinion in this respect, is fortified by the expression of a
like opinion by two Congressional Committees, the one of the Senate, and
the other of the House of Representatives.
It was this difficulty respecting the means, which suggested to Mr. Whit-
ney the plan which he has urged upon the attention of Congress and the
people, from the year 1840, up to the present time. But there are many con-
troling reasons why the plan of Mr. Whitney, as it now stands, can never
be adopted. The people of the United States will never consent that a mag-
nificent project, which promises to effect more for ages to come, than any
other material improvement which the genius and the labor of man has ever
erected ; and which connects itself with their wants, their interests and their
national glory, shall be undertaken and carried out by a single individual.
But were it possible, that the nation could be brought to such a surrender of
national pride, the plan of Mr. Whitney could never receive its sanction
on other accounts. According to this plan, Mr. Whitney may construct the
work only as far as it suits him, and there abandon it, if he finds it unprom-
ising. And lastly, Mr. Whitney can give us no assurance that he will live
to complete this great undertaking, and consequently, the single accident of
his death may frustrate the whole design after millions of dollars have been
waited upon it.
Only two other plans for raising the means of construction, have as yet
been presented for public consideration, and these with those already noticed,
probably include every plan which can be proposed. One of these propo-
sitions is to borrow the money on the credit of the United States, in like
manner as moneys are raised for the prosecution of war; and the other to
Pacific Railway.
43
set apart a portion of the proceeds of the public lands for the purpose. The
first proposition is substantively the one suggested by W. A. Bayard & Co.,
P. P. F. Degrand, Esq., of Boston, and all the other projectors who desire
Congress to incorporate a company for the construction of the work. The
second proposition is the one proposed in Senator Benton's Bill. It may
well be doubted, whether, acting in good faith, it would be strictly constitu-
tional to borrow money for this purpose. The power to borrow money at all,
was bestowed upon Congress out of the necessity of the case. The framers
of the Constitution rightly apprehending that cases of sudden emergency
would occur in national progress, where national existence might be endan-
gered, if this power was not lodged somewhere, judiciously selected Congress
as the safest depository of it. But to administer the extreme medicine of the
Constitution as daily food, or in plainer language, to wield for ordinary ob-
jects, a power only designed to be exercised in extraordinary contingencies,
if within the letter of the Constitution, is scarcely in accordance with its
spirit.
The public lands, then, constitute the only fund which can be resorted to
for the construction of this great work, consistently with the spirit of the
Constitution, and the interests and harmony of the several States of the
Union. Fortunately, the authority of Congress over the public lands not
having been derived to it originally by the express delegation of power in
the Constitution, but by compact with the States ; and those portions of the
public domain not thus given in trust by the States, having been acquired by
treaty, the authority of Congress, in respect to this doman, has never been
looked upon, by any party, as limited on the same strict principles which are
held to limit other branches of national authority. From the adoption of the
Constitution up to the present time, the authority of Congress to donate the
public lands, for purposes of internal improvement, and to donate them so
as to aid such works, even within the States themselves, has been recognized
by all parties; and this authority has been continually exercised at almost
every session of that body which has been held. On the other hand, the
difficulties and mismanagement in the administration of the public lands,
has been a constant source of bickering, bargain, intrigue, and party strife.
So great has been the annoyance arising from this source, that divers schemes
have been suggested to rid the nation of this troublesome trust. Mr. Van
Buren once proposed to cede them conditionally to the States in which they
lie. Mr. Calhoun proposed to present them to the States in which they lie,
as an absolute gift, to rid the federal government of the corruption engen-
dered by them ; and Mr. Clay introduced a bill to divide the proceeds of the
sale of them among the several States, which, after exciting an embittered
controversy through several sessions, was finally defeated by the veto of
President Jackson.
We consider the portion of the proceeds designed to be set apart by Col.
Benton's bill, as insufficient to construct the railway. The whole of the
proceeds oftheirsale have not averaged as much as $3,000,000, for the last
ten years ; and even this sum is manifestly insufficient. It must be recol-
lected, too, that the military lands created by our late war with Mexico,
must diminish the annual revenue arising from these lands, for several years
to come. To meet the question of a Pacific railway, then, as a practical
question, and one ripe for immediate legislation, we will offer a plan for
44
Pacific Railway.
raising the means of construction, which we deem free from all constitutional
difficulty, and which, we think, must meet the approbation of all parties.
Let the Congress of the United States, donate to the States through which
the three branches of the,railway herein proposed to be constructed shall pass,
so much of said lands, as in its judgment may be just and needful, as an aid
to them in the construction of these branches, leaving the construction of
the branches altogether to the State authority, and also the subsequent man-
agement of them. Then, let the whole of the public lands of the United
States, east and we§t of the Kocky Mountains, be set apart by act of Con-
gress, as the basis from which to raise the means of construction. Let the
requisite sum be raised in the United States, or in Europe, upon the pledge
of the public faith, that the whole proceeds of the sales of the public do-
main shall be devoted to the payment of the interest upon the sum advanced,
together with so much of the principal as the annual sales will meet, over and
above the interest, until the whole debt is finally extinguished.
The cost of a railway from the mouth of the Kanzas river to the
Bay of San Francisco, 1936, at $20,000 per mile, (a liber-
al allowance,) will be $38,'720,000
The cost of a branch from the northern bend of Humboldt river to
Puget's Sound, 430 miles, at the same rate, will be - 8,400,000
"Whole cost - $47,120,000*
To build this road in ten, years the sum to be raised annually
would be - - - - - $4,712,000
The annual interest upon this sum will be - - 282,722
The annual interest upon the whole sum of $47,120,000 will be $2,827,200
If the whole sum were borrowed at once, then, it is probable that the annual
proceeds of the sales would overpay the interest. But when it is considered
that only the sum of $4,712,000 need be borrowed each year, the capacity
of the lands to yield the requisite means will be made palpable; for a large
portion of the principal of the first sum can be paid, as well as the interest,
before it becomes necessary to raise the sum for the second year's operations.
And it must be recollected, too, that the public lands along the line of the
branches through the States, and along the line of the road westward, will
be improving in value as the, work progresses, and thus add much to the ca-
pacity of the fund to meet the liability incurred. We think it is as clear as
reason and arithmetic can make any proposition, that the public domain will
certainly yield the necessary means for this work ; and that, moreover, after
this sum has been expended for the road, the remaining portion of the public
domain will be so enhanced in value, by the construction of the road, that
the road itself will absolutely cost nothing. If this be so,—and we are sure
the more the question is discussed, the more clearly it will be proven to be
the correct view,—what excuse is there for farther delay in the prosecution
of this scheme ? and how much are we losing in national power and pro-
gress by procrastination 1 In closing this branch of the subject, we must be
* Senator Breese, in his report, estimates the cost of grading and bridging (except bridging across the Mis-
sissippi and Missonri rivers) at $5,000, and a superstructure for a single track, tunnels, stations, &c., at
$10,500 per mile. Of course, no reliable estimate oan be made as to cost; $20,000 per mile, has been-as-
sumed as the cost, for thejmrpose of illustrating?the writer's proposition. Those who may think it either too
high or too low, can adjust the subsequent calculations accordingly.
Pacific Railway.
45
permitted to do an act of justice to some persons whose motives and designs
have been questioned, without just cause, by individuals—some of them in
high places—from whom a criticism upon personal conduct, and personl in-
tegrity, comes withjbut an ill-grace. We allude to Messrs. Wilkes, Palmer,
Whitney, Bayard, Carver, and other meritorious individuals who have spent
time and labor in the advocacy of this great measure. So far from deserving
censure, we think these citizens deserve eminently well of the country ; and
we will add, that when the construction of this great work is undertaken, it
will be only an act of simple justice, in contracting for it, so to arrange the
patronage connected with it, as to give ample remuneration, in a pecuniary
point of view, to all those who have labored for its promotion.
RECAPITULATION.
We have traced the commerce of the East as far into antiquity as the light
of history sheds its beams ; we have seen that in all ages it has constituted
the governing element in the commerce of civilized nations, and that neither
the dangers of the sea nor the terrors of the desert were sufficient to deter
the adventurous and the enterprising from the prosecution of it. With the
treasures derived from this commerce, deserts have been fertilized and cities
built up : as if, by the fabled virtue of the lamp of Aladdin, it created kings
and princes, built navies, and clothed and equipped armies; and it has in-
troduced and sustained civilization, science, and the arts, wherever it has
been carried. For the control of this commerce, centuries of rivalry, in-
trigue, and naval and military Contest, has been carried on, and powerful
princes and great nations have eagerly struggled; and to the end of time it
must continue, as it has ever been, "the brightest jewel in the diadem of
commerce." The reason of this is clear and palpable. The jewels, the pre-
cious stones, the teas, the porcelains, and the spices of the Indies, may be
imitated, but they can never be rivalled or superseded. The soil of other
regions has ever refused to produce such of these articles as are of spontane-
•ous growth, and ages of practice would be requisite to acquire the mechanical
skill needful to compete with those which manufacturing genius creates.
To acquire supremacy in Eastern trade, various routes of travel by sea and
land have been sought out and adopted in the course of centuries. With
our geographical and statistical knowledge, we may calculate with the cer-
tainty of science, that one, and but one other change in the commercial
route to the Indies can ever be made. The progress of events is rapidly has-
tening the consummation of this great change. When it is consummated,
the commerce of the world, with this great balance wheel fixed upon a per-
manent basis, will assume the regularity and certainty of mathematics; and
the world will be freed from all those sudden changes, and perpetual and
unanticipated fluctuations and revulsions, which have hitherto rendered all
commerce a species of gaming, and been the prime cause of all the depravity
of principle with which we are afflicted in the common intercourse of life.
Were the civilized world-swayed by but one political authority, this final
change in its commerce -would have been effected long since ; for since the
discovery of the railway and the steam car, there has scarce been a time
when this change might not have been made with safety, security, and profit.
The unexampled growth of the United States in population and resources,
agricultural and manufacturing skill, has already advanced us to that point
46
Pacific Railway.
in our national progress, where works of this vast character become neces-
sary to advancement in arts, and in arms—in commerce, and in industrial
pursuits. A magnificent work which promises to change the destinies of the
civilized world, but which the world cannot construct for want of a controling
political authority, is within the power, and has been shown to be within the
resources of the United States; and the question for us to decide, is whether
we will convert all Europe into tributaries, anddevelope by the same act all
our rich resources; or whether we will supinely overlook for generations to
come, the grand results to which the completion of a Pacific railway must
lead, with as much of certainty as the ends of Divine Providence are worked
out by second causes ? We cannot and will not believe that the American
people are so blind to the plainest indications of common sense—so dead to
the inspiring impulses of a glorious ambition. With the energy, and the
means within their control, they will be false to those principles of progress
which have hitherto impelled them, as if by the hand of Omnipotence, in the
race for supremacy; and a thousand considerations of interest and duty ap-
peal to them against further delay.
ADVANTAGES OF A PACIFIC EAILWAY.
The advantages to be anticipated from the construction of a Pacific rail-
way, are some of them immediats and temporary; whilst others are compar-
atively remote, but permanent. Among the first of the temporary benefits to
be looked for, is the employment the work will afford to large numbers of
working men, who are now engaged in pursuits which are not sufficiently
diversified to be productive. Thousands of our native population, as well as
thousands daily landing on our eastern shores from Europe, would be bene-
fitted by the employment thus afforded them ; and the food and clothing need-
ful to their sustenance and comfort, would create a demand in the vicinity
of the work, highly beneficial to those from whom the supplies are to come.
This is but one of the temporary advantages of the work, but we have not
space to dwell upon these. We must pass on to the enumeration of those
benefits which are to exercise a beneficial and durable influence upon the
interests of the American people.
The construction of this great railway will afford an opportunity for the'
investment of large amounts of capital which are now seeking investment,
in Europe and America, in works which promise to yield reasonable profits,
and which are amply demonstrated to be safe ; by multiplying the facilities
of getting to a market, the capital and labor now unproductively employed
in seeking one, would be applied to the production of wealth, and this would
successively multiply the products of agricultural and manufacturing skill;
the value of the lands in the vicinity of the roads would be instantly em
hanced, in consequence of the additional facility for finding a market; the
construction, care and repair of the railway, will give steady employment to
a permanent force of able-bodied men, and this force again will create a
considerable demand for the necessaries and comforts of life ; it will treble
the interior trade of the whole Union, by giving a new impulse to all our
industrial pursuits, and bringing into market many articles of consumption
which cannot now be profitably exchanged, in consequence of the deficiency
of commercial facilities ; thousands of square miles of land will find a pro-
fitable market, and be made to yield the elements of comfort and happiness,
Pacific Railway.
47
which otherwise must remain unimproved and unproductive for an indefinite
period to come ; it will diversify the pursuits of our people, and thus save
large sums which now seek a foreign market, and by introducing a greater
variety into the agricultural and other industrial products of the country,
exchanges will be multiplied ; it would give occasion to, and justify the con-
struction of branch lines of railway from all sections-of the Union, and these
improvements would multiply indefinitely all the products of labor and skill,
and diffuse a greater quantity and variety of the luxuries and comforts of
life throughout the Union ; and finally, it would elevate our national pride,
stimulate our national energies, and consolidate our national character.
Should the Electric Telegraph be constructed forthwith across the conti-
nent, as there is every reason to believe it will be, under the authority of the
Congress of the Union, at its next session, the enterprising individuals who
stretch the wires will seek out, of course, the shortest and most practicable
route for this great railway ; and ere the immense work shall have been be-
gun, a broad belt-of civilization will span the continent, diffusing its whole-
some principles and habits among the wild races who roam over the bound-
less plains of the west, and preparing in advance, for those who are to con-
struct the railway, all the comforts and necessaries needful to aid and sus-
tain them in the prosecution of the work. This belt will go on widening
and widening, until the vast pastoral region spread out between the line of
the States and the base of the Rocky Mountains will be brought into culti-
vation, and herds, and flocks, and rural beauty, and domestic happiness will
diffuse themselves over the whole land ; whilst, within the recesses of the
mountains, where rich vallies, beds of coal, and a variety of minerals abound,
water-power without limit may be found to develope the resources of Nature ;
and a social and political edifice, with towns and cities, will spring up to
rival all that oriental story has told us of power and magnificence.
Our colonies upon the Pacific are the nurseries of political principles,
and the harbingers of human progress. But a brief period will elapse ere
the laws of commercial intercourse will have brought them into intimate
communion with other and powerful forms of civilization. Our national
glory requires that these great colonies shall be preserved to us; we must
overleap those great mountain barriers which it was once thought Nature
herself had erected to separate nations from each other; and we must not
permit the thronging millions who are destined to fringe the Pacific to grow
up into power and splendor as aliens to our institutions, laws and principles,
and rivals and enemies in trade ; but we must unite them to us by common
sympathies, opinions, habits, law's and constitutions—that civil and religious
liberty, the life-springs of all our prosperity, may diffuse their invigorating
infliRnces from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and give to the whole continent
one motive power. To do this, a band of iron must be made to span the
continent.
. The construction of this road would save annually a very large amount of
capital, now lost in the shape of insurances, and by the accidents of the
sea, in rounding the tempestuous Capes at the southern extremities of Africa
and South America. There are, too, at this time, upwards of three hundred
whaling vessels employed in the Pacific. These vessels are compelled to
re-cooper once or twice a year. Heretofore, they have sought the ports of
South America and the Sandwich Islands to do their repairs, at an average
46
Pacific Railway.
cost of one and a half millions of dollars. Let this road be constructed,
and then vessels would resort to the Bay of San Francisco for repairs, be-
cause there they would be in direct communication with owners, free from
lawless seizures and port-charges, and they would float upon the waters of
the Union, under the protection of its glorious flag.
If, as has been argued, the commerce of Europe with the East Indies and
with China should be diverted from it^present channels into the direct route
across our continent, the revenue derived to us from thence will be very pro-
ductive. The value of the vessels of Europe and America now engaged in
the trade beyond the Cape of Good Hope is $61,000,000. If this trade is
brought across the continent, one half the tonnage would be sufficient to carry
it on in both oceans, thus realizing a saving of $30,590,000. An additional
saving will be made for hands, insurance, wear and tear, interest, &c., of
$16,100,000. It is believed, also, that the carriage of passengers and mails
would yield a revenue of $4,000,000 ; and that the tolls payable on this
road, for all the goods now carried to Europe around the Cape of Good Hope,
will amount to upwards of $20,000,000.
In our commerce with the East Indies hitherto, the balance of trade has
been uniformly against us, and this constant drain of the precious metals has
operated to the serious detriment of all other branches of our business.
^Nineteen thousand and five hundred miles, the distance from New York to
Canton, is too far to carry any other articles than those of light manufacture-;
and, moreover, the passage through tropical regions would destroy all the
products of agriculture, and many manufactured ones, even if the Eastern
demand of them could justify the expense of transportation. The objections
respecting variations of climate apply with full force to the route via the
Isthmus of Panama, and to any route south of the 35th parallel of latitude ;
and hence another controling consideration in favor of the route from St.
Louis to the Pacific. Another reason why our commerce with the East has
been—when considered in connection with other branches of trade—an em-
barrassing commerce, has been, that the jealous despotisms of China and
Japan—" theMiddle Empire," and "the Gem of the Sea"—have studiously
labored to exclude " the outer barbarians" from any intimate intercourse
with their people, or any accurate knowledge of their interior, social and
political condition, and varied resources. Ages of occasional contact, aided
by judicious and prudential management, have at last obliterated much of
this jealous sentiment, and there is now a fair prospect of our being enabled,
at an early day, to conduct a free, profitable and unembarrassed trade with
all these people. When this great railway shall have been completed, and
a trade in gold and silver, superseded by one of barter, what an incalculable
and inexhaustible field of commerce will be spread out before American
enterprize ! Contemplate, for a brief space, the rich and glowing picture.
Of the eight hundred millions of people who inhabit the earth, six hun-
dred are upon the islands and along the coasts of the Pacific Ocean. They
are very poor navigators, and we should, in a short period, monopolize the
whole carrying trade of the Pacific. These people, are now subsisted for the
most part, upon rice and pulse. We can take to them meat and bread, and
metalic implements, and they will eagerly grasp the proffered benefit. The
Russian-American possessions lie a few hundred miles north of our Pacific
harbors ; Manchooria stretches from Kamschatka to the northern boundary
Pacific Railway.
"*49
of the Chinese empire, with an extent of 900,000 square miles, traversed by
a navigable stream 900 miles in length, and swarming with Nomadic tribes ;
the islands of Japan, with a population of 50,000,000, with rich mineral re-
sources, and abundant products of silks and teas, expand from the 30th to
the 50th degree of north latitude ; the broad empire of China, with a patient,
industrious, and ingenious population of 367,000,000, fills up the whole erea
between the 20th and 60th degrees of north latitude, and the 70th and 140th
degrees of east longitude from Greenwich, abounding in teas, silks, porcelains,
sugar, indigo, medicinal plants, jewels, and precious stones ; the Sandwich
Islands, which are set like "gems in the midst of the sea," bloom with rich
verdure, and are laden with commercial treasures, such as coffee, sugar, bread,
fruit, &c., with a population of 108,000 people, rapidly transforming under
the civilizing influence of commerce, into a moral and religious people ; the
Polynasian Islands, with abundant natural resources, are inhabited by 1,500,
000 people, whom commerce will soon reclaim from barbarism ; New Guinea,
with 305,540 square miles of territory, and a hardy population, needs only
the energizing influence of trade, to render it a treasure-house of commerce ;
the great continent of Australia, upon the 10th degree of south latitude, and
between the 113th and 153d degree of easUongitude with an area of 3,000,-
000 of square miles, a colonial population of 160,000, and a native one of
60,000, is the centre of a group of islands, with a population of 1,000,000
of souls—is rich in extensive beds of coal, and varied tropical products;
Java, Sumatra, and Borneo, from whence the rich and pungent spices of the
East send forth upon the seas their rich odors, with an aggregate surface of
504,000 square miles, and an aggregate population of 12,000,000 of people,
with good harbors, and every desired facility to invite our enterprise ; the
Phillipine Islands, made immortal by the genius of Le Sage, the Island of
Singapore, at the extremity of the Malay peninsula, and the whole west
coast of the New World, multiply the new sources of American commerce;
and lastly, the broad, calm, and beautiful expanse of the great ocean of the
West, conceals beneath its glowing surface, varied and exhaustless treasures.
Is not such a trade as this, an object worthy of American energy and enter-
prise, and of the genius and patriotism of American statesmen ?
More than thirty centuries have passed away since the human race separa-
ted upon the plains of Western Asia. Taking up their line of march
towards the rising sun, along the great table lands of Central Asia, much
the larger portion of them distributed themselves over the great continent—
descending, in detached parties, as they moved, to the frozen plains of Sibe-
ria, and the brilliant and blooming savannas, which stretch towards the Indian
Sea. Another great emigration moved westward, along the narrow isthmus,
which unites the Asiatic and African continents, into Egypt and Abbyssinia,
from whence, they have been distributed, in the progress of centuries, over
the rugged mountains and burning plains of the torrid zone. The third and
last, taking the sun as their guide, surmounted the stupendous chains of the
Ural and Caucassian mountains, and descended upon the temperate, and
fertile, and diversified surface of Europe. Time, climate, and the various
operations of causes, having their origin in the "physical structure, and pecu-
liar localities of the different portions of the globe, have all tended to intro-
duce into each of these great sections of the human family, an infinite
diversity in language, laws, religion, morals, habits, and social and political
4
50
Pacific Railway.
polity. In the far East, a torpid and lifeless form of civilization, which
lives upon the past, and is blind to all the prognostics of the future, has
grown up, diversified by a variety of practice, and of external display, but
deriving all its vitality from one common fountain. The characteristic fea-
tures of this civilization, are, the absolute rule of ihe despotic principle;
a deep and fervent reverence for the past; a tendency to attribute to that past
the creation of every thing needful for the security and happiness of man-
kind ; an absolute incapacity to see how the types and shadows of experi-
ence, point to, and elucidate the dark vista of the future, and a settled
antipathy to whatever is new or novel, or in contrast to the system in which
it lives and breathes. In the interior of Africa, a rich soil and a burning
sun forces into life a boundless profusion of vegetation, and stimulates into
vitality appetites and passions, generative of every variety of disease, and
vicious inclination ; and the intellectual and moral faculties are degraded
from their natural position of supremacy into active instruments of all the
baser passions. The Caucassian race alone, seems to have discovered how
the experience of the past may be interpreted into prophetic revealings of
the future, and hence, with this race alone has the principle of progress ope-
rated steadily and permaneatly in the growth of its civilization. They alone
have extended the dominion of man over nature—have penetrated the mys-
terious laws of the physical and moral universe—have rendered these laws
subservient to their advancement in all those arts which tend to elevate the
human mind and develop its great faculties; and have interpreted from the
wondrous features of the universe, the will of that Great Being who launched
the whole system into existence.
The tendency of the operation of all physical causes, is to introduce di-
versity—division is naturally evolved out of diversity—another step creates
jealousy and strife, and the final result of all these successive causes, is the
reign of ignorance, vice, and crime. The tendency of the operation of rnor-
al causes, is, to produce unity and harmony of sentiment; these again
produce confidence and faith, and the final result of all these successive
causes, is the reign of intelligence, virtue, and religion. The history of the
human race is made up of the struggles between physical and moral causes,
and the exact stage of the civilization, of any people, precisely corresponds
to the desrree of influence which these distinct primary causes exercise over
them. The Asiatic people, although they have their conditions mitigated in
various degrees, by the influence of moral causes, may yet be said to be un-
derthe dominion of the physical. With the African races, the tendency of
moral causes can scarcely be recognized at all. But the Caucassian division
of the human race, stimulated by the principle of progress, have continued
slowly but steadily to rise in the tone of their civilization, until the point of
transition has already been passed-—the tendency to division, strife and
crime comparatively arrested, and the rapid development of that final
form of the world's civilization fairly begun, wherein a uniformity of lan-
gua.ee, habit and principle, and peace, and unity, and religion, and virtue,
shall reign undisturbed.
When a direct and rapid'means of communication—intellectual and com-
mercial—shall be opened across the American continent to the eastern shore
of Asia, the principle of progress will be brought into immediate contact
with that of stability —the controling influence of moral with the controling
Pacific Railway.
influence of physical causes— faith in the future with confidence in the past—
the active passion of hope with the passive faculty of memory —and when
this conflict is once begun, who shall fix a period to it, short of that wherein
an entire conquest of the more torpid forms of civilization shall give supreme
and eternal dominion to the reign of Truth, Justice and Faith ? The supe-
riority of the Caucassian race in science and the arts—in intellect and in
moral vigor—in energy and in mechanical skill—in all which gives com-
pactness and strength to the social state, and all which may be requisite to-
wards the propagation and diffusion of their principles and institutions—will
soon enable them to overcome the habitual repugnance to foreign intercourse
so characteristic to Asiatic people. When this difficulty is fairly surmounted,
a revolution in their social, religious and political condition, is as certain
as the eternal operation of moral causes. The sciences and the useful and
ornamental arts will supersede the senseless jargon, the clumsy implements,
and the tasteless ornaments of eastern Asia ; labor-saving machinery will be
introduced—religion and morals will take [the place of superstition and
vice—industry and commerce will reciprocally stimulate each other—tl^e
principles of constitutional liberty will drive out the principles of despotism—
a general conformity of language, ideas, sentiments, and principles will, in
the course of ages, be diffused over the whole earth, and that millenial reign
of peace, truth and religion, of which poets have dreamed and prophets have
spoken, will perfect the permanent, uniform, and final condition of human
society.
PACIFIC TELEGRAPH.
HISTORY OF ELECTRO-MAGNETIC DISCOVERY.
When the last step has been taken in along series of successive discove-
ries and results, in conferring upon the world a great practical good, there is
a singular propensity in the human mind to cast into oblivion the names and
works of all who have contributed to the grand result, and to concentrate all
its admiration, and all its eulogies upon the fortunate individual who has
taken this last step ; although, in the estimation of those who are most capa-
ble of appreciating scientific excellence, his merits may be much inferior to
many of those who preceded him, and furnished him with the means of ac-
complishing the final discovery. This tendency of the human mind is illus-
trated by the fame of Bacon, of Newton, of Locke, and of Fulton, as well
as many others, as an examination of the history of science preceding their
discoveries would amply demonstrate. Such has been the case, too, in re-
spect to the science of Electro-magnetism. The last step in the long series
was fortunately taken by Professor Morse, an eminently beneficial practical
result has followed, all of us are familiar with the name of Morse ; and how
few of us know any thing of the names and fame of the illustrious cultiva-
tors of science, who led him to the very verge of the circle of discovery
in which he has reaped so rich a harvest of wealth and fame ?
On the 12th day of November, 1746, M. Le Monnier, the younger, sub-
mitted a memoir to the Royal Academy of Sciences, at Paris, detailing a
series of experiments made by him, for the purpose of testing certain objec-
tions which he entertained to M. Du Fayes' doctrines respecting electricity.
These experiments prove M. Le Monnier to have been the first individual
who came to the conclusion—1st. That the electric discharge could be
transmitted through metalic circuits of great length. 2d. That static, or
machine electricity could be passed through or over large bodies of water.
3d. Who endeavored to ascertain the velocity with which electricity passes
through the circuit; and 4th. Who established the fact that electricity fol-
lows the best conductors.* Similar experiments were immediately repeated
by a number of philosophers, among whom we will mention John Henry
Winkler, Fthe professor of ancient languages in the University of Leipsic.f
The experiments of Dr. William Watson, in reference to the conducting
capacity of water, long metalic circuits, and the velocity of electricity, were
made during the months of July and August, 1847. These experiments, in
addition to confirming the conclusions of Le Monnier, resulted in the im-
portant additional discovery, that dry ground could be used as a part of an
electrical circuit. At the same time, experiments were made to ascertain
•Philosophical Transactions, Martin 's Abridgment, vol. 10, p. 336-338.
tSturgeon 's Annals, vol. 4, p. 445.
64
Pacific Telegraph.
the velocity of electricity, which resulted in proving, that in a circuit of
12,276 feet, it was instantaneous.*
The experiments which we have enumerated, combined, established three
important facts, viz : 1st. That static or frictional electricity could be dis-
charged over metalic chronometers of great length. 2d. That the time occu-
pied by the discharge was inappreciable ; and 3d. That the presence of the
electricity could be made visible at any part of the circuit.
Our own illustrious Franklin, as we learn from a letter of his addressed
to Peter Collinson, Esq., in 1748, was perfectly familiar with nearly all
these interesting facts.f With his discoveries, says Dr. Hare, " the science
of mechanical electricity reached its meridian splendor." In the latter part
of the 18th century, Luizi Galvani', of Bologna, accidentally discovered that
a current from an electrical machine, passing through the nerve of a dead
frog, would cause muscular contraction. His inference from this fact was
that the surface of the muscle was in one kind of electrical state, whilst the
nerve was in the opposite—that the metal connecting ihem acted as a dis-
charging rod, producing the electrical equilibrium, as in the discharge of the
Leyden jar—and the muscular contractions were the result.f
Alexander Volta, of the University of Paris, proved that this theory was
erroneous, and that in order to produce contraction, it was needful to use
two different metals ; that it was their contact, and not the electrical condi-
tion of the nerve and muscle to which the contraction was due. These ex-
periments led him to the discovery of the celebrated voltaic pile, which was
the germ of the battery now used as the electrometer on all telegraphic lines.
This discovery was made in 1800.\ But Volta had no appreciation of the
chemical power of his own pile. This discovery was made whilst engaged
in a series of experiments, by Messrs. Nicholson and Carlyle, on the 2d
May, 1800. During these experiments, the fact that water is a conductor of
voltaic, as well as frictional electricity was discovered.||
The difficulty arising from the exudation of the solution used in the con-
struction of the voltaic pile, led to the discovery of the trough battery, by
Cruikshank, soon after the pile was introduced in England ; and this again
was remodeled in several particulars, as experience indicated its necessity.
It was with these improved apparatus that Sir Humphrey Davy commenced his
brilliant career of electro-chemical research, which revolutionized the science
of chemical philosophy.If
For a long period after the invention of the voltaic pile, it was not known
that it was to the chemical reaction between the fluid and the oxydable metal
that the action of the battery was mainly due—mere metalic contact being
necessary only to closing the circuit, in order to permit the reaction to pro-
ceed. Owing to this important fact, the force of the current of electricity
continually and rapidly descended, and the zinc plates required frequent
changing ; thus offering insuperable difficulties to the operation of any Volta-
electro-magnetic arrangement ,of great duration and constant force, such as
an electro-magnetic telegraph must be, to be of any practical service.
The first who obtained a certain degree of constancy in the action of the
battery, were Prof. Ritchie and M. Becquerel. In 1829, the latter con-
•Phil. Transactions, Martin's Abridgment, v. 10, p. 347. tFranklin's Works.
tBrande's Chemistry. § Philosophical Transactions for the year 2800, p. 403.
ULondon Encyclopedia, 1845, vol. 8., p. 97. TTDavy's Works, edited by his brother.
Pacific Telegraph,
55
structed one which maintainad its force for an hour and a half.* The next
step was in the use, by Mr. Warren de la Rue, of a solution of sulphate of
copper, as the exciting agent in batteries ; thus supplying oxygen to the zinc
by the oxyde of copper-t The next step was made by Prof. Daniell, who
found that the rapid diminution of the force of a battery was caused by the
evolution of hydrogen gas from the negative surface, and upon this fact con-
structed a constant battery.}; Numerous forms of constant batteries have
been since prepared, such as Smee's, Silliman's and Bunson's ; but the most
valuable of them was that of Grove. It is the only one at present in use
on telegraphic lines. It was first proposed to the French Academy, on the
15th April, 1839. Its characteristics are, the uniform character of its cur-
rent, the great energy of current produced hy a few pairs, the comparatively
diminutive size of the active surface of a single pair, and the great duration
of its action .{ This battery has been known to act for three weeks without
a renewal of the amalgamation, with only an occasional supply of nitric
acid.
It had been long -known that common electricity was conducted over the
surface of the metal of wires; but Sir Humphrey Davy found that the con-
ducting power of wire for voltaic electricity, in batteries of the size and
number of plates first described, was nearly as the mass ; thus, when a cer-
tain length of wire of platinum discharged one battery, the same length of
wire of ten times the weight discharged six batteries; and the result was pre^
cisely the same, whether the mass was a single wire or composed of a num-
ber. This experiment showed that the surface had no relation to the con-
ducting power of voltaic or frictional electricity.|| Subsequent experience
has confirmed the doctrine of Davy. Dr. Richie says ; " Common electri-
city is diffused over the surface of the metal; voltaic electricity exists in the
metal."IT Mr. Peter Barlow published his experiments in 1825.}} The law
deduced by him was, that the conductability of wires of the same metal is
inversely as the square of the lengths, and directly as their diameters. In
1834, Professor Lenz remarks, in the Academy of St. Petersburg, as having
been attested by Davy, Pouillet, Becquerel, Christie, Ohm and Fechner, " that
wire* of the same metal conduct electricity inversely as their length, and
directly as their sections." This law, known as Lonz's law, is generally
received, and no experience has as yet conflicted with it. These facts prove
how great was the difficulty in the construction of an electro-magnetic tele-
graph.
In the year 1803, Jean Aldini discovered that water is a conductor of
galvanism, as well as of common electricity; and that the voltaic current
may be projected across rivers, and even across arms of the sea,}} He also found
that the velocity of voltaic electricity was not measurable by a clock beating
half-seconds. Professor Wheatstone, too, proved that the velocity of elec-
tricity through a copper wire exceeds that of light through the planetary
space.
Dr. Steinkel was the first to pass magneto-electricity through a portion of
the earth. Dr. Henry was the first to demonstrate that voltaic electricity
could be conducted by the earth.||||
■"London and Edinburgh Phil. Mag., 1842, vol. 20., p. 296. tEncyclopedi® Brittanica, vol. 21, p. 668-9.
^Encyclopedia Brittanica, vol. 21, p. 669. §London and Entnburgh Mag., vo!. 15, p. 287.
HPhilosophical Transactions, 1820-21. ITPhil. Transactions, 1832, p. 279.
ttEdinburgh Philosophical Journal, vol. 12, p. 105. ttTaylor's Scientific Memoirs, 1837, vol, 1, p. 311.
§§Essay Tneorique et Experimental par le Prof. Jean Aldini, Paris, 1804. IlllPhil. Trans., 1834, p. 583.
56
Pacific Telegraph.
The effects of lightning upon steel instruments, for a long period, created
a suspicion that there was some^ analogy between electricity and magnetism.
To elucidate the question, the Electrical Academy of Bavaria offered a prize
in 1774.* This excited thounterest of the scientific world ; and in a Latin
communication, dated July 21, 1820, addressed to the editor of the Annals
of Philosophy , John Christian Oersted, Professor of Philosophy in the
University of Copenhagen, announced his great discovery of electro-mag-
netism.t The announcement created intense interest throughout Europe and
America ; and a series of discoveries resulted from it, of the most interest-
ing character, wrought out by the labors of Ampere, Arago, Biot, Davy,
Henry, Schweiger and Sturgeon. The substance of Oersted's discovery was
this: If a magnetic needle, properly poised on its pivot, be at rest in the
magnetic meridian, and a wire be fixed over and parallel to the needle, in
the same vertical plane, and the ends of the wire be made to communicate
respectively with the poles of a voltaic battery, the needle will be deflected.
If the current passes from north to south upon the wire, the north end of the
needle will point east; and if it pass from south to north, the needle will
point west. If the wire is fixed under the needle, the deflections will, under
the same conditions, be exactly reversed. If the wire be arranged vertically
in the magnetic meridian, and near either pole of the needle ; then, if the
current descend, _the pole will point east, and if it ascends it will point
west.!
These effects suggested the fact subsequently established by the experiments
of Arago and Davy, that the wire, whilst the current was passing, was itself
magnetic. § The deflecting power of the wire was governed by the quantity
of the current. Schweiger invented an electro-magnetic multiplier, by which
weak currents of electricity were made to perform the office of strong ones.
This consisted in a coil of wire arranged in a vertical plane, and a needle
suspended in the same place. In this instrument, the power is multiplied
by the number of the coils.||
Sir Humphrey Davy instituted experiments to ascertain how the distribution
of polarity could be predicted. One of these experiments constituted the
embryo of the electro-magnet.1T The magnetic experiments instituted by
Arago were confined to steel needles; and he was materially aided by the
suggestion of Ampere, who converted the uniting wire of the battery into a
helix —-a contrivance for multiplying the inducing power of the wire, in an-
alogy to Sweiger's instrument.** Doctor Sturgeon first exhibited the great
magnetic power which could be developed in soft iron by the influence of
the current; and in 1825 he produced the first electro-magnets, loth of the
straight-bar and horse-shoe forms. They were made of soft iron rods, a
half inch in diameter, surrounded by a single copper wire, wouud spirally
once, from pole to pole. He says : " An electro-magnet of the above de-
scription, weighing three ounces, furnished with one coil of wire, supported
fourteen pounds weight."ft Dr. Moll of the University of Utrecht, improved
upon this apparatus, until he obtained a lifting power of 154 pounds, in
1828. The iron of his magnet was a bar of two and a quarter inches in di-
•Roget's Electricity, Part, Electro-Magnetism, p. 1.
tThompson's Annals of Philosophy, vol. 17 p. 273. _ ^Thompson's Annals, v. 16, p, 273 et seq,
' §Phil. Transactions, 1820, p. 7, and Encyclopedia Brittanksa, vol. 21, p. 686.
IIQuarterly Journal of Science, v. 16, p. 123-4. ITDavy's Letters to Wallaston, Phil. Trans., 1820-31.
"Quarterly Journal of Science, r. 2, p. 288, Annals nf Electricity, vol. 10, p. 222-3.
Pacific Telegraph.
57
ameter, and when bent into the U form, was twelve and a half inches high.
The battery was the common copper zinc battery, erected in the usual way,
with an active surface of eleven square feet.* In the same year, 1828, Dr.
Joseph Henry, of the Albany Academy, New York, produced a magnet which
sustained the weight of seven hundred and fifty pounds. His horse-shoe
was made of a bar of soft iron, two inches square, hammered on the edges,
twenty inches lone, and when bent into form, was only nine and a half inches
high. The battery had only one square foot of zinc surface.f The govern-
ing purpose of Dr. Henry was to " produce the greatest magnetic effect with
the smallest quantity of galvanism," and this was effected by the manner of
constructing his coils, in doing which, he adopted the same principle acted
upon by Schweiger in his multiplier, to deflect a magnetic needle by a feeble
current. He'also insulated his wire by covering it with silk. He .-ays that
the coil may consist of one long wire, or several shorter ones. In the first
case, the galvanic arrangement must consist of a number of plates to give
projectile force, (i. e. an intensity battery;) in the second it must consist of
a single pair,! (a quantity baitery.)
The long wire is used in the construction of the " receiving-magnet," and
the " register magnet," attached to Morse's Telegraph. These discoveries of
Henry resulted in the establishment of the fact, " that the magnetic action of
a current from a trough is not sensibly diminished by passing through
a long wire."
If the poles of a permanent magnet of the U form are placed near those of
a temporary magnet of the same form, a brief current of electricity can be
remarked in the wire; and the same result will follow the withdrawal of
the permanent magnet, but the current will be reversed. This is termed mag-
neto-electricity. and was the discovery of Dr. Faraday, in the year 1831.5
"It is easy to conceive certain mechanical arrangements by which the
poles of the magnets may be made to advance towards and retede from each
other. A rotary motion has been usually adopted, and the temporary mag-
nets are made to rotate before the permanent magnet, and with any speed.
A contrivance has also been added by which each kind of induced current is
always made to take the same direction. Under a rapid motion o( the ma-
chine, the waves of induced electricity are made to succeed each other so
rapidly as to approach in character to a current. This machine is termed
the magneto-electro machine, and as its coils can be made lor currents of
quantity or intensity , it may be made to supply the place ol a quantity or
intensity battery."||
The idea, therefore, of an electric telegraph, is by no means a new ororig-
inal idea. It has occupied the attention of the scientific worl i from the date
of the first experiments in electrical science. The first tele raph proposed to
be operated by common electricity, was the invention of Le Sage, of Geneva,
in 1774.IT Between that period and the year 181G, a number ol others were
proposed. Soon after the discovery ol the decomposin: power of the volta-
ic current, two others were invented; the first by Sommernr, in 1807,**
and the second by Dr. John Relman Cox, of Phila lelpb a-tt The first
electro-magnetic telegraph was proposed by the illustriou.- Ampere, in a re-
•Pilliman's Journal, v. 19, p. ?29.
i Faraday's Researches, v. 1, p. 27
"Sturgeon's Annals, v. 3, p. 447.
fProfessor C. B. Moss. JFilliman's Journal, v. If), p. 404.
IIDr. C. B. Moss. ITMullef's Physics, Am. Ed. 459.
ttThompson's Annals, v. 7, p. 162.
58
Pacific Telegraph.
port to the Academy of Sciences, in 1820; and this is the first instance in
which a finger key or stop was used.*
The telegraph invented by Prof. Morse consists of a lattery—a line of
conductors supported on posts—the ground circuit and plates or wires—a
receiving magnet and local circuit—a key, or finger stop, to make and
break circuit—the register magnet, armature, and pen lever and point—the
ribbon paper—the train of clock work, to draw the paper before the pen—
and the Alphabet.
The battery of Morse is that invented by Grove, in 1839—the line of
posts was used by Steinhel, in 18371—the ground circuit was discovered by
Watson and used by Steinhel!—the receiving magnet and local circuit were
known to Cook, Wheatstone, and Davy, in 1838§—the key, or finger stop,
as we have seen, was devised by Ampere—the register magnet is" derived from
Prof. Henry—the ribbon paper was used by Steinhel, in 1837—the train of
clock work was also devised by Steinhel, in 1837—and the alphabet is also
the invention of Steinhel. So that, we see that in this instance, as in all
others where eminent and beneficial practical results have followed great dis-
coveries, the progress to the last step in the process, has been slow and cau-
tious ; and lie who accomplishes the final step, rarely is entitled to any other
merit than that of a skilful adaptation of a variety of preceding detached dis-
coveries. But this of itself, entitles the fortunate individual to a high posi-
tion in the estimation of the scientific world, and in this instance we feel no
inclination to detract from the merits of any of those who have invented prac-
ticable telegraphic apparatus. The apparatus of Prof. Morse, the Colum-
bian Telegraph, that of Professor House, and that of Mr. Bain, are the four
exclusively in use in the United States. They all have their separate merits.
We believe the recent one of Mr. Bain is the most perfect, inasmuch as it
contains a contrivance in analogy to one invented by Mr. Babbage, as apart
of his celebrated calculating machine, by which mistakes are rendered abso-
lutely impossible.||
LINES OF TELEGRAPH IN THE UNITED STATES.
The first telegraphic line built in the United States, was the one from
Washington to Baltimore, For the construction of this line, the Congress
of the Union appropriated to Mr. Morse the sum of thirty thousand dollars.
Originally, the design was to convey the wires through leaden pipes, sunk
some feet beneath the surface. On trial, however, of a section constructed
in this way, it was found that the fluid was dispersed by counter attraction ;
or, what is incorrectly called " cross firing" occurred. It was then elevated
upon posts with insulators. Since the construction of this line, the following
additional ones have been put into operation, viz :
Miles.
Washington to New Orleans, via Richmond Va: - - - 1716
" New York, via Baltimore and Philadelphia * 245
" Frederick, Md. ...... 45
Harper's Ferry to Winchester, Va. - - - - - 32
v Baltimore to Pittsburg, Pa., and Wheeling, Va., via Cumberland 324
•Edinburg Philosophical Journal, v. 4. tSilliman's Journal, 1846. tSturgeon's Annals, v. 3, p. 451.
§London Mechanics' Magazine, v. 28, No. 754.
Illn preparing this brief summary, we take pleasure in acknowledging the indispensible aid given to us by
a deposition of Col. C. B. Moss, taken to be used in a suit respecting the patent right of telegraphic instru-
meats.
Pacific Telegraph.
59
Baltimore to Harrisburg, Pa., via York 1 '2
York to Lancaster, Pa., via Columbia ----- 22
Philadelphia to Lewistown, Del., (mouth of Delaware Bay) 100
" New York, (House's Telegraph) - - - 120
" Pittsburg, Pa., via Harrisburg - - - 309
" Pottsville, Pa., via Reading 98
Reading to Harrisburg, Pa. ...... 51
New York to Boston, via New Haven and Springfield - - 240
" Buffalo, N.Y., via Troy and Albany - - - 509
" Fredonia, N. Y., (on Lake Erie,) via Newburgh, Port
Jervis, Owego, &c. 500
Bridgeport, Conn., to Bennington, Vt., via Pittsfield, Mass. - 150
Boston to Newburyport, Mass., via Salem - - - - 34
" Portland, Me., via Dover, N. H. - - 1 110
Worcester, Mass., to New Bedford, via Providence, R. I. - 97
" Nevfr London, Conn., via Norwich - - 74
Portland to Calais, Me., via Bangor ----- 260
Calais to St. John, N. B. - - 125
Troy, N. Y., to Whitehall, via Salem, N.Y. ... 72
" Montreal, C., via Bennington, Rutland & Burling-
ton, Yt. 278
Syracuse to Oswego, N.Y. - - - - - 38
Auburn to Elmira, N.Y., via Ithaca - - • - - - '75
Binghampton to Ithaca, N.Y., via Owego 48
Buffalo to Queenston, Canada, via Lockport, N.Y. • - 48
" Milwaukie, Wis., via Erie, Pa., Cleveland, O., Detroit,
Mich., and Chicago, 111. ...... 812
QueenSton to Montreal, via Toronto and Kingston, Canada - 466
Montreal to Quebec, via Three Rivers, Canada - - - 180
Cleveland to Pittsburg, Pa., via Akron, O. ... 130
Pittsburg to Cincinnati, O., via Columbus .... 310
" Columbia, Tenn., via Wheeling, Va. - - 680
Columbia to Memphis, Tenn. ...... 205
" New Orleans, via Natchez, Miss. - - - 600
New Orleans to the Balize, (mouth of the Mississippi river,) - 90
Columbus to Chilicothe, Ohio ...... 45
Cincinnati to Maysville, Ky., via Ripley 60
St. Louis, Mo., via Vincennes, la. - - - 410
St. Louis, via Alton aud Muscatine, to Galena aud Chicago 111., 710
Louisville to New Orleans, via Nashville, with branch to Memphis 1050
Nashville to St. Louis, via Paducah and Cairo - - - 400
Dayton to Toledo and Chicago, via Indianapolis - - - 580
New York to Boston, (House's new line) - - - 240
Grand total, 12,760
IN PROCESS OF CONSTRUCTION. Mi!es .
Monroe to Green Bay, via Chicago 550
Othef lines in the State of Wisconsin .... 400
Total 950
60
Pacific Telegraph.
IN CONTEMPLATION. Mile».
From St. Louis to Hannibal ...... 140
" " Fort Leavenworth * ' - - • 438
Total - - - • - 57 8
There are, we believe, some other lines under contract and in contempla-
tion, but we have not the data at hand to give accurate accounts ol them.
COST OF CONSTRUCTION.
Originally, the cost of constructing telegraph lines was enormous, in con-
sequence of the fact that a single individual possessed the only patent right
to a battery and instrument capable of transmitting intelligence along the
wires. But a great improvement like this, calculated to exercise so great an
influence upon the commerce, and other important interests ol the country,
excited the attention, and stimulated the genius of men of science every where ;
and new and improved apparatus were patented at an early day after the
first lines built by Morse & Co. were put into operation. The Columbian
telegraph, that of Professor House, and that of Mr. Bain, have all been
regularly patented, and are now in operation. The right to use these patents
falling into the hands of a number of enterprising citizens—among whom
Henry O'Reilly, Esq., stands conspicuous for his high intelligence, his un-
bending integrity, and his indomitable energy and perseverance—the principle
of competition was introduced—the cost reduced to less than one-half the
price charged by Morse—and a strong impulse given to telegraphic enterprize.
Previons to the issuing of these patents, we believe, the usual cost, as
charged by Morse & Co., was at the rate of three hundred dollars per mile.
At this time, Mr. O'Reilly is charging at the rate of only one hundred and
fifty dollars per mile, with a moderate separate charge to defray the cost of
the apparatus, and the actual additional cost of building up masts, &c.,when
streams of great width are to be crossed.
MANNIR OF CONSTRUCTION.
When it is proposed to construct a line of telegraph, it is usual for some
individual who possesses the right to use a perfect apparatus—purchased of
the original patentees—to issue proposals, setting forth that he designs, if a
sufficient amount of stock is taken, to construct a line from any one point
to another point, passing through such intermediate towns as shall come for-
ward and subscribe. In these proposals, the terms upon which the line is to
be built are also set forth. If a sufficient amount of stock is taken, the line
is then built by the contractor within the time agreed upon. The stock is
usually divided into shares of $50 or $100, and no subscription for a less
sum is taken. The posts upon which the wires are elevated are usually in-
serted into the ground to a depth of five feet, and are twenty feet high from
the surface, and from six to ten inches through at top. These posts are
placed at various distances apart. Of late days, experience has shown that
about sixty feet is the most appropriate distance. Near the top, holes are
bore I, in which insulators of glass or horn are inserted ; and through these
insulators the wires are drawn—not very tightly, but hanging in festoons, in
order to allow wire enough to attach the ends in cases where breakages occtir.
A battery and telegraphic instrument is placed by the contractor at each
station along the line, and the right to use- them in perpetuity guarantied.
Pacific Telegraph*
61
The number of stations will depend upon the contract. Most usually they
are determined by the amount of subscription of stock at the various points
along the line. When the whole line is completed, it is handed over to the
stockholders on a day set apart for the purpose, and thenceforth they alone
control it in every particular.
GOVERNMENT OF LINES.
When the stockholders have met for the purpose of receiving the line
from the contractor, and have formally received it, they then set about fram-
ing a set of rules and regulations for its government. These rules and regu-
lations provide for the election of a treasurer and other needful officers, at
stated periods, and fix their compensation ; prescribe rules for their conduct;
fix a scale of charges for the line; fix the terms, in conjunction, with quali-
fied agents of other lines, on which all needful connections shall be made ;
determine at what points offices shall be opened; provide for closing such
offices as shall be found unprofitable ; and do all and everything not incon-
sistent with the law of the land for the government of the line, and the ad-
vancement of its interests.
COST OF WORKING A LINE.
This is in great part regulated by the stockholders, and varies according to
circumstances. There is a salary to one treasurer ; in a city, the salaries of
as many clerks as shall be needed to attend to the business, and a messenger
to deliver despatches ; in villages, the rent of an office and the salary of one
clerk; a trifling sum to keep the batteries entire ; and the cost of repairs
along the line, when breakages occur by storms or other accidents. These
matters are, of course, regulated by the locality, and bear a proportion and
relation to the business of the region through which the line passes. In the
north, the expenses are much less than in the south. On the other hand, the
charges in the north are, of course, much less than in the south. In cities,
too, where a number of lines are concentrated in one office, the cost of clerk
hire, &c., is much lessened. It should be added that it is bad policy to keep
offices open at stations where the business furnished to the line will not over-
pay the office expenditure.
SCALE OF CHARGES.
This is fixed by the stockholders ; and, for the reasons given in the pre-
ceding section, must vary with the locality. In the north, they are very low,
and in the south they are high, because there is mutual dependency between
this and all other branches of business.
The following rates are about the average of charges upon all the lines of
the western (iountry:
Under, and not over twenty-five miles, ten cents for ten words, and one
cent for every additional word.
Under, and not over one hundred miles, twenty-five cents for ten words,
and two cents for each additional word.
Under, and not over two hundred miles, thirty cents for every ten words,
and two cents for each additional word,
Under, and not over three hundred miles, thirty-five cents for ten words,
and three cents for each additional word,
62
Pacific Telegraph.
Under, and not over four hundred miles, forty cents for every ten words,
and three cents for each additional word.
Under, and not over five hundred miles, fifty cents for ten words, and five
cents for each additional word.
And a like progressive rate for all additional distances.
No charge whatever is made for the address, the date and the signature of
a despatch. The usual charge to editors of uewspapers is at the rate of one
cent per word. In large towns, a messenger is employed to deliver promptly
all despatches. They are uniformly sealed at the office, before they are pla-
ced in his hands. But the scale of charges must, of course, be regulated by
experience upon each line.
PROFITS OF LINES.
On some of the lines now constructed, the profits upon the capital invested
are enormous ; on the majority of them, the profits are over ten per cent, per
annum ; and there is not a single one which does not yield a profit exceeding
six per cent, over and above all necessary expenses. And yet, with all these
facts, it is singular how apathetic and indifferent the community are in respect
to the construction of new lines, and how difficult it is to infuse into the
public mind a just appreciation of their advantages. Those who have re-
sided where telegraphic offices were in operation, are uniformly and univer-
sally impressed with their importance ; but in sections of the country, the
people of which have had no experience of their advantages, a thousand
trivial objections and senseless suspicions are to be encountered and eon-
quered before they can be introduced. The line from St. Louis to Galena,
which runs altogether on the east bank of the Mississippi river, passes through
a territory rather sparsely populated, and very imperfectly improved and
cultivated. It has to bear the burthen of supporting no less than twenty-two
offices ; and it has to encounter as many drawbacks as any other line in
the Union ; and yet it yields, at the present time, as we are informed by its
officers, upwards of six per cent. The agent of Mr. O'Reilly ascended the
Missouri river some distance, during the present summer, visiting the towns
on both sides of the river, with the purpose of obtaining subscriptions to the
stock in the first section of the Mississippi and Pacific telegraph, from St.
Louis to Fort Leavenworth. At some of the towns he obtained the required
subscription without great difficulty ; at others, he spent days together in in-
timate intercourse with capitalists and business-men, and only succeeded in
impressing a few of them with a conviction of the beneficial tendency of
the system ; whilst, at other places—and some of these the most important
commercial points upon the river—men of capital, of business capacity, and
otherwise of creditable intelligence, absolutely refused to give the project any
encouragement whatever. Now, we are prepared to prove that there is not
a double line of counties west of the Alleghany Mountains, of the same
number, containing a greater proportion of fine soil, a larger portion of in-
dustrious population, a greater amount of capital, supplied with better facil-
ities for getting to a market, and more productive in all those things which
must need a market, than this same double line of counties bordering the
Missouri river to Fort Leavenworth.
We are gratified to learn that Mr. O 'Reilly, animated by that indefatiga-
ble energy, de#ision and perseverance, which have established for him an
enviable reputation for usefulness and public spirit, is determined to build
Pacific Telegraph.
as
this first section—the first span in the magnificent design which he has la-
bored for years to accomplish-—a line of lightning to the Pacific ; and if the
Congress of the Union shall respond to the universal public sentiment of
the country, this splendid work—the pioneer of the Railway—will be con-
summated within eighteen months to come. When this is done, the line
from St. Louis to the Bay of Francisco will be the most profitable line upon
the continent, and the best stock in the civilized world.
A TELEGRAPH TO THE PACIFIC.
THE NECESSITY OF SUCH A LINE.
In the present condition of things, it is almost impossible for the Govern
ment of the United States to retain in its hands any supervisory control over"
the affairs of California and Oregon, without subjecting the citizens of those
colonics to inconveniences and privations which no liberty-loving people
can be expected to bear with for any great length of time. These colonies
will, ere long, become States ; their manufacturing and commercial power is
rapidly on the increase ; the capital of a large number of the enterprising
cities of the Union is daily seeking investment on the coast of the Pacific ;
thousands of young men of intelligence and -energy are annually emigrating
to those countries, leaving families and friends here ; the ships of our mer-
chants arc multiplying upon this great oceau; and new, extensive and im-
portant commercial relations are opening with the thronging millions of
China and the Indies. We have now a considerable military and naval
force stationed on the Pacific coast; we are conducting important surveys of
coasts and harbors ; we shall' soon be compelled to establish a system for
the government and amelioration of the condition of numerous Indian tribes,
whose very names were, until recently, unknown to the civilized world ; a
general survey of more than one hundred thousand square miles of territory,
west of the mountains, must be made at an early period, numerous land
offices established, and regulations framed for their government; and we
shall find it necessary to enter upon a botanical and geological examination
of this vast region, for the purpose of tracing the medicinal and useful pro-
perties of a new system of vegetable life, and of developing those immense
mineral resources which have already excited the enterprise of the whole
world. How can all this be done without a line of telegraqh to the Pacific ?
Again : with an energy and industry which have excited the admiration and
astonishment of the whole Union, that peculiar people, the Mormons, have
established themselves upon a rich valley, interposed between the stupendous
chain of the Timpanogos Mountains and the Utah and Salt Lakes. There
their admirable organization, strict discipline, and general conformity of
habits and opinions, have enabled them to accomplish more in four years,
thau could have bean accomplished in fifty by a people analagous in prin-
ciples and habits to the great mass of the people of the United States ; and
we are almost constrained to believe that Providence has guided these
people into this isolated region, for the express purpose of subduing a wil-
derness which would have appalled any other class of American citizens.
Already have these people met in convention, and framed a constitution,
with the view of applying, at the next session of Congress, for admission
into the Union. In a few years more, groups of settlement and civilization
will be scattered through the three Parks, Bear River Valley, the delightful
64
Pacific Telegraph.
vallies towards the sources of the Missouri and Columbia, and along the
western base of the Wahsatch chain, to the valley of the Joaquitn ; and
the Svate of Deseret will be surrounded by other communities, emulating
it in the race of improvement and civilization. If we are to retain politi-
cal connection with all these extensive and valuable colonies, how are we
to do it, save by the instrumentality of the telegraph and railway ? It is
obviously impracticable ; arid for these reasons, every public journal, and
every public man of respectability in the Union—so far as we have been
enabled, after extensive correspondence, to ascertain—is decidedly in favor
of taking prompt and efficient measures for the construction of these im-
portant works ; and the whole people have sanctioned the policy, without
a solitary dissenting voice.
a plan for its immediate construction.
For this portion of this article, we are indebted to Henry O'Reilly, Esq.,
who has studied the subject with great care and attention, for some years
past, and whose eminent practical ability entitles his views to the serious
and favorable consideration of the Convention and of Congress. We have
only to add, in introducing it, that we have ourselves traversed more than
half the distance to the Pacific, and there made extensive collections of
facts touching the character of the country, the trade with the Indian tribes,
and the characteristics, condition and resources of these tribes; and that,
in our estimation, the scheme proposed by Mr. O'Reilly is admirably adapt-
ed, in every aspect in which it can be considered, to the production of
beneficial results. This, too, we know to be the opinion of a number of
intelligent persons, who have been familiar, for many years, with the whole
western territory and its contents.
The Congress of the Union have already authorized the construction of
a line of posts from our western border to the Pacific, and directed a regi-
merit of dragoons to be so distributed, as to furnish a competent garrison to
each. Of this contemplated line, two have been already built—one at the
mouth of Table Creek, near St. Joseph, and the other at Grand Island, in
the Platte river; and two more have been purchased—Fort Laramie, situ-
ated on Laramie's fork of the northern fork of Platte river, near the entrance
into the Black hills, and Fort Hall, situated on the Lewis fork of the
Columbia river. The objects which Congress had in view were, to furnish
protection and supplies to the emigrants and traders to Oregon and Cali-
fornia, and to exercise a salutary restraint upon the Indian tribes. These
posts are evidently situated too far apart to accomplish the purposes con-
templated ; for it is obvious that emigrating or trading parties, if attacked
fifty or one hundred miles from either of them, could not obtain relief until
it was too late to be of any avail to them. As respects supplies, it is cer-
tain that no adequate quantity of them can be collected at these posts,
without a very extravagant cost in transportation » and, lastly, no effectual
curb can be put upon the Indinn tribes, when the soldiery are collected into
large parties, at great distances from each other.
Mr. O'Reilly proposes that the Indian title be extinguished to a band of
soil—say five miles on each side of the designed line of telegraph and
railway—that palisade or brick forts with ample enclosures, shall be erected
at distances of thirty miles apart from the western border to the Bay of
Francisco; that these enclosures shall be large enough to accommodate
Pacific Telegraph.
65
the garrison and give shelter and protection to parties of one hundred men
with their animals and teams ; that thirty dragoons shall be placed in each
one of them ; that a telegraph apparatus shall be placed in each ; that a
line of wires shall be constructed from the frontier to the Bay; that Con-
gress shall advance for its construction, a fair sum, in consideration of
which the perpetual use of it shall be secured to the government, or that
the Congress shall give himself and associates, or other competent parties,
the simple right of way, witli the protection herein provided, paying for the
despatches of the government at a fixed reasonable rate ; that a daily mail
shall be carried across the continent by the dragoons, each one being re-
quired once in fifteen days, to carry the mail-bag or drive a cart to the centre
of the intermediate spaces, there exchange bags and return ; that donations
of land shall be made, for a limited period, to such persons with or without
families, as may actually settle upon the belt of land on which the Indian
title has been extinguished ; that the supplies of the posts, in bread, cattle
and vegetables, shall be purchased of these settlers at a reasonable rate ;
that they shall be sworn not to introduce, under any pretence whatever,
ardent spirits of any kind into the territories west of the State line, and
east of the Sierra Nevada ; that they be authorized to give employment to
such members of the Indian tribes, male and female, as shall evince a dis-
position to betake themselves to the pursuits of civilized life ; and that the
commanding officer at each post, alone or with other associates, shall be
constituted into a civil and criminal tribunal, to do justice between the set-
tiers, the emigrants, the traders, and the Indian tribes—with the privilege of
appeal, in appropriate cases, to one supreme tribunal, to be fixed at some
point along the line.
The more we have reflected upon this scheme, the more firmly are we
convinced of its feasibility and utility. 1. It is of course absolutely neces-
sary that the Indian title should be extinguished along the line of the con-
templated telegraph and railway; and, moreover, it will be but an act of
justice to compensate those tribes for the direct and fatal injury these works
will inflict upon them, by driving out the game—their only present means of
subsistence In this particular they have already seriously suffered in con-
sequence of the extraordinary number of emigrants and traders who have
passed through their territory. If this whole system shall be adopted, a
portion of this compensation to them should consist of agricultural imple-
ments and domestic cattle. 2. The palisades here recommended are of
ea^y and cheap construction. They should be built in imitation of the
traders' forts, and of those dotted all over British America by the Hudson's
Bay Company. The soldiers themselves can construct them, without any
cost whatever to the government. 3. Of course they should be large enough
to contain, in case of necessity, from one to two hundred persons. One
hundred individuals are as many as can traverse the plains and mountains
with any convenience, and parties should be limited to that number by law.
Occasional jars with the Indians must of course occur. In these cases, a
place of security, such as these palisades, may be necessary as a resort for
the settlers until peace is restored. 4. Thirty soldiers are ample protection
to each other; and assisted by emigrants and settlers, can overcome a war
party of six hundred Indians with ease. This number of trappers have been
known to take beaver in the Blackfoot country for months together; and
5
66
Pacific Telegraph.
this is the fiercest and most implacable tribe between the Mississippi and
the Pacific. A party of twenty men has always been considered strong
enough in any region south of the valley of the Yellowstone. 6 and 6.
With a telegraphic instrument at each of these post?, a break in the wires
could be discovered in a very brief space after it occurred, and the re-con-
nection can be made in an hour or two at any time. The posts would gen-
erally be secure, for Indians do not work to annoy their enemies ; and in all
our travels, we have yet to see a male Indian chop a sapling down, four
inches through. Besides, there is no better reason for anticipating an injury
to a telegraph line than to the forts of the traders; and an injury to the
latter has very seldom occurred, although nothing is more common than for
a party of a half-dozen white traders to remain at a fort for weeks together,
alone, with large supplies of goods, and even alcohol, the Indian's nectar.
Indians are like all other people, unless wantonly aggravated into passion ;
they duly consider their own interests. 7. It would probably be preferable
for the government to advance a round sum at once, to aid in the construe-
tion of this line, instead of paying perpetually, even at half the usual rates,
for its despatches. It seems to us that, at very moderate rates, the tax upon
the government would be very considerable. However, this is a matter for
the deliberate consideration of Congress. Whoever constructs it, would
probably prefer that nothing should be advanced, as their profits would be
enormously enhanced. 8. This system for carrying the mail across the con-
tinent, is one which will cost the government nothing. Upon any other
plan of carrying the mail, the contractors must be paid a large sum, and the
carriers must be furnished with a competent guard. Five thousand dollars
per trip for carriers and guards seems to us a moderate estimate for the cost
of a mail on the usual system. A semi-weekly mail would cost, at that rate,
$520,000 per annum. With the arrangements herein proposed, a mail will
cost nothing, and the soldiers themselves will be absolutely benefitted by
this amount of active service. 9. The system of donating lands, until such
time as the line of the telegraph and the contemplated railway shall be suf-
ficiently populated to protect themselves and property ; to furnish supplies
and relief to emigrants and traders ; to furnish the means of subsistence to
those who shall construct the railway; and to give to such of the Indians
as may seek it profitable employment, is surely a line of policy recommended
as well by its economy as its philanthropy. Already the wretched tribes
who wander over our western plains are beginning to suffer in consequence
of a deficiency of game. That deficiency has been brought about by our
own policy. The marching of troops to Santa Fe, during the war with
Mexico, and the enormous amount of emigration since, have almost driven
the buffalo entirely away from their usual haunts, and all the tribes whose
hunting grounds lie soutb of the latitude of 42°, are absolutely in danger of
outright starvation. Hence the ferocity of these tribes at the present time,
and their constant attempts to murder and rob traveling parties. We say,
that the conduct of these Indians is rational and justifiable ; and that it is
not only their right, but it is the solemn duty of the Government of the
United States to make judicious and permanent provision for their suste-
nance and their advancement in the domestic and useful arts, in morals and
in religion. The system which is herein recommended has been acted upon
by the Catholic missionaries from the beginning—has been practised by the
Pacific Telegraph.
67
Hudson's Bay Company for the past two centuries—and has been adopted,
for many yeqrs past, in different portions of Mexico and in California ; and
it his uniformly operated beneficially to the Indians themselves and profita-
bly for the whites. Not the least of the advantages of this system is the
protection and encouragement it will afford to those pious missionaries who,
with a zeal and perseverance worthy of all praise, have for years past la-
bored for the improvement and conversion of these unfortunate people ; but
\yhose labors have, effected so little, in consequence of the deficiency of the
means of furnishing the Indians'profitable occupation, and the inadequate
protection afforded them, by the government. The Indian race is evidently
destined to extinction. This is the natural result of the contact between
civilized and savage people. But we may ameliorate their condition ; we
may provide a system for their comfortable maintenance ; we may cultivate
their moral and intellectual faculties ; and we may contribute, in a number
of ways, to their peace and happiness here, and their hopes hereafter.
COST OF A LINE TO THE BAY OF SAN FRANCISCO.
The distance from St. Louis to the mouth of the Kanzas, or to Fort Leav-
enworth—crossing the fiver, so as to furnish facilities to the valley of the
Missouri—would be about 438 miles ; from Fort Leavenworth to the South
Pass, 900 miles ; and, from the South Pass to the Bay, 1036 miles—making
a total distance of 2374 miles. At the rate of $150 per mile, the whole
cost of a line from St. Louis to the Bay, will be $356,100. But, as a battery
and instruments must be furnished to about eighty offices upon the line, and,
as there is a portion of the route bare of timber, a fair estimate will proba-
bly swell this sum to $400,000.
Abranch line would, of course, be needed at an early day, to Santa Fe,
to the new Monnon State of Deseret, and to Oregon. The shortest line for
a branch to Santa Fe, will be from Fort Laramie, on the north fork of Platte
river—550 miles. This will cost about $90,000. To the new Mormon
State, the branch line must be taken from the Soda Springs, in the northern
bend of Bear river, a distance of about 300 miles. This will cost about
$50,000. The shortest branch line to Oregon, will be from the northern
bend of Humboldt river, to the mouth of the Walla-Mutte—425 miles.
This wiil cost about $68,000. The total cost of the whole system proposed,
for the present, and in the future, $608,000.
REASONS WHY THESE LINES SHOULD YIELD FULL DIVIDENDS.
1. We have now in the Pacific, upwards of three hundred and fifty wha-
ling ships, the owners of which are compelled to communicate with them
by letter around Cape Horn, or across the Isthmus of Panama. Other pro-
ductive sources of trade are rapidly opening upon that great ocean, which
must furnish employment to a large number of other vessels, both with
steam and sails. Their present communications are delayed from one to
s ix months. It is, therefore, certain that these parties will find it their inter-
est to use the telegraph.
2. There are, at this time, more than seventy thousand citizens of theUni-
ted States in California, and their number is so rapidly augmenting, that if
Congress shall authorize the extension of the telegraph at its next session, its
completion in fifteen months will probably find a population there of one
hundred and twenty- five thousand persons. Nearly all of these individuals
68
Pacific Telegraph.
are connected as partners or employees of capitalists in the United States,
who are constantly in need of information, to enable them to ship to that
country supplies of goods, mining implements, &c. All of them, too, liave
left near connexions, by blood, in the United States. Is it credible, that
all the parties thus interested will await the tardy movements of a mail
across the Isthmus, when the telegraph affords the means of instant com-
munication ? Certainly not.
3. The population of Oregon is upwards of twenty-five thousand persons.
They, too, have left in the Union, relatives and partners in business, who
are anxious to communicate with them with celerity and certainty.
4. The new Mormon community, in the vicinity of the Great Salt Lake,
numbers at this time over sixty thousand individuals, and this population
is augmenting at an unprecedented rate. Their business and other connec-
tions in the Union, and on the Pacific, will render the telegraph a thing of
necessity to them.
5. The line will pass by some of the posts of the fur traders. This trade
now amounts to §300,000 per annum, and large sums are expended by the
traders in sending expresses to St. Louis every season. Of course, they will
avail themselves of the telegraph to dispense with the expresses.
6. The trade to Santa Fe, s.nd New Mexico, is, at this time, estimated at
about §1,000,000, and this trade is rapidly on the increase. The necessities
of business will compel the use of the telegraph in that direction.
7. The border trade with the Indians is now very considerable we all
know ; but we have not been enabled to collect sufficient data upon which
to make an accurate estimate of it. The telegraph will be needed in this
trade.
8. Twenty years will not elapse*—perhaps not three-—before a new terri-
tory will be organized between' our western border and the Rocky Moun-
tains. The proposition to do this has been already introduced into Congress
upwards of five years ago. When this is done, a pastoral population will
fill that vast region, and they will need the telegraph.
9. Other settlements will be immediately formed in the Bear River Val-
ley, the Three Parks, at Pierre's Hole, Jackson's Hole, and in numbers of
the rich valleys scattered along the vicinity of the line to the Bay, and they
will need the telegraph.
10. A large naval force must in future be kept up on our Pacific shores,
to protect the commerce of California and Oregon ; a considerable military
force must be stationed in California, Oregon, New Mexico, Deseret, and
along the line of travel from the frontier to the Pacific ; and an increase in
the military force in the present western territory, is inevitable. To com-
municate with all these, a telegraph is indispensable. A single overland
despatch of the government will cost about §15,000. When it is considered
how many of these must be sent in the course of a year to the various points
mentioned, there can be little or no doubt that the expense of sending these
communications for a single year, will exceed the actual cost of a telegra-
phic line.
11. The introduction of white settlements into the western territory, and
into Oregon and California, will render a new and enlarged system of Indi-
an intercourse absolutely necessary; and to regulate this intercourse, nu-
merous agents must be scattered through those regions. Is it not obvious
Pacific Telegraph.
G9
that in the delicate relations which will exist in respect to so many tribes,
the instant communication by telegraph is indispensable ; otherwise wars and
bloodshed may be carried on for months together, before the central author-
ity can receive information of the fact, and send military force to quell the
disturbances.
12. The lands, including about 600,000 square miles, east and west of
the mountains, must be surveyed ere settlements of any size are permitted to
be formed upon them ; and topographical, geological, and other scientific
expeditions will have soon to be made. All these services will require a
large body of government agents, with whom frequent and prompt communi-
cation will be a thing of necessity.
For all these reasons we are constrained to believe that it is the duty—as
we have no doubt it will be the pleasure—of the next Congress of the
Union, to authorize the extension of a telegraphic line to the Pacific. For
the present, a single line to the Bay may possibly suffice ; but we incline to
the belief that it will be decidedly preferable to complete the whole of the
branches enumerated, as soon as the direct line shall be perfected.
PROBABLE PROFITS OF A LINE FROM THE MISSISSIPPI TO THE
PACIFIC.
We will speak first, of the direct line from St. Louis to the Bay of San
Francisco, and then of the branches herein proposed.
The despatches of the government to the military and naval forces station-
ed in California, together with its communications with the local govern-
ment there, the Indian agents, the land officers, the custom-house officers,
the postmasters aud mail carriers, and the topographical and scientific par-
ties engaged in the survey of the country and the adjacent coast, are very
difficult of calculation. We will, however, make an estimate, which we
think will be admitted by all to be within bounds :
1. Suppose, the Government sends a single despatch per month to our
naval force on that coast, containiug thirty words. This, at the rate of charge
usual on telegraphic lines, would amount per annum to 893 60. If a single
answer, containing thirty words, is received by the Government, this will be,
in one year, §93 69 more.
Suppose these despatches and answers contain sixty words,
the cost will be ......
Suppose there are two despatches and answers of sixty
words per month ......
Suppose there are four despatches and answers of sixty
words per month ......
Suppose there are eight despatches and answers of sixty
words per month ......
That this amount of matter will be sent to the naval force
alone, can scarce be doubted ; and, indeed, we think the Re-
ports—if to be had—will show not only this number of words
in a year, but twenty times as many.
2. Let precisely the same calculation be made for the des-
patches sent to and from the military forces in Califor-
nia, and the amount will be
3. The same calculation as respects the Indian agents will
yield
$374 00
748 00
14,96 00
2,992 00
2,992 00
2,992 00
TO Pacific Telegraph.
2.992 00
2,992 00
2,992 00
2,992 00
2,992 00
2,992 00
Total .... $26,928 00
Double the number of these despatches, and the amount of
words in them will yield ..... $52,856 00
1. There are in the Pacific upwards of 350 whaling vessels.
Suppose the owners send one despatch per month, and
receive one answer, containing thirty words, or fewer
despatches with more words, the amount will be - §187 20
2. Double this number, aud the amount will be - 374 40
3. Treble it, and the amount will be .... 561 60
4. Quadruple it, and the amount will be - - - 648 80
And this last number is a very low estimate to make of profits from thjs
branch of business.
From the 70,000 men in California, suppose that a
single despatch of ten tvords from each man shall
be sent to the Union in one year, and a single
answer of ten words given, the amount will be §364,000 00
It may be that not more than half the people there might use the
telegraph; but the cost of a single despatch of ten words is only
$2 60, and certainly those who do use it—including merchants and
mining companies—will send the number of messages here calculated.
2. Double this number of words, either by the quan-
tity or number of despatches, and the amount
will be §728,000 00
4. The same as respects the land officers will yield
5. The same as respects the post-office will yield
6. The same as respects the local government of California
will yield ........
7. The same as respects the custom house will yield
8. The same as respects the surveyor of public lands
9. The same as respects scientific surveying parties -
1. Suppose those engaged in the border trade with
the Indians shall send one despatch of ten words
per month, and receive as many, this will yield 13 20
2. Double this number of .messages 26 40
3. Treble them - - - - - 39 60
4. Quadruple them 52 80
1. The several companies of fur traders certainly send
as many as five messages of thirty words per
month, and receive answers. This would yield §264 00
2. Double this number of despatches ... 528 00
3. Quadruple them 1,056 00
Pacific Telegraph.
VI
1. The new territory, in contemplation, between the
frontier and the Rocky Mountains, will very
soon contain20,000 inhabitants, if this telegraph
and railway is constructed. ; Suppose one in
five hundred of these people send a single mes-
sage in two months, and receive answers, con-
taining thirty words, the amount will be - $26 40
2. Double them ...... 52 80
In this territory, the Government must have a mili-
tary force of several regiments. Suppose two
despatches of thirty words are sent to them per
month, and two answers received. This will be 158 40
4. Double them 316 80
5. Quadruple them - 633 60
6. This territory must be surveyed and sectionized.
If a like number of despatches be sent to and
received from the surveyors, this will yield - 633 60
7. A number of other Indian agents must be placed
in this territory. At the same rate, this will
yield - 633 60
8. The despatches sent to and from the local govern-
ment of this territory will, at the same rate,
amount to - - -,- - - - 633 60
These calculations are evidently far below the mark; for the des-
patches now sent to this city, to be mailed for Fort Leavenworth,
cost several thousand dollars.
9. In addition to all these sources of profit on the
Mississippi and Pacific line, we must estimate
the business on the first section of it, already
alluded to, between St. Louis and Fort Leaven-
worth ; and this will yield, there can be no
doubt, ten per cent, upon the cost of that section.
Say 5,000 00
BRANCH LINE TO SANTA FE.
The branch line from Fort Laramie to Santa Fe
will cost $90,000 00
1. If the Government sends one despatch per month
to Santa Fe, to the military force, and receives
an answer of thirty words, it will amount to - 98 00
2. Double these despatches, or the amount of their
contents - 196 00
3. Quadruple them - - - - - 392 00
4. The same as respects Indian agents - - - 392 00
5. " " land offices - - 392 00
6. " " post-office ... 392 00
7. <{ " the local government - 392 00
72
Pacific Telegraph.
8. " " the custom houses - - 392 00
9. " " surveyors ... 392 00
10. " " scientific surveying parties 392 00
Total .... $3,136 00
11. Double the number of these despatches - $6,272 00
12. The present trade with New Mexico amounts to
$1,000,000. Certainly such a trade will yield
to the line a revenue of - - - - - $10,000 00
BRANCH LINE TO THE STATE OF DESERET.
This line will cost the sum of $50,000 00
1. Here, too, the Government must have full as
much intercourse with the military, Indian
agents, surveyors, &c., as with California and
New Mexico. This will yield, for one despatch
per month, and answers to them, the round sum
of about -------
2. Double the number of despatches -
3. Quadruple them
4. With a present population of over 70,000 persons,
the commercial necessities of the State will yield,
say
BRANCH TO OREGON.
This line will cost $60,000 00
1. The Government despatches here, too, will yield,
if sent to the military and naval forces, the
Government, surveyors, agents, custom house,
&c., once per month ... - $10,000 00
2. Double them 20,000 00
3. Quadruple them 40,000 00
4. The commercial and private necessities will yield,
say 10,000 00
We have furnished the complete data from which the reader canmake his
own estimate respecting the probable profits of these lines. Of course it
is impossible for us to know what number of despatches will be sent along
these lines by the government and private individuals. Each reader, how-
ever, can estimate that for himself, and come to his own conclusion from the
data we have furnished. The calculations are made from the usual rates of
charge on telegraph lines, and moreover these rates are very cheap.
The influence of the electric telegraph upon the progress of civilization,
is a theme upon which we should delight to dilate, if we could do so within
the space which we have limited ourselves to in the preparation of this arti-
cle ; but we are reluctantly compelled to forego that pleasure until a future
occasion shall be offered.
In conclusion we shall only add, that the rapid interchange of thought in
an extended Empire like ours, gives the same compactness and homogenity
to our social and political systems which result in communities confined to
5000 00
10,000 00
20,000 00
6,000 00
Pacific Telegraph.
13
a smaller space—that intellectual activity and moral power are rapidly aug-
mented by it—that every department of science and knowledge receives
from it a decisive impulse—-and that it constantly and steadily tends to that
uniformity of manners, habits, opinions and sentiments which are essential
to the suppression of wars and divisions, and to the permanent peace and
security of the world. With an electric telegraph penetrating into all our
populated and business districts, frauds in trade will be suppressed—equal-
ity will be produced between those who contract—exchanges will be inde-
finitely multiplied—industry and the arts stimulated—crime comparatively
suppressed—agriculture and commerce improved—and all those conditions
which are essential to the security and prosperity of a well-ordered society
produced. With a lightning communication across the continent, the hourly
interchange of sentiments and opinions with our brethren upon the Pacific
coast, will keep alive in their hearts and minds the remembrance of the hap-
py homes of their youth, and of the great and glorious system of polity under
which they grew up to be free American citizens—the new relations which
they are forming with strange people will not obliterate the manly character-
istics of the republican character—they will never entertain the idea of sep-
arate political existence—and they will prove to be efficient pioneers in that
great system of liberty and civilization which Divine Providence has so dis-
tinctly marked out as the mission of the people of the United States.
CONCLUSION.
The writer of the preceding pages has no claim to set up to the honor of
originality or discovery ; nor does he imagine that his own labors are of so
much value, that they are likely to monopolize the public attention. The
historical introduction to the project itself is abundantly sufficient to prove,
that no living man can lay claim to any originality on this subject. That
which gave impulse to the efforts of science and enterprize, for three cen-
turies together, and which has occupied the attention of statesmen, and
called into requisition the attainments of scholars, is surely a subject too
long familiarized to the public mind to leave any room for pretence to
originality.
The only merit he can be entitled to, is that of having studied diligently
the authorities concerning the physical structure of the territory between the
Mississippi and the Pacific ; of having traced out a route for a railway,
which is practicable ; of having proposed a scheme to give the work entire
nationality; and of having labored to elevate the great project above the
strifes of factions and parties, and beyond the control of individual ambi-
tion. The idea of a railway, in itself, must have occurred to thousands of
reflecting minds, and those deserve most of public approbation who were
the earliest to avow their conviction of its necessity, utility and practica-
bility.
At a very early period of life, he became so deeply impressed with the
vast importance to the civilized world of opening a new route across the
American continent, that he formed a design of leading a colony to the
mouth of the Columbia river, for the purpose of opening a trade across the
Pacific, and of bringing into the lap of this great valley the rich products of
the Indies, by ascending and descending the Missouri and Columbia rivers.
This youthful dream was broken by the strong common sense, and practical
ability of a parent as remarkable for his modesty, as he was for every trait
which dignifies the man and adorns the useful citizen. By him he was con-
vinced, that the enormous expense of transportation—even admitting the
river navigation to be good—would far outweigh the advantages to be anti-
cipated from this shortening of the distance. From that period to the pre-
sent, he has watched, with intense solicitude, the progress of discovery and
improvement in the railway and steam car, and read and inquired, with care
and diligence, respecting the physical structure of the territory between the
Mississippi and the Pacific. The improvement in the methods of railway
transportation have long been sufficient for the objects desired ; but it was
not until the year 1843 that, during a visit he made to the mountains, he be-
came convinced that a practicable route for a railway could be found to the
Pacific. That route is the one traced out in the preceding essay. Califor-
nia then belonged to another power, and it was therefore needless to specu-
late upon the subject. Since that time, (in the year 1845,) Col. Fremont
Conclusion.
75
surveyed the valley of the Humboldt river—a stream originally discovered
by Mr. Peter Ogden, of the Hudson's Bay Company—and the Salmon Trout
pass of the Sierra Nevada ; and the results confirmed the previous impres-
sion derived from the children of the mountains. California is now our
own, and this great work can be undertaken at once.
So little attention has the character and resources of the territory be-
tween the Mississippi and Pacific received at the hands of our brethren
of other portions of the Union, that there is a very general impression pre-
valent, that we have not sufficient knowledge of the country to come to a
conclusion respecting the practicability of a Pacific Railway. This impres-
sion is not confined to the people at large, but has taken possessiou of the
minds of a large number of members of the Congress of the Union, and
given occasion to motions and speeches which excite astonishment in the
minds of those familiar with the west. The writer believes this opinion to
be founded in error ; and he thinks he can prove that the country has been
sufficiently surveyed, not only to prove that a railway can be constructed,
but to enable us to point with certainty upon what route it must be con-
structed. He asks attention to the following facts, now in possession of the
Government, and detailed classified statements of which may be had upon
a requisition of Congress upon the proper Departments.
In the year 1804-5-6, Captains Lewis and Clark surveyed, under the in"
structions of Mr. Jefferson, then President of the United States, the whole
course of the Missouri and Columbia rivers.
During the first of these years, Messrs. Hunter and Dunbar, under a like
instruction, ascended the Red and Wachita rivers, to the celebrated Hot
Springs. This same river had been ascended and described by a number of
French adventurers—among others, by Bienville—in 1700.
In the year 1806, another party, under the instructions of the Government,
ascended Red river in boats, under the charge of Captain Sparks and Lieut.
Humphrey, more than one hundred miles above the great raft, where their
progress was arrested by a powerful party of Spanish dragoons, who com-
pelled them to return.
In the year 1805—6, General Pike ascended the Mississippi to the vicinity
of its sources.
In the year 1806-7, General Pike left Bellefontaine, on the Missouri,
ascended that stream to the Osage, which he pursued some distance ; thence,
with horses, south-west, to a village of Pawnees upon the Arkansas ; thence
up that great stream, to ils sources in the Rocky Mountains ; thence to the
Rio del Norte ; thence attempted to find the head springs of Red river ; but
was taken prisoner by the Spaniards, who retained him for some time. His
history of these two expeditions is accompanied by maps.
In the year 1818, Major Long, with the best equipped party ever sent
into the west, ascended the Missouri, under the instructions of Mr. Calhoun,
then Secretary at War, to the vicinity of the Council Bluffs, whence he
ascended the north bank of the Platte, to the forks of that great stream,
when he crossed, and followed the left bank of the south fork, to the vicinity
of its sources in the Rocky Mountains ; thence followed the eastern base
of the mountains, to the head of the Arkansas ; thence descended that
stream some distance, when his party separated—one section descending
the Arkansas to Fort Smith, the other crossing to the Canadian, and follow-
Conclusion.
ing that stream—which they mistook for Red river—to its mouth. The two
sections then re-united ; and after visiting the Hot Springs, traversed and
surveyed the Ozark chain, and the country north-east of it, to the village of
St. Genevieve.
In the years 1819-20, Major Long, crossing the Mississippi river at Prairie-
du-Chien, ascended St. Peters river, to its sources ; thence passed over to
the Red river .of the north, and descended that stream to Lake Winnipeg;
and thence passed through a chain of alternate lakes and streams, with
portages to the head of Lake Superior. Maps and profile sections accom-
pany the reports of these expeditions of Major Long.
In the year 1834, Mr. Featherstonhaugh, by authority of the Govern-
ment, made his first geological expedition into the territory between the Mis-
souri and Red rivers.
In the year 1835, Mr. Featherstonhaugh made his geological tour into
the region toward the sources of the Mississippi, and west of them.
In the year 1836, Mr. Featherstonhaugh made his second geological
survey of the country between the Missouri and Red rivers, and completed
its examination as far westward as the Ozark chain of mountains inclusive.
These three reports are accompanied with maps and sections.
The territory of Arkansas has been, also, well described by Mr. Nuttall,
who traversed it in the pursuit of botanical information. Mr. Schoolcraft,
too, has accurately described the country between the mouths of the Ohio
and Missouri rivers, as far westward as the main ridge of the Ozarks.
In the years 1838-9 and 40, Mr. Nicolet, under the instructions of Col,
Abert, the chief of the corps of Topographical Engineers, surveyed the ter-
ritory between the Missouri and Mississippi, as far north as the 47 th paral-
lei of latitude. His report, with an admirable hydrographical map, is on
file in the bureau of that corps.
The whole of the States of Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana have
been surveyed, under the authority of the General Land Office, and sec-
tional maps of them drawn and deposited in that office.
Messrs. Gregg and Kendall have given us a very good account of the
country from Van Buren, in Arkansas, and the interior of Texas, to Santa
Fe and Chihuahua.
In the year 1842, Col. Fremont left the mouth ofKanzas river, and ascended
the right bank of that stream, to Blue river, one of its branches thence to
the PLatte river, opposite the head of Grand Island; thence up the left bank
of that river to its forks ; thence, across the South Fork, to Fort Laramie,
near the base of the Black hills; thence by the usual emigrant route, to
the South pass ; thence, northward, to Fremont's Peak, in the Cinnara chain
of the Wind river mountains. From this point he returned upon his out-
ward track to the north fork of the Platte, and followed that great stream to
its mouth, and-thence to St. Louis.
In the year 1843-4, Colonel Fremont left Independence, and striking the
Kanzas river at Wakampi creek, and followed its left bank, to the mouth of
the Republican fork, where he crossed the main stream, and ascended the
left bank of the Republican fork some distance; whence, passing across
the sources of Solomon's fork, he again struck the Republican, followed it
some distance, and then passed westward, to the south fork of the Platte,
the left bank of which he ascended, to St. Vrain'sFort. From thence he
Conclusion.
77
moved northward, along the eastern baste of the &lack hills, to the north
fork of Platte, and ascended it to Fort Laramie. Thence he passed through
the South Pass, across the Green river, and over a mountain into Bear
river valley. Following that stream to its mouth in the Great Salt Lake, he
passed northward, to Foit Hall, and down Lewis' river and the Columbia,
by the usual emigrant route, to the Cascade range of mountains. Return-
ing to the Dalles, he passed southward, along the great mountain range
which unites with the Sierra Nevada, into thte valley of the Sacramento, to
Francisco Bay. Ascending the right bank of the San Joaquin, to the base
of the Wahsatch chain of mountains, he moved north and east, to the spot
where the Mormons are now settled. Ascending the Spanish fork of the
Utah lake, over the dividing ridge between the waters of the Great Basin
and the Pacific, he struck the head of the Uintah river, the right bank of
which he followed, to the Colorado of the Wesk Crossing that stream, he
followed Vermillion creek and Elk-head river to their sources ; and thence
passed into the North Park, in which the north fork of the Platte takes its
rise ; thence, over the main ridge of the Rocky Mountains, into the Middle
Park ; thence, over the main ridge again, into the South Park, where the
Arkansas takes its rise ; and thence, down that stream, to the Santa Fe
trail, on which he returned to Independtence.
In 1845, Col. Fremont followed thte emigrant road through the South
Pass into Bear River Valley ; thence down that stream to its mouth ; thence
along the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake, to the Stream which unites
the Utah and Salt Lakes ; thence across that stream, south of the Salt Lake
and westward, over sterile plains and volcanic ridges to the valley of Hum-
boldt river; thence down that stream to the spot where it loses itself'in the
sand ; thence through the Salmon Trout Pass into the valley of the Sacra-
mento, and down to the bay of San Francisco. From this point, he as-
cended the right bank of the Joaquin, beyond the Tulares Lake to Kerne
river, which he ascended, and passed over the Sierra Nevada, the eastern
base of which he followed northward, by Owen's Lake to Walker's Lake ;
thence, passing in a zigzag course north and east, through the successive
mountain ranges of the Great Basin, south of Humboldt river, he struck his
old track, south of the Salt Lake, and followed it into the Mormon settle-
ment. Thence ascending the Timpanogos Fork of the Utah Lake, (north
of his track the year preceding,) he passed the dividing ridge between the
waters of the Great Basin and the Pacific, and descended the Uintah river
to its mouth. Thence crossing the Colorado of the West, he ascended
White river, and passed across Grand river to the base of the main ridge of
the Rocky Mountains, at the southwest corner of the South Pass. Scaling
this ridge, he descended into the gorge in which some of the sources of the
Arkansas take their rise, and descended that stream to the Santa Fe trail, and
thence to Independence.
During the last winter, Col. Fremont again started from Independence,
and pursued his course to the sources of the Del Norte. Passing over the
Sierra Madre, a continuation of the Rocky Mountains, his party encountered
and suffered incredible hardship in the deep snows of that rugged region. A
number of them lost their lives, and the remainder were compelled to retrace
their steps to Santa Fe, and pursue the usual route to California. The cU-
tails of this expedition are not yet given to the public. Extensive and ac-
curate maps, with profile sections, are deposited with Colonel Fremont's re-
ports.
18
Conclusion.
Ia the year 184"7, Gen. Kearrney marched frona Fort Leavenworth to Bent 's
Fort, and thence through a pass in the Raton Mountains, to Santa Fe, in
command of the Army of the West. From Santa Fe, he followed the left
bank of the Del Norte to Albuquerque, where he crossed to the right bank
and descended it to the 33d parallel, whence he passed over the Sierra Ma-
dre to the copper and gold mines, near the sources of the Gila. Following
that stream, and crossing it fourteen times, he followed its left bank from the
11th degree of longitude to its mouth. Thence crossing the Colorado, he
surmounted the stupendous chain of the Cordilleras, and descended to San
Diego. A large map, with profile sections, accompanies Major Emory's ac-
count of this expedition.
Whilst Kearney was descending the Gila, Col. Cook descended the Del
Norte to the Passo del Norte, and thence westward, over what is now Mexi-
can soil, to the Gila river.
During the same year, Lieutenants Abert and Peck surveyed, under the
orders of the chief of the Topographical Engineers, the whole of New Mex-
ico, as far north as the sources of the Del Norte. Lieut. Peck also surveyed
the Cimmerone route from the Arkansas to Santa Fe. An accurate map is
filed with their report.
During the same year Dr. Wislizenus, of this city, with a barometer, tra-
versed the usual trading route from Independence to Santa Fe, and thence
to Chihuahua, and across eastwardly to Matamoras. The account of this
expedition has been published by order of the Senate of the United States,
with profile sections.
During the same year, Lieut. Col. Gilpin made an expedition from Santa
Fe, up the Rio Chama, and thence over the Sierra Madre into the territory
interposed between that continuation of the Rocky Mountains and the Col-
orado of the West.
And during the same year, Col. Doniphan made an expedition against the
Navajo Indians, who claim a portion of this territory. These two expedi-
tions traversed the country from the Gila river, northward, to the 38th par-
all el of latitude.
We have profile sections of the route, from the mouth of the Platte river
along its northern bank to its forks, and thence up the south fork to the base
of the mountains—from the sources of the Arkansas to its mouth—from the
sources to the mouth of the Canadian, we believe—from the mouth of the
Kanzas river to the great South Pass—from Independence to Santa Fe—from
Fort Leavenworth to Bent's Fort, and thence to Santa Fe—from the mouth
of the Kanzas via. the Republican Fork, to south fork of the Platte, and
thence to Fort Laramie—from the South Pass to the mouth of the Columbia
river—from the South Pass to the Bay of San Francisco, and from Santa Fe
to San Diego.
From a careful examination of the reports of these expeditions with the
maps and profile sections the following inductions have been made ; and
nothing cafi be clearer than these reports are upon the several points
following: —
1.—A railway can be constructed from any point on the Mississippi
between the latitude of Council Bluffs and the Red river of Louisiana to
the base of the Rocky Mountains. If such a road be constructed south of
the Ozark chain it must be elevated upon piles through the delta of the
Conclusion.
79
Mississippi, and a large number of viaducts must be made across the streams
and gorges of New Mexico, thus rendering the road difficult and very
expensive. If it be constructed along any line north of the Arkansas river
it must ascend northwestwardly as high as the dividing ridge between the
waters of the Missouri, the Mississippi, and the Arkansas, because there is
no gap in the Ozark chain, and they maintain a general elevation of fifteen
hundred feet. The interposition of this chain will render a tunnel necessa-
ry upon any line between the one here indicated and the Arkansas side.
A road can be constructed from the Mississippi to the mountains on a right
line from the latitude of 38 degrees to the latitude of 40 degrees north.
2-—A rail road cannot be carried through the Rocky Mountains at any
point between the South Pass and the Passo del Norte, in New Mexico.
This is abundantly established by Long, Fremont, Emory, Doniphan, and
hundreds of intelligent men to whom this whole region is as familiar as the
city of New York is to a Native of middle age. Let those who doubt read
the journals here enumerated and they will be convinced. In respect to
the country lying between the main ridge of the mountains on the east, and
the Colorado on the west, the Gila river on the south, and the 38th parallel
on the north, the following statement furnished to the writer by Mr. Hughes,
the author of the History of Col. Doniphan's Expedition, who speaks the
opinions of all the army qualified to form an opinion, will satisfy the reader ;
" L ibertx , Mo., March 22, 1849.
"Mr. J, Loughborough :—In answer to your inquiries, 'What is the
physical structure and the natural features of the elevated region of country,
embraced within the limits of latitude 32 deg. to 40 deg. north, and longitude
104 deg. to 110 deg. west, extending from the vicinity of the three parks,
near the sources of the Rio del Norte to the city of El Paso, in a northerly and
southerly direction, and from the waters of the Arkansas, on the east, to those
of the Colorado, on the westand further, 'What obstructions does said
region of country present to the passage of the Great Central Rail Road
proposed to be constructed from St. Louis to the Bay of San Francisco ?'
1 would briefly state, that my knowledge of the country embraced within said
limits, is not as minute as could be desired ; but, from having traveled most
of it, and from information derived from trappers and others of mountain
life, I can speak with tolerable certainty. This region lies principally with-
in the State of New Mexico ; its elevation above the level of the sea varies
from 7,000 to 14,000 feet; almost its whole surface is traversed by ranges of
lofty mountains, often times abrupt, frequently insurmountable, and having
but few passes. The valleys are generally deep, very fertile and produce
abundantly when cultivated ; many of them are irrigated by bold, lasting
streams of water, bordered with nutritious grasses, presenting fine, facilities
for the employment of machinery and the grazing of stock. IVfajestic forests
of timber, pine and oak, cover many of the valleys, and wave on the mountain
sides.
"As to your second inquiry, I must say that, in my opinion, the mountain-
ous nature of the country, the deep and often times impassable ravines, the
want of convenient passes, the immense masses of rocks; in a word, the
general ruggedness and unevenness of the surface, render the construction of
a railroad, at any reasonable cost, utterly impracticable. I am firmly of
opinion that the route of the railroad from the mouth of the Kanzas to San
60
Conclusion.
Francisco, as laid down in your skeleton map, is not only the most feasible
one yet proposed, but would be cheapest of construction, most direct,
pass through the most valuable part of our public domain, be in the line of
travel, and would yield the largest dividend on the investment. In fine, I
believe the route of the road as laid down by yourself, is the right one.
" Very respectfully,
"JOHN T. HUGHES."
As respects the territory northward of these boundaries to the great South
Pass, let the reader consult Fremont and he will be satisfied,—especially
his second expedition, from page 278 to page 288. If it he suggested that
these mountains can be tunneled, the decisive answer is, 1st—That this
would be a useless expenditure of capital when a route can be found
through the South Pass full as short as one can be found south of it, as has
been shown in the foregoing essay; and, 2d—'Jhat if a tunnel exceeds a
half mile in length it will become necessary to furnish it with numerous
ventilators, and that there is no prospect of finding a place to tunnel where
it could be made as short as a half mile, and none either of finding a place
to make one which can be ventilated.
3.—We have already topographical maps and profile sections of the
route from the South Pass to the mouth of the Columbia river,—The one from
South Pass to the Bay of San Francisco,—and from Santa Fe to San Diego.
As it has been shown that a railway cannot pass the mountain save at the
South Pass and the Passo del Norte, it is evident that we have already
abundant information to enable us to decide upon the route west of the
(mountain, and, therefore, abundant information to enable us to fix upon a
line for this whole railway, from the Mississippi to the Pacific. It is not
here intended to be asserted that no farther surveys are needful to enable
us to construct the road, but that none other are needed to fix upon the
general line of it. Deviations from the usual line of travel may be and
no doubt will be found advantageous.
If the foregoing conclusions shall be found to be correct, the Congress of
the United States may be abundantly informed by a call upon the proper
departments to frame and pass a bill for the construction of this great work
during its ensuing session, and it is hoped that the whole people of the
Union will unite in calling upon that body to do so. Let a competent
topographical party be detailed to precede the contractors from the point
on the western border which may be fixed upon as the eastern terminus of
the railway. This party can have full time to make such deviations from
the routes of which we have profile sections, as may be needful in advance
of the workmen. Let the Indian title be extinguished to a belt of at least
ten miles wide from the border.to the Pacific. Let emigration be encour-
aged by donations of land. Let the military force be distributed as herein
suggested. Authorize those who are to construct a line of telegraph to go
along with the topographical party and erect posts and stretch the wires.
In less than fifteen months we shall have a belt of civilization to the
Pacific,—a telegraph amply protected—a military force so distributed as
to give entire security to settlers, guard the telegraph, and aid emigrants
and traders—and an abundant and cheap supply of everything necessary
to the thousands who are to construct the great railway, will have beea
collected precisely at the points where needed. This is the system of -
celerity as well as economy,—vigor as well as prudence.
r / c
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