Mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado Co., Cal.) 1854-1860, 1859-12-10
@Ountair democrat.
For the Democrat.
The Placerville Route to Carson Val
ley-Rival Routes.


MESsRs. EDrToRs have notccd--since III
recent discoveries in Carson Valley-a mum
Der Of articles in the newspapers of the coun
ties Of Nevada, Sierra, Butte, Yuba, &C., dc
tracing from the mertsofthe Paccrville route
and very ignorantly making unfavOrable com
parsons, entirely misreprcscnting The rout,
just named, as to its facilities for tranSporta
tion, length, snow line and its centrality. il
reference to the great commercial marts of the
State Sacramento and San Francisco. In
connection with the above wish to present
"a few facts which cannot be successfully con.
trovcrtcd, without parties doing so deliberate.
iy pcrverting facts.
First as to centrally. Placcrvillc is nine
miles North Of an East parallel from Sacra.
incnto 70 Ncnoa; Genoa is II miles North OF
m East line from Placervillc while Virginia
City is slightly Northeast from Genoa, Gold
aaron being ! l miles North Of nm Fast paral-
lei from Genoa and in the inmcdete vicinity
" Virginia City. The latter place is, there.
fore, 81 miles North Of an East parallel Of lat.
ttudc from Sacramento City.
These facts have been asctrtained in the
most accurate manner, by the complete Scicn
lii: surveys Of Maj. Ebctts, anil assistant of
'hc Typographical Engineers, Geo, II. Cod
,ard. ESQ, raa- eminent civil Engineer, during
the years 1854 30 and SO; and this year
ns5D By Capt. Simpson, Of the Topograph
ica Engineers, whose corps was stationed in
the Valley during the summer. Tic proof is
in their reports and dcIics contradiction.
Viii any sane man, after examining any
correct map Of this State and the Territory re-
fcrrcl to, have the assurance to contend, ia
King into consideration the dc;our made 10y
the relative geographical positions from d.
rect line, by refer ing to localities Of wouIdbc
Tival.routcs to this of PlaccrNi.lc that any
single one is as short in distance: Certainly
not.
Several articles in the Nevada .NWion"' u:
the 81 inst, make so many ridiculnu>ly false
ae>rr.i,us that cannot, in Justice to our route,
refrain from controvtriing them. The editor
either has had his vcTdancy imposed upon by
drsi :ning men, or else lac is thoroughly indif
trent to a correct aud truthful statement OF
facts. lie asserts that the distance from Sac
Iainchto rm Placcrvilie 10 Virginia City l91
miles. The true distance, rs a>cc,taiucd by
6t'"di measurement. by di>intcrc>trd parties,
under direction Of Hon. Sherman bay, is a.
f,luwS:
From Sacramento Il" Pia"ervilIc. ........ 81 miles
Phc-r,ill. ,n Lake VALLEY station. -
Lake Valley Station tn Grn"a, 80. 81
- Gen"a 10 Carson Ci;v. ............ l"'t"
Carson CEy 10 Virgin Ci:y, ..... IA.
lbId', .........'. A"p HlcS
Which is / miles shorter than is represented.
This statement can Lc confirmed Nv rcfcrcnc,
T. pages LIS aEd 1870 "f the Report "fthc Sur
v,yor General Of this State for lNii, and tn,
tia"racy e rctuln route of Capt. II. simpson.
Tn,":rapiicai Beginner, from GrnoA in Tar.
son Valley, "a" present year, as published il
the .iitt of>cit 2"th, containing the proceed
It-> "f The Ealioa' Convection.
According t" the .E";i"naIs own par;ia
statement, the Placcrvle route is nine mil,s
shorter tan tht Eureka rputc ri' Nevada,
which it 80 Highly cXt"l>; aid even then l.
las 10 resort t. misrepresentation. The dis
tancc riycn 10y tie NI:.o.a' on the Eurc~,
route, from S.c-a,nr'to yit Nevada to Nir
Iinia City, is l:iI miles, w!irh can easily be
proved Incorrect. From Sacramento to Ncva.
ia by TIC shortest route, called the old Tcle'
T. -. = al, ~, all M,
are Of the opinion, and hesitate not To :" state,
that the ROAD from Folsom is comparatively
longer All the residents who have Travelled
from Wa>hoc to Nevada join in the assertion,
that oue hundred miles would not cover tn
distance. At Wa>hoc you arc Still 20 miles
from Virginia City rid Carson City, the onl,
way by which freight can be transported from
Nevada.
The shortest distance the route could be
figured giving in the last % miles would b,
ljj miles while the real distance cannot fall
short Of iS5 miles, instead Of l55 niles.
The MarySvilc route is equally incorrectly
given in the distance mentioned, whether IL
norantly or dcSignc,lly, leave to conjecture
it b, ing quite impracticable to reach the points
named in less thnn o35 miles, l. {. from Sac
ramcnto ria Marysvillc, San Juan. Forest City
md Jackson's Ranch to Virginia City.
As to facilities for transporting goods Of al
description. have only to say that it can be
proven by hundreds Of the most intelligent and
reliable transfers, that they haul with four OF
six mules as much freight from PacCryilc tC
Genoa, Carson City and Virginia City, as they
do from Sacramento to Placcrvillc. Thos,
who discrcdit this statement or the tcamStcr:
engaged in hauling, can be convinced Of it!
correctness by paying us visit That ther'
have passed over this route 80 men to ont
over all the other routes in the State combined
and ten teams to one, the present fall, have
every reason to believe. Our route has beef
blocked with teams, stages, expresses and foo
passengers; while, with unusual hotel accom-
modations, we could scarcely accommodate
the trade.
All the heavy dealers wend their way direct
ly to Sacramento or San Francisco to max
their purchases. Marysville and Stockto
merchants having smaller stocks, and bein
out Of direct line Of communication, no pru
dent merchant Of Nevada Territory ever dream
Of making those cities their permanent pu,