The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-12-19

Asin and 1t their westeen base sssabllshed the
are what are called fertile meuntsins abundant in
water, wood and grass, and fertile valleys Offering In
ducements to settlement and facilities for making
mstsriais-timber, iron cost-which would IS Of in,
dispensabs in the construction and mAintenance
q Hs road and are s0' r. fo. ns 70 build Up
State Salt is abundant on the casters bordsg noun.
sins-as the Sierra de Salbeing named from It. In the
mountains through which tho line passes, accumu
lated great wealth Of iron and COAL and extensive for
ests OF heavy timber. These forests ne largest am
acquainted with in the Rocky mountains being In
places twenty miles In depth Of continuous forest the
general growth lofty and large frequently three
red spruce and yellow pine prsdominatne AT the ac
tual southern extremity Of the Mormon settlements
consisting Of the two enclosed towns Of Psrowsn and
Cedar city near to which line passed. coal mine
has been opened for about eighty yards and iron works
already established Iron here in extraordinary
masses, in some parts accumulated Into mountains,
which comb out in crssts Of solid IRON thirty feet thick
and . hundred yards long,
Fremont brought home specimens Of this coal and
iron Of which Professor Baird Of the Smithsonian In
worlds Magnetic oxide Of iron: Pareon. Ssems
very pure Of iron and suitable for manufacturing
purposes May be estimated to contain about 20 II
per centum Of metallic iron somewhat similar 10 the
in the great beds Of northern New York, but
solid thanis usual there Probably very well adapted
excellent qualhy-semi NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. In ap-
pearance like the transition coal Of the Susq
mines In Pennsylvania"
must ask the pardon Of some of my auditors for
surprising that they may not be better acquainted with
the language Of geology than was myself, when l
crests was mere descriptive ispsusre suggested by
the taste OF the writer found il not So but tho
technical language which the geological science re-
Of mineral showing itself above the surface, and
browning the top Of the hill or mountain, as a
Ssw aa
used by Fremont and which seems to have been the sug
geion OF excited imagination becomes the subdued
expression Of science and cchnicality And what pic
ture he presents Here are in fact the elements Of
great Sateenough OF themselves to build up rich and
popuous state but arpurtenant to it, and interlaced
with it. or bordering upon It, is great extent Of valley
country-thst Of the little Salt Lake. Of the Santa Clara
Meadows Of the Nicoets river and its tributaries
along the western base Of the Wahsatch and within tho
rim of the Great Basn that basin remarkable here
for beauty and fertility in most other parts for stor
goona Paroan and Cedar City along the edge of this
rich mountain region; and the well trod Mormon road
from the Great Salt Lake to Southern California re-
lieved with bridges and marked with mlestones pass
by these towns NIL announcing to the traveller that
in the depths Of the unknown wilderness he had
countered the comforts of civilization Messrs
Beal and Heap passed these settlements at mid
summer and speak in terms OF enchantment, not only
Of the beauty of the country but Of the improvements
and cultivation Pretty towns built to pattern each
square, the sides formed by lines Of adobe houses all
facing inwards, with flower and kitchen gardens in
front and large common field in the rear, crowded
with growing grain-and all watered, beth fields and
gardens, and the front and of every house, with
clear cool streams, brought down from the mountain
and mills at work. FORCES smelling the iron ore col
hers digging the COAL blacksmhs hammer the red hot
iron into farming implements or shoes for the horses
assisted by dexterous Indian boys; cattle roaming in
rich pastures; people quarrying the cattle licking
the rock salt Emigrans obtain supplies here-beef and
-four at moderate pricesand 1t here that Fremont
rettod after his seventy days of living upon his
mules which died from exhaustion. The number and
beauty Of these valles and fertile mountains by
pp0va aud unov ,hneon IN ~fnl S~aa -
midsummer, excite their wonder, aud call forth
echantng descriptions. Broad valleys connected
ny narrow ,, ones continued succession Of these
ridges but through level openngs-erass flowers and
water in each. The mountains cut into blocks,
peaks, white with snow-and all dark with forests on
their sides. 1t is impossible to read their descriptions
without being reminded Of central Persia and Of that
valley of Shirax, celebrated Incompatible by tho
poets but matched and surpassed in the Of the
Wahsatch and the Anterria and the climate delicious
ary to the Sth of that Fremont explored this
regitn he found in the valleys either snow at ALL
thin covering only; and in the first week Of Febru-
spring seeds And yet ali this would be Snt corner Of
% West ns and North
Basin-chie6y characterized as desert, but which
has its oases-vegss as the spaniards call them
grass, and arabic land = and with an elevation
Of country, narrow valleys between snowy
mCuntanswhch gives assurance OF the artesiau wells
which extend the fertility and multiply the
points of settlement. so that this fifth State may be
extensive popuous and rich any public interest
could require.
Mr. President and gentlemen, l commenced this dis.
course with undertaking to establish two propositions
F' That the country between Missouri and CALIFORNIA;
IN tie latitude in which we now stand, is well adapted
10 settlement and cultivation, and capable OF forming
Eve great States; Secondly, That it is well adapted to
good the first Of these proportions and that we may
assume that the line OF great States which
tend nearly halfway this Continent and through
the centre Of this Observation-Disclosures, Ohio Indiana
Illinois and Missourt-may be continued and matched
by equal number Of States equally great between
tabished and SAY no more about It, The establishment
Of the second proposition results from the establishment
OF the FIRST one all that has been shown in favor Of
favor Of it for the road. But have direct and
positive testimony this head, which the Importance
Of the subject and the value Of the testimony ITSELF re-
Col Fremont-his winter expedition of 1853 54-and Of
the which attended IT. and Of the value of the
which IL afforded. He chose the dead Of
winter for his exploration that he might the worst
the real difficulties, and determine whether they
could be vanquishcd He believed in the practicablty
OF the road and that his miscarriage in 18iS40 the
fault of his guide not of the country and he deter
mined to solve those questions by the test Of actual
pertinent
with these views he set out taking the winter for his
time the west for his course straight limo his object
the mouth Of the Kansas for his point of departure St.
Louis and San Francisco the points to be connected
The parallels Of 50 and 80 covered his course and be-
tween these he continued move west until he reached
the Little Salt Lake, within three hundred miles
OF the California line, After that, upon slight
DETECTION to the south, between the parallels 81
ard 50, until he entered California. Tbis may be
called a straight line and SO fuldls a primary
condition ofevery KIND Of road and especially OF rail-
road, where speed Of hundred miles an hour may
be easily attained, and as safely rum the third
of that velocity in road Of crooks and atures
Snow the next consideration, and OF that he
found any part Of the route TO impede any kind
Of travelling. On the Kansas the Upper Arkansas and
the Huerfano, he found AT all; in the Sand HUI
pass OF the Sierra Blanca none; in the valleys Of San
Luis and the Saltwater, nene in the Coochatope Pass
four inches and IL he had crossed the day before
and that the 14th Of December, corresponding with
the time and almost in view OF the place. where had
been buried in the five years before This solved
the question Of in the Of the mountains and
showed that his miscarriage had been the mistake Of
the guide and not the faul OF the country After that
after crossing the Rocky Mountains-the climate
changes. A great ameoration takes place which
he know before, and then fully experienced. The
remainder Of the route, has been shown in he view
of the country, may be said TO have been found free
from sncw-an hundred miles at time in place
without finding any; and when found at ALL both thin
and transient. And that this the common winter
state Of the paes, and not occasional exception has
been shown bv Mr. Antoine Ierouy md Others and