Dallas herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1849-1873, 1858-11-17

The Overland Mail Route, Report 70 the
Postm ster.General by Mr. Bailey. speSSl
Agent OF the DEPARTMENT 80 CO.

POstm sier:General BY Mr., Bailey speSi6I
' - WNmINGToS, Oct, Is, 1858.
SIN I'll have the honor to submit herewith
in conformity to the instructions issued from
your department on the 2Sth Of June last, the
result OF my observations while passing over
the mai! routes between New York and San
Francisco, via Aspinwall and Panama, aud be-
tween San Francisco and the Mississippi river,
via Fort Yuma and Franklin, (El Paso,)
left New York on the 9th OF July, in the
Moses Taylor, and arrived at Aspinwnll on the
morning Of the 18th. crossed the isthmus
the same day, and left Panama on the 18th in
the Sonora We touched at Acapulco on the
2lst, and again at Manznnilla, and arrived NJ
San Francisco on the morning OF the 2SIh,
making the trip IN about % days.
returned by the overland route, taking pas.
sage in the first stage sent across from the Pa.
cifc TO the Mississippi, via Fort Yuma and
Franklin under the Butterfcld contract
have no suggestions TO offer in regard to
the mail service on the first of these routes.-
Il is performed with great regularity, and, so
far as my observation extended, the arrange.
mcnts for the sote.keeping of the mails are all
that could he desired.
The establishment Of regular and pcrma-
nent line of communication. overland, between
the Atlantic States and California, being mat
ter of general interest, some desire may nntu-
rally be felt TO know how far the enterprise re.
Gently inaugurated under the auspices of your
department has succeed. | am induced there
fore, to reproduce, somewhat in detail, the
notes took while accompanying the hrst ma'I
from the Pacific under the contract with the
Overland Mail Company.
The stage, with the mails, started from the
Plaza at San Francisco, at precisely ten nm
utes past midnight, of the l4th nltr aud ar.
rived at Upton, the present terminus on the
Pacific railroads at five minutes past nine o'clock
on the morning of the 9th inst. Thence the
mails were ira ansported by the Pacific railroad
to st. Louis, where they arrived the same day
at forty-fve minutes past eight o'clock, p. M
The entire distance between these two termin
of the route was thus accomplished in twenty
four days twenty hours and thirty-ive minutes
apparent time. From this there should be de-
ducted two hours and nine minutes for the dIi'
ference of time between San Francisco and St.
Louis, leaving twenty-four days eighteen hours
and twaniv.siy minutes as the time acr"'|v
.5u.u.ni on the trip.
The service, tben, has ueeo n,r.1u.cI with
In the contract time, and MS uis l"aflfer mp
s. as auen.,e., wn,a many dfiIru'IlrS and em.
J1rrasemo1s, which eHgh successive "Trip "lIl
gradually rproogr. thara is uo reason TO upprc
bend that loagn. r"riod will b. ,cqHIed ln tl-
m-s' 3o rnr contrary ! tre' sa'c &or2s'-
mg ta. opinion that continued c2or.0a oI
'ho energy aul perseverance, which nave this
m cham,t"rzad The operation OF ,nc Over
land Mail Company, viii enable .aa coorac-
tyrs to reduce the time to twenty days.
Herewith is enclosed memorandum (mark-
ed Az of the stations on tie route, showing the
distances between them, and the time made on
each division. This was compiled with great
care, chiefly from data obtained on the road,
and, although it doubtless contains some errors,
may be regarded sapproXimately y correct.
1t will be seen that the aggregate of these
distances greatly exceed that specified in the
contract with the Overland Mail Company
This is accounted for by the fact that the dou-
Bile necessity of keeping within reach of wa
ter, aad beyond the usual range of hostile
tribes of Indians has compelled the company
to follow on the first, second, fourth and fifth
divisions, a route varying materially from that
contemplated in The contract.
The first of these divergences occurs in CAL
Torna. Crossing the. Sierra, not at the Tejon
Pass, but through the Canada de las Twas,
twenty-five miles to the southwest, the road
skirts the edge of the desert, crosses the San
Francisquito Canon, and thence runs by the
San Fernando Pass to Los Angeles. Thence
the road runs southeast, crossing the mountain
at Warmers Pass, and connects at Carrizo creek
with the old San Diego trail, which it follows
to Fort Yuma. The route specified in the
contract runs by San Benardino, and Is shorter
by about eighty miles, but, as the attempts
heretofore made TO find wafer on it have prov
ed unsuccessful, the present route was necessa-
rily adopted. 1t was reported at Los Angeles
on the 18th ult., that an exploring expedition
which had been fitted out BY the citizens of
San Bernardino had succeeded in finding n
good road with an adequate supply of water
on the east side of the San Jacnto range
Whether this prove to be the case or not, !
would respectfully suggest that small amount
of money judicously expended in making a
line of water stations from Vallecio to the Col
orado. Apart from the obvious advantage OF
shortening the mail-route over the Colorado
desert, there are other considerations to justify
ain expenditure for this purpose. This is the
route by which southern emigration seeks the
Pacific, and the abandoned wagons. the car
casses, and the whitening bones by the road
side, too painfully attest the suAerings hereto
fore entailed upon the emgrants by the search
ty of water.
The most material variance from the con.
tract route occurs in Texas An inspection
of the accompanying map ofthe route (marked
By will show that a saving of nearly one hun
dred miles might be made by running directly
from Pope's camp, on the Pecos, to Fort Bel.
khan. along the route followed BY Lieut.. Gar.