The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1860-04-28

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8. 1860. - :. '
psovsneass hy nissss sasrsys viii spiti
lessl. Thsrs q 90 abundance Of good ston,
| for bridses and boildine purposes, q shor,
firervals, upon oil parts 81 tAs lines sWassl
4 i also fouud il abundance for rsiissaa psr-
poses, tAsoughout thsss portions of he 81.
ezra Nsyada, Wasaieh and Rocky Mountain,
explored. and also at . few miiss Intervals,
tia the basin, where Is usualiy seeoss u
sprises as the hases Of abe meussaiaes aAd
in suAll ssresns deseepding from the higher
psaks and ridges to the adjacent piaiDs.
And . simple refsrencs to the map Of ths
route viii exhibit % important feature u
the faes that in iss renarkabls direcs cosrsa
for IL great length from the Missouri, vssl
to tho Pacific, It follows the ascending and
descending valleys Of permanent rivers and
their sributaries, fer moro than two-thardl
Of ito entire length, and thai water 10 ahsa-
| dAnt ON al the intermediate spans, adordins
the means Of irrigation 10 large extent,
wherever the lands are snitahie for Il; and
that they will doabslsss Be- found 50, where
ever the sags plains are l,xsriAnt, may be
| inferred from the rich aromatic oder and
! resinous properties Of that plant, and from
The exceedins!y nutritious character Of the
grass scattered through IL. And is u well-
known factahss the Moruons produce coma
| sf tkeir finest crops fran reclaimed plains.
By reference 10 the map ana accdmpAny.
! ing table Of latitudes, il will be seen that
Al ken hA. a. fsS
q remarkably straight line, dsvia,ing west
from Fort Bridgsr only At the Timpane.as
canon, il that line be preferred tothe We.
Der, and on the northern pertioa Of the
Sacramento River. szs ~
The Secretary Of War, Hon. Jefferson
Davis, in his summary report Of 1855, al
though he favors the Southern route, thus
speaks Of this Central route, after he had
reviewed the surveys concluded BY Lieut..
Becky with:
sAlthough the route passes over elevated
regions, the sum OF asccnts and descents 10
the next least after that Of the seventeenth
parallel, which 10 to be attributed TO the
table land character Of the mountain dis.
sricts.
"It partakes Of the character Of the route
near the forty seventh parallel, in the long
and severe winters on the plain east Of the
Rocky Mountains, and westward to the
Great Basin.
"The cost, a. estimated in the Office, from
Council Bluffs to Bsnicia, . distance Of
2,03l miles, 10 $ll6 .095, ,0O6.
s.The ta,istics Of the route will be found
in the table appended.
"The survey of the western portion OF
this route, by Lieut.. Beckwith, has rssulted
in the discovery of more direct and prac-
ticabls route than vac believed to exist
from Great Salt Lake to the valley OF the
Sacramento. Since his report Was made, a
brief communication from Brevel Lieutenant
Colonel Steptoe, commanding the troops IN
Utah, has announced the discovery OF still
more direct route from Great Salt Luke to
San Francisco. The new portion Of this
route passes to the south Of Humboldt, an
Mnry's river, and, entirely avoiding the
difficulties experienced by travellers along
that stream, proceeds to the valley of Car
son river, being well supplied with water
and grass. From Carson river it passes the
Sierra Nevada, by the passes ut the head Of
tat river, and descends to the valley Of the
Sacramento, being practicabls through TOR
wagons. f. @e-s a
''In the absence Of instrumental surveys,
affording data for the construction Of pro.
files. no opinion can be formed TO the
practicabilIty Of this route for railroad.
Should it be found practicable, however, it
will lessen the length of the route Of the for
ty.frst parallel, and st,ll further diminish it's
difficulties, already known to be less than
any other route, except that Of the forty
second parallel"
The route here mentioned south Of the
Humboldt! ,!corresponds mainly with that to
which We referred a. +" "Simpson's route"
1t is the route now travelled, and may, as
the Hon. Secretary says, be "dorted for the
railroad, thereby still further diminishing
the length Of the Central route.
Although your committee would avoid a
comparison Of routes in regard to the topo-
graphical fsatures Of each, they would not
have it inferred that they regard the ohsta.
cles on this Central route as any more for.
m,dable than those found on each Of the
other routes. All The survess have been
made with barometrical observations to
ascertain heights, and stations have been
located from ten to twenty miles apart.
These observations are Sufficient to deter
mine the general features Of the country,
and furnish sufficient information for pre-
tical men to judge Of the practicab'lity Of
the routes. Without more minute surveys,
comparative grades, curves, and cost can
not be determined with such accuracy as to
render comparisons safe, and your commit
tee have. therefore, only spoken Of compar-
alive length and position which are based
upon more satisfactory data.
a COST OF CONSTRUCTION.
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