New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1849-04-28
NEW-YORK TRIBUNE.
The Great Migration.

The Great Migration.
~.. tho emigration OF so many thousands to
.'f,,o;s within the present year IL destined u
O'".'. o.l and lasting Influences over the earth
''S..,inies Of mankind, we have not doubted +;
.,he,s Influences will mainly aud Ultimately
"' ,.ec;sl We have strong hopes, though the
date and obvious effects will probably be OF
-.ivsd and dubious character; bu. that what
20, GOOD may ultimately accrue will be purchased
vast amount OF present suffering and misery
:. ,o,,lly inevitable. In defiance Of all warnings
..,oo,.,rances, thousands will embark on the
-, ocean of prairie and desert in utter reck
,....ss. If the dangers to be there encountered
IA the preparations necessary to surmount
IT. They will cast loose from civilized So
.;s,v and plunge into the barren wilderness with
"a sn;msls untitled for the severe efforts,
ii If endurance and exertion, which will
!. ,sopred Of them; with Stacking wagons,
,,.Ufscient food and clothing, and inadequate
,oe.ns Of every description. 1t should ever be
ION, in mind that the simple fact of the emgra-
,oo this year being entirely unparalleled IN
..,onrt i'm poses on all who 60 tie necessity Of
extraordinary preparations. What little game
might otherwise be found along the line Of this
ororacted Journey will soon be destroyed or scared
svay the few vegetables and roots Of which
,ome use might be made in extremity by lew
dozens or hundreds will be as nothing to so many
thousands; and more serious still, the heritage In
many places especially that bordering the great
deserts and the more tedious mountain passes, will
be devoured before hafthe emigrants OF this year
will have passed. The st. Louis Peoples Or80a
Of the 10th inst. says
THE CALIFORNIA E1IsRANTs 1t Ia esumsted that
o0OOO persons 4 900 wagons, and 10000 mules will be
IN route the Plains, by the lat OF June next
If we suppose the whole number Of emigrsnts to be
divided into so parties, with 500 animals 10 each IL
would be safe that these animals would daily
consume and trsmpe down forage over space equal
ofour acres-Or In months time would have grszed
over space 30 miles long and 80 feet wide. should
Al. these parties pursue nearly the came route. and fol
low each other in quick succession, they will need
rszing field for every month equal 10 30 miles In one
direction, By about a third OF mile ia another.
The approximations of serious consequences from a
deah Of foTsge apply only TO that part OF the route
which lies In the mountain passes and the Great Basin
The passes narrow lanes through rocky chs, and
ho BASIN except the banks Of the iow rivers of that
SINGULAR region 10 barren desert so long IA the emil
grants keep these river banks In the line OF their
journey, they may calculate upon pretty good sub
sstebee for their mules and cattle Their great and
formidable trials must be encountered IN the ana
plains of the Great Bas lin and 10 the mountain passes
which connect with this Basin.
The latest of the emigrsnts from the Missouri cross
i1gs supposDg all OF them TO start in season.. or
much beyond the frat of May will in the ordinary
course reach the Sacramento from the lot to the Goth
OF October The earliest may touch that point from
the lst 10 the Goth Of August
1T should be observed that this calculation
has reference only TO the emigration through Mis-
souri, that which travels by way of Arkansas or
Texas and the valley Of the ella is not included.
We do not think the Organs estimate a large
one But just consider what the chance is for
those " no leave Missouri from the 18th OF May to
the st of June, many of them with poor teams
and scanty provisions, to follow the $4,000 people
and 80 900 head of cattle which shall have pre-
coded them They will be required to traverse
hundreds of mixes where the early grass will
have been entirely devoured and the heat and
drouth of Summer will have prevented It's starting
again. The teams, even good ones, will soon
give out they must be halted at the best grazing
places to recruit; and thus the Summer will wear
away and October overtako them amid the
SHOWS Of the Sierra Nevada, and then, woe to
them Probably not half those on whom snow
falls on this side of the mountain crests will ever
see another spring time or enter the Land OF Gold.
There ought to be strenuous and systematic
efforts to impress all the hopelessness, the tie
merity, of starting TO cross the Continent and the
Mountains at q later day. All who leave St. Louis
after the 10th May would seem virtually to court
destruction though few who go well provided
with the best animals and without wagons
may startas late the LIST of June and go through
in safety. The chances are against it, however
and we would sooner traverse Mexico, or wait TIL
September and then so round Cape Horn, or take
the chance of there being by that time an abun-
dance vessels at Panama than to invite starvation
by taking the route across the Prairies aud the
Mountains