Arkansas true Democrat., 1857-10-06
s;,,,s of the ClarksyilIe Convention

In answer to a call from various portions o
 western counties of this State, convention
 lled at Clarksvlle on the 14th inst, fo
 ,urpose of taking into consideration thu
 ,r.hrept of an overland mail to San Fran c,G6rnia The convention was calle, N o,der by the Hon. w. w. Floyd, of John II .n county, upon whose motion Gen. A. G
 lovers, of Sebastian, was requested to presid
 ,er the convention, and Jordan E. Cravens
 o. and John E. Manley, esq, of Johnson lanty were appointed Secretaries.
 IThe credentials of the various delegates pre-
 ot were then examined. whereupon the fol Ieing gentlemen appeared and took their seats From Sebastian county, A. c. Mayors, s. F 1,rke. R. H. Mcconnell, ]. B. Luce, B. T. Du Al Martin W. Bunch, Alexander Cahill ant ybomas s. Drew. From Crawford county iIugh F. Thomasson, John T. Humphreys From Franklin county, S. Boone, w. w. Mans leld. w. Shores, Richard Gaines Wm Steel MFrom Washington county, w. D. Reagan, L 4siregg. From Johnson county, John. s. Hous #on James. B. Wilson, L. c. Howell, w. w Floyd William Adams, A. M. Ward, Josepf Atkins. John E. Manley, Jordan E. Cravens Felix I. Batson, Moreau Rose Jesse Mason, G W. Payne, N. D. Griffith, Isaac A. Walton Jacob Rogers, A. Laster, James H. Laster, J O. senb James, T. NJ. Wamack, Oliver Basbam IWiIliam Connolly, D. Hardwicke. From Yell bounty, Benjamin J. Jacoway, c. W. Williams 4 On motion of MT. Thomasson, the President Twas requested to explain the object of the con. venton. which he proceeded to do with great clearness and precision.
 1 After the President had concluded his re. marks, several resolutions were offered and pro- positions submitted by Mr. Clarke, Gov. Drew Mr. Humphreys and others, giving rise to al animated and protracted debate which was ter. minated by the adoption of resolution offered by Mfr Humphreys to refer the various matters before the convention to a committee consisting of two delegates from each county. Where. upon a committee was constituted by the ap. ointment of J. B. Luce and B. T. Duval, O Sebastian, H. F. Thomasson and J. T. Humph reys of Crawford, w. D. Reagan and l.. Greg of Washington, S. Boone and W. w. Mansiel, of Franklin, w. w. Floyd and William Adams of Johnson, B. J. acoway and E. w. William of Yell. The convention then adjourned t give the committee an opportunity of discharg ing its duties.
 At 7 P. NJ, 4he convention re- assembled whe Mr. Luce submitted, as the result of the labor of the committee, the following report:
 The committee having had under considera ton the matters and resolutions referred to i beg leave to report that in regard to an overan mail route from the Mississippi river to Sar Francisco, the committee is satisfied from al the information within its reach that the short est and best is the route from Memphis by wa ot the 55th parallel, following the survey mad by Lieut.. Whipple in 1853, to the Mohav river, and passing from thence to San Francisc through the Tulare Valley.
 In arriving at this concuson the committe has been influenced ill regard to that portion C the route lying west of the Rio Grande in par by the account of the journey of MT. r. X Aubrey, from California to Albuquerque through the Tejon and Zuni passes, published few years ago, and extensively copied at tn time in the Arkansas papers; but principally the official report Of Lieut. Whippe, which no only fully confirms the previous statements ( Mr. Aubrey, but contains important additions facts not before known
 That part of the route lying east of the Ri Grande, is much better known rot only to tn committee but also to other members of the con ventlon and to their constituents. Many c them have in person explored the country be tween Fort Smith and the settlements nea Albuquerque; others are familiar with the rout from Preston to Donna Ana. explored by Cap Marcy and by Capt. Pope. The opinion ha been confidently expressed by individuals ac quainted with both routes that even if Dom Ana were the western terminus, or were an es sential point of transition, it would be cheape and better to carry the mail from Little Roc by way of Fort Smith through the valley of tn Canadian to Albuquerque, or to Isleta, an thence down the Rio Grande to Donna Ans than to attempt to take it over the sandy desert Tn that part of Texas lying between the source of the Colorado and the Rio Grande on tn route adopted by the Post Master General
 The intense cold and deep snow in the noun tain passes and'on the plains in higher latitude. being almost universally regarded as presentin insuperable objections to the transportation C the mail during the winter season on any C the routes north of the 35th parallel, the com mittee has not felt itself called upon to considc any route as competing with that of the 35t except the southern route near the 32l parale
 Whether an overland mail to the Pacific established along the 35th parallel or not, tn committee is satisfied that the Governmen would consult its best interests in expendn upon the Whlpple route portion of the none appropriated for building loads across the con tinent, inasmuch as it would thereby onen tb most direct communication with the public of tlcers and troops in New Mexico and woul also attract attention to by far the most valuabl portion of the public lands yet unsettled = Without referring to the rich and productive country on the waters of the Western Colorad inhabited by the Moquis, the Zun and tn Navajo Indians, or to the unoccupied region on the western borders of the Choctaw an, Creek territory, it is well known that there is large body of land not secured to any India tribe, lying west of the Tooth meridian, whic Is capable of sustaining dense population- All that would be necessary to ensure its spec dy settlement would be the establishment of sufficient chain of military posts for the protec ton of emigrants from the dcpredations of tn Camanche and koway Indians, who make their middle camping ground in their migration beyond the Arkansas on the north and Re, river on the south. The importance of such chain Of posts cannot be too strongly urged