New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1860-03-07
VOLUME xiii.
Neh 0rlsans 1ailp Crescent.
Atlnntlc and PACIFIC RaIIroad.
WEDNESDAY MORNING, MARCH I, 1860.

Il Atlantic and Pacific Railroad.
We take pleasure in laying before our reader
the interesting correspondence to be found below
The statements Of DR.. Graham are entitled to th
highest credit He is well known in the soutl
and West, and esteemed for his scientific attain
ments and practical good sense. He has Travelled
extensively in Mexico and on the Pacific coast
and though from his youthful appearance it woult
hardly be believed, yet it ia not less true than hon
orable, that he was a gallant officer in the U. S
army in the Second War of Independence, which
from 1872 to 1915, yndicated the rights and honor
and developed the resources OF our beloved coun
try:
orrles OF AeEscr or ArL.srlc asn pAGFia r. r Co.
Dear Sr--Having heard you speak Of having
| accompanied Col. Gray, as an amateur, in thu
survey made by him, some years since, for tht
Southern Pacific Railroad Company, and deeminf
yonr recollectons Of that interesting tour Of grea
public interest at this juneture, you will confer
favor upon me and the friends Of the road gener
ally by giving me, in form for publication an &C
count. Of your observations and recollections O.
the trip.
c. en4n.n,MD. Assas s' T. heEkfRSass I +. r. (. l..
New Orleans March s. 1850
H. s. FULKggsos, ESQ. Dear Sa'-In reply
| to your letter of yesterday. ] beg leave to
state, that having been with Colonel Gray
| upon the original survey Of the Atlantic and
Pacific Railroad, and knowing, as do its vast re-
sources in lands and minerals, and its ultimate
| great importance to the South, ! am much aston
ished to see the Indifference evinced by the pro-
| perty-holders and business men OF New Orleans to
| this momentous enterprise-the greatest ever I'M
dertaken in the United States, both in Its national
and individual results. For at least eight hundred
miles Of this route, no portion of the globe, for the
n so bna an wa ad hat ot
Texas affords ample inducements for the execution
| of the work, shall only speak Of the more nm
| known western portion of the route.
Richer lands and more lovely sites for villages
| and cities were never seen than may be found
along the gently waving lawns and wide spread
slopes Of the Colorado, even to its very head,
where the great blue spring boils up from Its nn-
known depths and where the lost or lone mountain
rears its lofty peak from fertile and level plain.
This river is not like the Hudson, bound by rocky
and barren shores, but runs like the Lower Missis-
| sippi, through rich and level lands that may be
cultivated up to the very waters edge. Nor il the
continuous valley narrowed by sterile hills, like
the little and fenced-in valley, Of South Alabama,
that give wealth and character to that State but it
spreads out and on, and on, beyond the limits Of
| the lost mountain, that stands like an immense
stack in the midst of rich meadow, an ascent of
some two hundred feet gains the summit nights Of
table land thatextends on to the sand hills, being
the beginning of what is called Llano Estacado,
Staked Plains-the pons dstaaoi1ms Of the unn-
formed and skepticaI opposers Of the road. This
immense desert, SO falsely called, is but forty
miles across; nor is it all barren waste, for we
found patches of grass and good grazing in places
Set it down. however, as some will falsely have It,
as total loss, and it takes but forty miles from
eight hundred of rich lands within the limits OF
Texas alone. These sand hills are one of the won
ders of the world and well worth visit from the
States to witness their marvellous beauty. They
are seen in the distance like the gttering domes Of
some great city, towering high and resting softly
upon the bosom Of the clear blue sky that seems
| nj IN a n m
teal Illusion from the refraeted rays of light these
hills OF sand as pure and stainless as pulyerized
glass, loom up greatly beyond their real hight.
They stretch as far as the eye can reach from
North to South, and are but about five miles
across and what is remarkable, there are, at the
dryer seasons of the year, thousands of little lakes
or pools OF pure and cool water resting at the
base of these hilloeks, showing very plainly that
this sandy region is based upon an impervious
clay, and that water may be had by digging but
short distance through the sand. From the Pecos
river where the sand district ends to FL Paso the
grade is not dificult-the soil good and the scenery
sublime-the sun rising and setting on the green
and waving ocean of grass upon the South, while
the Jagged peaks and the sky-wandering ranges of
the Rocky Mountains are viewed in the distance to
the North.
At Ell Paso the thrift of vegetation Is remarkable,
the onions, for which that locality is celebrated,
comparing in size with our tarnips in this country,
while her wines are well known throughout tile
United States to be superior to any produced in IT.
Beyond FL Paso, the road runs through country
rich in the precious metals, and by no means def
cient in soil. Nor is Texas itself in want of mine
raj mterest-the beds of plaster of Paris being
ne3haustible, while the enerusted salt upon the
lakes near FL Paso, from which Mexico is furnished
with her salt, may become valuable. A dark and
beautifully gafegatea marble, in smooth slabs from
two to four inches thick ID found near the line of
the road, and sulphur is said to be abundant in the
same vicinity.
But we will return to the Great Southern depot,
and see whether the road, if only carried through
IN ,t1I SfX,,t
of New Orleans. All the goods that supply Ell
Paso and the Northern cities and states of Mexico
are landed in some Of the ports Of Texas and then
taken in wagons through San Antonio and to
Ell Paso, thence to be conveyed to the various
parts of Mexico. ] not long since travelled from
FL Paso to the city of chihuahua with train of
tWenty-three wagons, six mules in each, all heavily
loaded with goods: and from chihuahua | also
went with other trains on to the city of Durango,
making distance from the ports Of Texas of near
two thousand miles. From Durango to Mazatlan,
on the Pacific, no wheeled vehicle ever did, or
ever can possibly pass, there being but a single
mule track of some three hundred miles, through
the widest and most chaotic region on earth, the
road being SO narrow in places that the mules feet
have worn deep pits in the solid rock rendering it
difficult for these faithful creatures to keep their
balance, and when precipitated, as they often are
am sure that the breath must quit the body
before it is crushed to atoms in the dark and dis
mai depths beneath. So it will be seen that no
supplies for this vast country can be procured from
the Pacific side, while the road from Durango to
Ei Paso runs through the most level, rich and
beautiful country ever beheld, not q mountain to
be crossed in the whole extent of near nine hun
dred miles; the mountains being detached and
standing like stacks upon level meadow afford
passes in every direction. And, by the by, this
is the character Of the whole country between
Guyamas, on the Gulf of California, to gap in the
Rocky Mountains, some eighty miles of I'll Paso,
from which gap to El Paso the country is we'll
known to be almost level. These facts mention
because branch road to Guyamas has been sug-
gested. The whole country from Ell Pase to
Durango abounds in rich silver and copper mines,
many of which, notwithstanding the distracted
condition of the country, are now in operation
and Humboldt records the fact in 1902, that the
expectation of silver from the cities of chihuahua
and Durango was greater during those quiet days
than was sent from any other part of the known
world. And now, I simply ask the question,
whether if New Orleans had her road through
only to Ell Paso, she might not expect a rich re.
turn Of silver for her goods. True, some may saw
may not the ports of Texas come into competition
in this great market; which, if admitted, only adds
interest to the road-for, should there be branch
road to every port in Texas, they will be feeders
to the great trunk, and consequently profitable to
the owners.
Having gazed with delight upon the novel
scenery upon this route am well assured that
when the road shall be finished, hunting parties
and pleasure excursions will be as common to CAL
ifornia and other parts upon the way as they now
are to the Northwest and to the Eastern seaboard
But let us look at the great undertaking in ma
tiona point of view. Suppose a war with anv of
fhR fIn10