The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1839-09-03

! ed off to the South, and Capt. James ID. Grahan
with three other Engineers under his command
was sent TO finish his survey from Monipclier
by Wells river in Vermont, (the route by Waits
river was left out of his instructionsj and Ivy
| Overan aud Bakers river in New Hampshire
to Winnipiseogce Lake. which surveys were
finished in the years 1929 and 30, all bnt the
survey of Squam Lake, which completed IL
the request Of the Engineer Department on the
ice in the winter and spring of 1881. But, for
some reason or other, the survey made under
| the direction OF Captain Graham in New iianp-
shire has never been published to my knowledge
and the part he surveyed in Vermont was not
published until March 25, 1886. But the origi-
nal field books, maps and profleS are all 10 be
found in the Typographical Bureau at Wash
| ington, under the care of Col. John J. Albert
which valuable surveys of Capt james ID. Ora
ham, now Major in the Engineer Department,
might at this time be Of service TO the inhab-
! tauts OF Maine, and others in New Hampshire
and Vermont looking out for The best route for
n Railroad from Portland to the great Western
Lakes. will here observe, that il is n rule Of
the Engineer Department not to have any Of
the surveys thai are made ut the expense Of the
u. S. Government published until they first
examined by The board aI Washington, and
then they are lodged in the Typographical Blu.
reau until they called for. | will also OBJ
serve, that in the year 1880, while on the survey
aforesaid, | went in company with Capt. J. ID.
summit Of which presents one ofthe most beau
titul scenes in New fampsIirc,) to view the al.
joining country and the route for steamboat TO
ply between the numerous islands on Sqram
Lake and among the hills hetween Alton Bay
and IlolderncSs vI'lage-a distance of between
30 and 40 miles, and nearly all within view from
Red Hill. also observed deep valley eX
tended from the head Of Squun Lake through
Sandwich and IamWorh INTO Great OsSPCe
river, through which have m doubt route
for Railroad can be found, aud must eventu.
ally prove the nearest and best route for Rail-
road from Portland 10 pass through the States
Of New Hampshire amt to the great Western
Lakes, as it will nj Squam Lake unite with the
Railroad aud Steamboat route through the
Lakes to Dover and Portsmouth, and at the
outlet of said Lake Iio!lcrness village there
unite with the Great Northern Railroad now in
contemplation, extending from Boston by Con.
cord up Pemigewasset and Bakers rivers to
HaVerhill, New Hampshire. thence 10y the val
ley OF Waits river and by Montpelier to Bur
limgtou VI, thence across Lake Chnmplaiu and
through the State of New York to Ogdeusburg
AT the outlet Of the great Lake Ontario. Be
tween Ogdenshurg and Lake Champlain grant
has been made for railway 10y the LcgisIa-
,ure of that State, and 100000 of the stock
subscribed tor and no doubt but the whole
stock would be taken up in few days if they
only found that the New England States would
Join with them in the enterprise. On this route
the several distances between Oudenshurg and
Portland may be found nearly as follows -
From Portland to the head of Squam Lake say
90 mllcs-thence to the outlet at Ho!dernesS
village, 10 miles thence to Unverlill, New
Hampshire, "a miles-,hence to Montpelier, 35
morc-thence to Burlington, 40 miies-across
the Lake to Port Kent, 10 mles--thence to Og-
densburg a; the head of the river St. Lawrence
and outlet of Lake Ontario 1903 miles, making
in the whole 295 miles, and 65 miles less than
The distance from Albany to Buffalo by the Erie
canal (that canal being 1868 miles long ,)-!hence
crossing the sthmus of the United States in
less than three hundred miles, and opening q
communication between the great Mederran-
e0n of the West and the Atlantic Ocean of the
East. JOHN McDUFFEE, Civil Eng'r.
Bradford, VT, Aug. 10, 1889.