The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1860-03-19

Wy 70 prevent 1t compromising Itself reckleoGly
On this measure. Where tho justice of the cass
s 30 patent, and where it is enforced by -
general opinion Of the press and public, tAsy
will hardly run the risk Of mourning the aoes-
sation Of having been bought up Wholesale by
the money Of tho monopoists.
Explorations In che Great west-xne
Northern Pacific Rauway Route s~a
the Lander Wagon Road.
We have received from ono of our CORES
pondents ON the Pacific coast copy of letter
from Lieutenant Mullan, Of the army, haviag
In charge the explorations for the extreme
northern Pacific Railroad route along the forty
! ninth parallel, the material points Of which 70
have pnblished elsewhere. The exploraieas
of Lieutenant MullAn will be found interesting.
Pursuant to instructions from the War De-
partment, the expedition left the States
in April last, reached Oregon in Msy, Or
ganized competent corps of operatives, 10.
and repaired to For. Walla- Walla, Washington
Territory, where, a more thorough formation Il
the party being made, and the military escort
joining the expedition, they left for the Rocky
Mountains, and have now been absent nine
months, most of the time being taken up N
bridging streams, constructing boats, grading,
telling timber, excavating mountain slopes,
&c. The general direction after leaving Wallis
Walla was In q line northward across tie
Snake river, thence along the valley of the Pa
louise, thence to To St. Joseph's river to ths
Occur d'Alene Mission" reaching the latter
point in the month of August This mission is
ct the entrance of one Of the Rocky Mountain
passes, and stands as a st. Bernard to the Alps.
where the patient and toiling Jesuit has raised
the standard of Christianity among the Indians,
and where, amid snow and colds, and dreary,
frownlng mountains, the "children of the
forest" are taught the praises Of great and
good Creator. The expedition, taking up thsir
march from this place, worked through dense
forests and over rivers for sixty miles, bridging
streams, and making roads. This work Of TON
was continued till December last, whom the
snow and cold necessitated Lieutenant Mullaa
to suspend operations on theroute; and, halting
in mountain gorge, he set his men at work
erecting log cabins, in which they are nowpaA-
ing the inclement season and awaiting tAs
opening Of genial spring, when their intention
Is to move eastward towards the Missouri river.
It is stated that there is now only link Of six
hundred miles of land travel from the head Of
navigation on the Missouri to the Columbia By
this route, and over this section practicable
military and emigrsnt road ID now being Gen.
structed.
We make particular note Of Lieutenant Mnl-
ian's expedition, however, merely on accoun9
Of the geographical and typographical infer
nation it contains There have been many
expeditions over the vast plains and grand
mountain passes Of the West, but we are prae-
tically no nearer to Pacific railway than We
were when old Bullion began to agitate the
question in the Senate. The expeditions, from
the time Of the gallant and intrepid Lewis and
Clarke down to the present time, have been,
nevertheless, of immense service to the country
in opening up the great region west Of the Mis-
sissippi. The country has done the preliminary
work carefully and paid for it literally. The re-
suits of the lshors Of Fremont, Carson, BeaII,
Bonneville, Cooke and others have enlightened
us materially, and all the officers engaged in
them deserve well Of their count16men. Dir
tinct from this view is another with which,
of course, the army has nothing to do It b,
however, important. II is the financial aspect
Of the matter. We hear of hundreds Of millions
of dollars spoken of as lightly as people gene
rally reckon sixpences or shillings Where
this money is to come from might be-
serious question were it not for the prospect
that the road, if it is built, will be constructed,
like all great works of the kind, by private en-
terprise, before government gets ready to act.
Meanwhile, the cost Of the official expeditions
would make pretty figure in the expense Of
the road. There is q little item of nine hum
dred thousand dollars for the publication Of
eleven volumes Of reports on this subject,
wi6chpay be taken as a specimen brick Of the
whole edifce. At this rate the road would
swallow up the income of the nation before its
preliminary surveys have been completed.
We have also received from Washington An
abstract Of the report made to the Interior De-
partment by Mr.. F. W. Lander, relative to tAs
wagon road for Californian emigrants.
The instructions from the Interior Depart
partment, Of March rs, 1859, directed Mr.. Lam
der to proceed to the frontier, thence to the
South Pass of the Rocky Mountains, to go over
the road opened last year, make such improve
ment upon it as might be necessary; thereafter
to proceed to Honey Lake Valley by the Hum
boldt river route, for the purpose of obtaining
a continuous survey over the whole road and
further information of route said to exist
north of that river.
The disbursement Of the sum Of five thea-
sand dollars was placed under his direction
for the purpose of making peaceful arrange
ments with the Indian tribes, and to report to
the Indian Commissioner an abstract Of which