The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1856-03-07

Preferred Route BY the Platte Valley-Prob-
abbe Cost and Profitable Business
[From the National Intelligencer. !


\ Territories, is universally admitted and the
I present channels of trade, which carry every
\ thing outside Of our limits, through sicklv,
! revolutionary, and savage regions, are gem
orally deprecated. The various surveys of
our Typographical Engineers abundantly
! prove the practlcabilty of interior railroads,
and the questions most interesting to COM
munlty relate now to the route which shall be
adopted and the manner Of accomplishing
the work
| The voluminous reports Of surveying par
ties have been collated by Capt. Humphreys,
and the whole matter has thus been present.
| ed by the Secretary Of War, with his gener-
| al views on various routes. Through the
kindness Of s'frend TIT court am in pos
session Of all the reports, and with due def
erenec, submit nv views, albeit they may
/ conflict with those of the honorable Secre-
tary and my esteemed friend, Capt Hum
phreys.
The various reports, as we'll as the resume.
seem TO reduce the question Of route to the
consideration Of only three for | perceive
no certain practicabiity in the various other
routes suggested. These three routes are
lst. The ella, latitude 81 ID The Platte
| Valley, latitude 4 and, Sd. The Northern,
or Steyens's, latitude Al. The first is near
our southern boundary, the second central,
and the third near our northern frontier
Railroads may, ere long, be constructed on
each Of these routes; but, for reasons which
| wish fairly considered, it would seem to be
| desirable that pioneer work should be exc
euted on the Platte Valley, or central route.
The surveys which most clearly define the
| character Of this route are those Of Capt
| Stansbnrv in l65l and the recent surveys of
Lieut. Beckwith. The former relates to the
Ions fa a tln 10. 4I,,
tons. Both concur in decided expressions
favorng the line following the south fork of
the Platte River, Lodge Pole Creek, by Fort
Brldger, and thence, skirting the south rim
Of Salt Loke, passing the Nevada, near Mud
Lake, whore Lieut.. Beckwith describes very
! favorable depression, which he denomnates
! Mldelin Pass.
Although the summary Of Capt. Humph-
rcys assumes the termini Of this line at Ft
! Leayenworth and San Francisco, thereby
making this line over 1000 miles long. /
submit that the proper termin are Council
Bluffs on the Missouri. and Fort Reading on
the Sacramento; these being not only nayi-
gable points on the two great rivers of the
two oceans, but being also points where rail
roads are approaching and are sure to be
connected within a short period.
Calling these points Of water and railroad
ments the following location and length Of
this Platte Valley route;
Council Bluffs CITY, latitude Al deg.
- min., to foot of Black Hills 49l mis-
Foot Of Black Hills, by Lodge Pole
Greek, to Fort Bridger, latitude
Al deg, rs min, IL sec/ 341
Fort Bridger to Madein Pass, lat
itude 10 deg, ~ min, Il sec $50
Madelin Pass to Fort Reading, lati-
tude AZ deg, 80 min, % Sec 1922 1"
Total from Council Bluffs to
Fort Reading $500 .
! As odometer measurements take IL curves
and small depressions, they are greater than
railroad measurements, and therefore a.
sumo, what DO not believe this line will ex-
eced, eighteen hundred miles as the length of
Pacific railroad By this Platte Valley route.
This route il, therefore, short and direct
and the Platte, Humboldt, and Salt Lake
valleys are peculiarly adapted to railroad
constructions. Except seventy miles in
humboldt Valley, water is abundant for rail
road purposes. The islands Of the Platte
and other points afford abundance Of cotton
wood, winch will answer for temporary ties
anu Tor fuel. AT other points, not remote
from each other, Stansburs and all the cmi-
grants speak OF cedar, pine, and other tim
Der, either directly on the road or near by In
gorges Of the mountains. Settlements ut
Elk Horn, Nebraska Centre. Fort koarnev.
/ ort Laramie, Bridger Fort, Salt Lake Val
ley, and on Carson river, all demonstrate the
existence Of all the requisites for supporting
q constructing force and abundance of coal
and wood for maintaining a railroad
The settlements in Salt Lake Valley are
rapidly extending, and very soon this Platte
..lf IL IT. e. II
have workmen distributed throughout the
line, not in savage bands, armed with "a bow
and stiletto but with the implements OF az
rlculture or the tools Of the artisan This
central location, supported at each end by
converglng lines Of railroad, convenient to
supplies of grain and provisions, passing
through healthy, inyigorating climate, in
the extended line Of our greatest interior
channels, seems to invite consideration and
capital, and must secure for it the first OPEN
ing of ''the way to India"
Concluded Tomorrow
INTELLIGENCE OF DEAR MUrE-A pupil
Of the Able sicard gave the following ex-
sraordinary answers "What is gratitude %
Gratitude il the memory Of the heart''
s'What is hope 20 ''Hope is the blossom Of
happiness 'eWhat is the difference be-
tween hope and desire - s'Desire is tree
IN leaf hope is tree in flower; and enjoy
ment is tree in fruit ''What is eternity rs
\ day without yesterday or tomorrow a
line that has no ends" What is time - "a
line that has two ends path which begins
IN the cradle and ends at the tomb "What
is God ~ 'SThe necessary being, the sun of
eternity, the maehinist Of nature, the eye of
justice, the matchmaker of the universe, the
soul of the world" Does God reason -
MAN reasons because he doubts he dolib-
crates; he decides God is omnscient he
knows all things he therefore never reas-
sons.''