The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1849-02-27
VOL. VIII. mo, s49. Z 81 !.
SENATE.
MNpxnspAr, Fob ~ Is49.
Im the Washington Globe.)7

n Mn. BENTON Mr.. President, the bill
which propose 10 introduce provides for
the location and construction Of a national
central highway from the Mississippi river
10 the Pacific Ocean.
ss The idoa. of acommuncalion acress our
part of North America is no new idea. Ii
has belonged TO every power that has beep
dominant over this par, Of the continent. +
! In tho year 1850, when In Sale took
leave of his friends al Monirca, 10 go upon
his discoveries wes,, the last word he utter
I'd at parting from them was Chins--La
Chine -and the spot has retained the name
ever since. t1f "t63a .ttl'
e When the Spaniards were afterwards mas
ters Of Louisiana, the B,ron de Carondalei,
Governor General of that province, with the
appreciation and sanction oi Charles w., un-
dertcok this great prnjeci+-,he discovery
of a practicable route across the continent
by the way Of tho Missouri river. lie EN-
ploycd an enterprising man Don Jaqu' s
Clanorgan] to undertake the discnvery-a
grea, reward in land being offered 10 Camcr
gan, and agn,uity of,hree thousand dollars
was promised to the first man who should
see the Pacific Ocean. 1t, mscarricd, a.
though an hundred men sci out upon The
expedition. j. e} .as... 81.
gr Tho British, owning large possessions in
North America, having in vain endeayored
10 find northwest passage 10 Asia, turned
their eyes inland in the hopo ,ha, they
would be able to discover some route across
tho continent, and Mr.. Alexander McKen-
ze, who was afterwards knighed TOR tho
energy and taithfulness with which he con-
Quoted an enterprise for that purpose, was
the successful undertaken. He iravorsed
The continent over that portion Of il belo ig-
ing 10 Great Britain, lying in high la,iludss,
reached the sea, but pointed orhe Coum-
bia river as the only desirable route on the
other side of the mountansj and that was
the canse Of all the long efforts made by the
British Government, first TO make the Gu
lumbia boundary between us, open 10 tho
navigation Of each, and afterwards to obtain
i,s free navigation. An inland commercial
route ACROSS the continent was what she
wanted. a II, 6.4g a4 e.al-ss
q When we acquired Louisiana. Mr.. Jrffer-
son revived this idea of establishing an ii-
land communication between the two sides
of III. continent, and for that purpose the
well-known expedition of Lewis and Cla.k
YVES sent on, BY him. Pf.c,ical utility III
the business of life, as well as science, was
his object. To find a route TO answer the
purposes Of a commercial communication, as
well as enlarging the boundaries Of geogIa-
phical science, was the objrcl; aud so the
instructions declared. That exp: dillon was
successfn! in finding communication Mr..
Jeff rson did no, remain in power TO carry
tdt tire practical design; aud no President
SINCE his d.y has tak,n il up. a
About th'siy years ago. myself began 10
iiirn my attention TO this subjrcl, and CON
ceiyed a plan for the establishment Of a
Jou,e extending up the Missouri river, and
down the Columbia. / followed tho idea Of
Mr.. Jefferson, La Sale; and Others, and !
tndeavoIcd 10 revive attention 10 their plans.
The steam cur was then unknown, and Cali
fornia was not ours; but believed thai As-
attic commerce might be brought inio the
valley Of the Mississippi on that line, and
wrote essays to support that idea. The
scepe Of those essays VAS 10 show that Ash
aiic commerce had been the pursuit Of all
western nations, from the Time Of The Piece
nicians down 10 the present daJ--a space
Of three thousand years; ha during ali this
iia,e this commerce lad been shifting its
channel, and thai wealth and power followed
il, and dsappcared upotits loss; that one
more channel was 10 be found-2a last one,
and our America its seal; and | then ex-
dressed the confden! bulicf that this route
would certainly be established--immcda'e-
ly, with the aid Of tie American Govern
,ncnts, and eventually, even without that
aid, by the progress Of evr MS and The force
Of circumstances. Occupied with tha, idea,
sought 10 impress i, upon others. Louklng
10 practical issue, sough, information OF
the country and the mountains, from all that
could give it--from the adventurous hun
,ers and traders of the grca, West. KnowL
edge was the fist object. The nature Of
the country-wheth inhubiable or not
between the Mississippi and the Pacific
the passes in the rouniains-were the great
poiuts of inquiry, and the results were most
satisfactory. Inhabiiabe country and prac-
iicable passes were youched lor;lu il was
not until the year lS42 that the information
took the definite form With become the
basis Of legislation. h, the year lS42 Mr..
Fremont solicited and dobtained leave to ex-
tend his explorations 10 the South Pass OF
the Rocky Mountains, not for the purpose
ofdiscoyerng that PISS, for il was discover
cd precisely forty years ago by the hunters,
but for the purpose Of fixing its locality and
Lharacter,, Al that time il was not known
whether that pass was Within our territory "
in Mexican territory. MIR. FIeeMont, there