The Washington union., 1857-06-12
,or,crrov FoR THE ovERLANp Mali.

military gentleman WHOSE pi"icssiVhai uu'ieS h"'0
.,ussd him to traverse the great plains and the
p,.Lv mountains in many directions during period
.f ION years He shows the necessity Of protection
:, the limited States overland mail about TO be es-
,,bi,hed alludes to the known disposition of the
Secretary of War to furnish such protection, far
=, to can do So with the limited means at his com
..nd shows his inability to furnish thorough and
.,mplete protection from the lack Of troops, and
,so from the lack Of the rg kind Of mounted force.
NJ the disposition of the administration 10 furnish
tborough and complete protection TO an overland
mil there need be doubt in the minds Of any who
n,onose to contract for the conveyance Of such mail,
in the minds of such enterprising citizens as pro-
nose to settle along the selected route with viewto
furnish supplies Congress itself, in passing the
hu, establishing the overland mail, evidently
t.mplsted such contingency. The law provides,
first for carrying the letter mail which, for time at
I4as. is not likely to weigh hundred pounds and,
aecond "that the contract shall require the service
sprng wagons suitable for The Conveyance Of passsH
GERS as well as the safety and security of the mails
The object Of Congress- is thus clearly shown to be-
not only to establish an overland letter mail to Cali
forpa from some suitable and convenient point on
the Mississippi river, but also to build up line Of
tqrs from the settlements of California to the settle
ments in the valley Of the Mississippi Such line
could not be sustained without settlements along it
and neither mail line settlements could be MAIN
tanned without protection against the Indians Not
A staton-house not coach, not horse, would be
safe in those wilderness regions without protection
and this fat was known to each member of both
houses of Congress. OF course, then, they contem-
plated protection when they authorized the estab-
lshment of this great continental overland mail and
when asked to establish permanent military force
exactly suited to that end we anticipate a prompt
and favorable response.
And what grand results viii follow the establish
ment of such splendid and well-protected line of
the valley of the Mississippi to the central and
cessibe city of San Francisco, on the Pacific ocean
Every fertile spot along that line of 1000 miles viii
have an enterprsing settler upon it within two or
three years from the day that thorough and complete
protection shall have been afforded Our dominions
will then have been united and compacted for
small sum good communication, suitable for peace
and for war, viii have been established that shall
dure as long as civilization itself Those grassy,
deep beautiful and romantic dells which abound in
all our mountain regions now solitary, shall then be-
come the happy homes Of hardy and healthy free
men, ready to uphold the rights and to defend the
honor of our country. 1t is great mistake
D., -
arc unfit for settlement and cultivation. The early
publication of the elaborate, scientific, and most
minute surveys Of Captain Whipple, of the to-
biographical engineers, will shed flood of light
upon this great subject, We commend his work,
which compose two large, costly, and beautiful
Volumes to the perusal ofevery intelligent gentleman
they will be furnished to senators and to representa-
tives in about two weeks probably. We hesitate
not to say that more valuable a more interesting
book to those who desire geographical, Topographic
cal botanical geological, or Genealogical knowledge
Off belt of country of great historic well of
present interest has never been published by Con-
gresB No man be said to possess proper knoLrl
edge of the remarkable country lying along the 35th
parallel of north latitude until he has studied the
scientific results obtained by this learned and most
Industrious engineer. Along that surveyed line is
found water and wood and soil than along any
other yet surveyed from the Mississippi to the Pacific
free from obstructing snows-the deepest found
in unusually cold winter being only etga inches
desp-the surveyed line nowhere reaching height
of seven thousand feet nowhere without water or
grass for a distance injurious to animals blessed
with fine water-courses and fertile valleys and
tied and mostfreqpented of the numerous lines of
travel which will speedily spring into existence
across this continent from East to West. Midway
between San Francisco and st. Louis lies New
Mexico, with its present population Of more than
one hundred thousand souls east Of it, on the
Canadian, lies country beter in the opinion Of the
engineer, than Kansas itself west Of Santa Fe and
halfway to the Big Colorado, may be found the
Spanish writers) of the Moquis. No other route is
80 centrally located and has such population to be
supplied or country capable of sustaining
dense populations and therefore this is likely to be
the most important Of them all.
Bat wherever the best line may be; whether il is
the one starting from both st. Louis and Memphis
and uniting into one in New Mexico, and passing
thence tu San Francisco; or whether starting from
'cksbmg or from Rock Island or even from 81.
PauI-for ultimately there will be one from each
We believe the administration WILL as it should, fur
hsh ample and complete protection, and thus cause