Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1853-04-13
The Pacific Railroad -Bcnton's
Route

count every mover OF unueNelOpeu icSouICe.
Following the trails of buffalo. herds and rest.
less tribes Of Indians, they have penetrated
mountain Businesses, surmounted obstacles for
long time regarded mpassab e,and sweeping
down the seward plains beyond, planted the
germs of that prosperity, which is now bud
ding into luxurious life In a word. by their
efforts,the practicabili,y of highway for travel
from the Mississippi to the Pacic shore. was
early demonstrated beyond doubt, and for
many years has the idea occupied a share of
public attention. gradually assuming tangi-
BILE and operative shape. The elaborate re.
searches of later times, carried on with all the
care and energy, which ample means can COM
mand or personal enterprise elicit, have thrown
II clearer light around the project and more
deeply impressed us with the prospective mag
nifccnce Of its results.
The construction of highways and turnpikes
has been superseded by new system Of com
muncation, and railway connections are now
the theme and hobby of border settlement as
we'll as crowded metropolis. Therapid growth
of western cities and the extension Of western
population, seeking naturally the commercial
level of older and weather. states, demand the
speediest means Of travel ana most unembar-
raised facilities of trade, that are possible and
resources commensurate with the importance
and necessity of the work to be done, are APP
parently unfaling and easy of alta inment.
High above all other undertakings of this ma
ture, uncqualed in the boldness of its coEcep-
ton or the riches of its promise, by any his
toric or modern triumph of human art, stands
the Pacific Railroad project. A project. at one
time considered as chimcrical, at another and
later day. as possible, yet destined to be the
| achievement of a remote future has in our age
been proven capable of immediate accomplish
ment. 1t has awakened general interest and
zeal which cannot fail of browning our day and
generation with the glory of its contamination.
The progress OF civilization westward, and
more especially the wondrous growth of that
State which sprang up as if by magic, upon
the discovery of modern Ophir," proclaim
with increasing distlnctness, the necessity of
an overland connection, not only for convcu-
fence and business welfare in peace, but as a
sure anchor of hope and reliance against the
contingencies of war. This WORK is undoubt-
cdly in the power of Government to complete
within the next ten years, if energetic action
is not superseded by conflicting propositions,
and a countless variety Of schemes, tending
rather to embarrass and prolong the prosecu-
ton of the plan, than to hasten its completion.
We cannot here enumerate the various routes
which have beeG proposed although there can
be no doubt that there is one route, superior
to all others, in its iirectness. the fewer obsta-
cles to be overcome upon it. the nature Of the
country through which it runs, and the future
as well as immediate advantages which it pre-
scnts. Future surveys will determine it.
The various schemes for successful prose
cution oi,,the work. are still more clearly dis
tinctive, each possessing its merits, pointing
to the al-important elements of efficiency,
! despatch and economy.
1t is purpose here to lay befsre our read
ers the ideas of the Hon. Thomas H. Benton
| upon this matter, as recently set forth in let
ter to the people of Missouri. They are brief,
but comprehensive. The route which he pro
poses, if we may rely upon the authority which
he brings forward to support it, is undoubted
ly the most direct, and one of the most prac.i-
cable which has yet been presented to general
consideration. His scheme of construction
strikes us also as eminently feasible, and
founded upon the most sagacious policy
To corroborate his preference for the Cen
tlal" route, as it is designated, he adduces the
opinions of Colonel Fremont and Antoine LIE
roux, an experienced frontier man, not second,
we are told, even to the renowned Kit Carson
Beginning at the mouth of the Kanza.. it fol-
lows it's valley for 800 or i00miles, then strikes
over upon the Arkansas, about a hundred
miles from the base of the mountains, and con-
tinucs up that stream to the mouth of the Hucr-
fano. one OF its upper and southern branches
Following the Hueriano, the route leads thro'
a pass in the Rocky Mountains, only five miles
in width, known as the Pass FL Sangre de
Christie, (Blood of Christi. 1t then energies
into the valley of the mead waters of the Del
Norte or Rio Grande, at the head OF which it
enters what is called the Coo, cha tope or Le-
roux pass, which is eight miles in width and
leads to the head waters Of the Colorado The
following extracts will show more clearly the
character of this portion of the route:
ain the whole distance there is not an elcva.
ton worthy Of the name to be surmounted and
Il level Of light thousand feet is gained without
almost any porceptible ascent Up the kansas.t
Huerfano river valleys, the country is wooded
and watercd; the valley of the Del Norte is
open but wood is abundant in the neighborng
mountains, and land fit for cultivation is found
nj mi " all no W 1ta
from the mouth Of the Kansas to the head of
the valley of the Del Norte.
q" The Del Nofte valley is the widest and best
valley in all New Mexico, and can hold more
people than all New Mexico besides. 1t is all
prairie, except on the creeks and the river
aud OH the mountain sides, which are well
wooded 1t is a rich soil and covered with
good grass, and wooded on all the streams.
The route continues from the Pass of Leroux
to the Wal satch mountains, on to Walkers
Pass in the Sierra Nevada, near the head of the
San joaquin, which stream it follows to the
Sacramento or some point on the bay.
The advantages of the entire route for com
mon road were thus summed up by Col Ere.
mont:
"lst. II is direct. The course rs almost a
straight line from end to end. St Louis is be-
tween IS and 49, San Francisco is about the
same; the route is between these parallels, or
ncar,y between item. the whole way.
I'D 1t is central to territory. 1t is through
the territorial centre west of the Mississippi |
and its prolongation 10 the Atlantic ocean would |
be central to the States east Of that river. 1t
is also central to business and popuIaton and |
uuites the greatest commercial point in the val !
ley of the Mississippi, with the greatest com
mercial point on the coast of the Pacific.