Weekly national intelligencer. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1841-1869, 1854-12-30

that the line Of great States which now extend near,
half way across this continent and through the centre
this Union-Pennsylvania Ohio Indiana, Illinois, and
Missouri-may be continued and matched by an equal
number Of States, equally great between Missouri and
California consider that proposition established and
say more about it, The establishment Of the second
proposition results from the establishment Of the first
as all that has been shown in favor of the country
for settlement and cultivation is equally in 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 require to be produced
speak Of the last expedition Of Col Fremonhis winter
expedition Of Of the success which attend
ed it, and Of the value Of the information which afford
ed He chose the dead of winter for his exploration that
he might see the worst see the real difficulties and de-
termine whether they coul be vanqushed He believed
in the praccabity Of the road and that his miscarriage
in the fault Of his guide not Of the coun-
try and he determined to solve those questions by
the test Of actual experiment.
With these views he sat out taking the winter for his
me the west for his course, straight line his object
the mouth Of the Kansas for his point Of departure ST.
Louis and San Francisco the points be connected The
parallels Of 81 and 80 covered his course and between
these he continued to west until he reached the
Little Salt Lake, within three hundred miles Of the Cali
forna lines after that upon slight DETECTION to the
SOUTH between the parallels 81 and 49, until he entered
California This may be called straight line; and SO
fulfs primary condition of every kind Of road and
especially Of railroad, where speed of an hundred
miles an hour may be easily attained and as safely
run as the third Of that velocity in road of crooks and
curyatures.
Snow the next consideration and Of that he found
none on 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 Hill pass Of
the Sierra Blanca nome in the valleys Of San Luis and
the Sahwatch in the Coochatope Pass four inches
and none he had crossed the day before and that was
the l4th Of December corresponding with the time and
almost in view Of the place. where he had been buried in
the five years before This solved the question Of
snow in the passes of the mountains and showed that
his miscarriage had been the mistake Of the guide and
not the fault Of the country After that after crossing
ameoration takes place. which he knew before and then
fully experienced The remainder of the route has
been shown in the view Of the country may be said
have been found free from hundred miles at
time in place without finding any and when found
all both thin and transient And that this the
winter state Of the Pass and not occasional
ception, has been shown by Mr. Antoine Leroux and
Others and corresponded with his theory of in
the passes. Mr.. Leroux in his published letter to me-
said "1here is not much snoU IN this Pass he Coocha-
lopez and people go through all the 0ater and Dhen
there Is much The mountains the A5iquiu route
Which is the old Spanish trail from Santa Re to California
the people Of Taos go round this Way, and get into that trail
in the forks Of Grand and Green rvers" And Messrs.
Beale and Heap in their journal say Of it, Coochatope
Pass travelled at all seasons and Of men had
peatedy gone through in the middle of wnter hout meet
ing serious obstruction from snoUs And this the
theory OF Fremont that the passes in these mountains
were nearly free from snow and comparatively warm
while in tho open plains the mountain SUBMITS
deep SHOWS would prevail, and killing cold which no
animal life could stand This frees the Rocky Mountains
from that objection The next range Of mountains or
all the valleys have been shown to be fee the Anterr
and Wahsatch and there again the passes Free FIRE.
mont says Of them
In passing through this bed Of mountains about
days had been occupied from January "a February
deepest here encountered being about up the
saddle skirts four feet this occurring only in occasional
drifts the passes on northern and in the small
mountain flats hemmed in by woods and hills In the valley
it sometimes few inches Deep and often all
On arrival at the Mormon settlements February 8h
winter had been unusually long continued and severe
having been low Ito below Zero and
having fallen than in all the previous winters together
since the establishment Of the colony At this their
farmers had usually been occupied with their ploughs
pairing the land for seed"
The Sierra Nevada was the last range Of mountain,
and there not particle Of found in the pass
which he traversed while the mountain itself was deeply
covered And this dsposes Of the objection Of
this route formidable in the view Of those who have
nothing but an imaginary view Of it.
SmOothness of surface freedom from abrupt nequa
ties in the ground is the next considerations and here
the reality exceeded the expectation, ana nopes
challenges ncredulity Let Fremont speak He says
Standing Immediately the mouth Of the Sand Hill
of the practicable in the Sierra Blanca and above
those usually travelled at Of the remoest head springs
IF the Hano river the eye Of the traveller follows down.
without obstruction abrupt descent along the gradual slope
the valley the great plains which reach the Missouri
The straight river and the open valley FORM with the plains
beyond one great slope without hill to break the line
sight obstruct the Of the road On either side of
this line hills slope easily to the river with lines of timber
and yellow auumnal grass and the water which flows
smoothly between is not interrupted by fall in its to
The ocean,"
Here is section of the route above seven hundred
miles long, being than half the distance to Califor
MA in which there elevation to arrest the vision
which you might look down the wide distance iii the
eyesght long enough) and the frontier Of Mis-
souri, from the mouth of the first pass in the first moun
tain being than half the length Of the road This
would do for start 1t would satisfy the call for fair
surface at the This first pass is called
the Sand Hill, Roubdoux, through which Fremont
tered the valley Of San Luis and the way low and
level to be seen through And through that valley
and its continuation 1.-THE Sahwatch to the Coochatope
the ground is smooth to present exception to its
level but the natural curvature Of the earth Meeting
man on horseback in this long level Of than hun
dred and twenty miles Counting the entire valleys Of
Luis and the Sahwatch) is like meeting ship at
you his head first then his body then his HORSE and
at last the ground The pass ITSELF well the ap-
proaches to it, is perfect. Fremont calls it " open
easy pogon way" Beale and Heap say it was question
eastern and western waters which could only be
ed by referring to the water itself The pass ITSELF Of
which they made drawing, was grand and beautiful
They say Of it:
"Loy mountains, their covered 10Th sno,cs
lifted their heads the clouds uhiie Immediate vicini
softly rounded hills clothed oih grass aud o,oers Nth
rich meadows bceen through pAich ris ickicd
iois their toaters to the Coochdtope creek"
But why multiply words to induce conviction when
at hand to command it Facts enough abound
to show the facility Of this pass in state Of
More than forty loaded wagons went through it in the
Capt. Gunnison the by emigrant families, without
guides But than that the bufaloes have travel
led it always those best Of engineers whose instinct
commits mistakes and which, in their migraons
pasture, shelter, and salt fail to find the lowest
levels in the mountains the shaowest fords in the rivers
49, - h~sko