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

APRIL 2
They have nss bsea ssriessiy asEoyed b
ssnsu, and, althongh ,be valleys are from
ave to six Thousand feet shove the Sea, ths
telinase u comparatively mild. The Aseks
lMouafasw lNArs of tho l&sh ut. pubiishsd
q beaver CITY, says :. We AAss sos had
eight inches Of snov this winter, and gras,
now begins 70 grow, and the slopes lool
green" But railroad companies nov over
come snow obsssucsioss by the aid Of board
fences 70 cheek drifrs, and in the nss. Of ihs
snow plow, to clear the track. Snow u n
longer railroad obstruction wUpehy oi
much considerations anywhere, and 10 nd
. worse in the arid regions Of the Rocky
Mountains than in che EasterD Siates Of tht
same latitude.
So much for ths route to Salt Lake, to
the Mormon sestlement, where ws hare Z
popslation Of at least forty shonsand. and
an army of Two or three thousand, With
which we must have'cons.ant communica-
tion. From Salt Lake City TO the Nevada
mountains. . section Of about six hundred
miles Ne have the valleys Of the Salt LAse
and Humbolds river, level or easily graded
fplains. But the line 10 interrupted BY the
ilumboldt mountains, which, however, arc
not difficult to pass. Scarcity Of timber il
the principal difficulty sneosnterea. Cedar
10 faupd in the Hunboldt mouataiss,t bei
il plae-s ties may have to be transported
from FIFTY TO sixty miles. The description
Of this section, comprising the Mormon set-
tleuent, is too well.kpownto to require much
consideration. its particular features ars
stated in the report Of Lieutenant Beck
with's volume, pages GO to 20 Explora-
tions @@#
Col. Simpson. of the United States topo,
graphical engineers, has recently opened .
shorter route, considerably south of the
Humboldt, which is now travelled BY the
emigration, and WIS followed, 10 the stsge
coaches, by Horace Greedy ESQ.,, who con.
siders it practicable for railroad. This
route 10 supplied With timber and water,
and for these reasons, may be found pre-
ferable to the Humboldt valley but no
survey has established the practicability Of
this line for araiirodd, and your committee,
therefore retain the projection and distances,
as prescribed BY Lieut.. Beckwith, on tho
level plane Of the humboldt river. By
either the Simpson route or the Humboldt
valley, We arrive at the new silver mines Of
Nevada Territory, where agriculture and
mining are building up a new Territory
Thi. settlement 10 at the base Of the most
precipitats and difficult mountain range, the
Sierra Nevada. Carson river flows down
the eastern slope, and sinks in tho plane
with the Humboldt river. Beyond tha sum.
init Of this Nevada mountain, Sacramento
river flows down its western slope, and pas.
ing Sacramento city, the capital OF Califor-
MIA, enters the Pacific at San Francisco
With silver on one side aud gold on the
other, the Sierra Nevada mountain is now,
summer and winter, traversed by thousands,
and the necessity Of railroad 10, therefore,
greatest where, the difficulties are most for
midable. Many new routes have been
proposed, but your committee will first
present that which was surveyed and re-
ported by the Governmental employees.
la passing the mountain, you have to
rise twelve hundred feet and descend twen-
ty- -four hundred feet. The rise is easy and
& edecent is distributed over sixty. seven
miles. On the summit of this mountain
there is level plane. some thirty or forty
miles in width. After what We have seen
in passing the Allegheny Mountains, there
can be no doubt of the practibility OF pass.
ing this mountain, through the Madeln,
Mobiles, or the Carson River Pass. Rather
than go great distance out Of the line to
avoid such q mountain, We would ADOPT the
Improved inclined planes, which some in.
sist are now tho cheapest way to overcome
elevations or we may adopt tho zig gag
or I bOyedu construction, which has occa-
sionaliy been successfully used on the Bal.
timore und Ohio Railroad. 5.-5
But there 10 no need Of such 40 expedient.
The surveys of Capt. Beekwit! show the
practicability of passing the Nevada Noun
tains by using grades that have been sue
cessfully tested. The most formidable
obstacle in the route which he seems to pre-.
fer, is two canons, through which the
Sacramento runs, and through which it is
proposed to carry the railroad.
As this is the great obstacle, We give his
description, and ask railroad men to con.
slider it for themselves. After describing
the easy ascent from the east to the broad,
dat, timbered summit Of the Nevada and
after proceeding with no serious difficulties,
TO the declining plain, from whence he could
overlook tho vast valley of the Sacramento,
which leads to the Pacific Ocean, he thus
speaks Of the canon of the Saeramen.
to !"
'sThis canon 10 formidable obstacle TO
overcome. its entire length 10 thirteen
and seventy. four hundredths miles, sur
rounded by an open valley OF eimilar q.
tent, which is followed by another canon
eight and ninety Eve hundredths miles Of
length, the same character as the first. The
river as it enters the first ca on, 10 from thir.
ty to forty feet wide, flowing with n rapid
current over bed Of rocks; and it 10
sixty feet wide as il enters the second can
on, just below the junction Of Fall River,
and flows over a similar bed with an
eaq ally swift current. gsz.
"At their heads, these canons are vertical
tracbytic rocks eighty feet high, with large
masses Of fallen rocks accumulated at the
bases of the walls. The frst is cut ttreugh
a high plain six miles: the plain then rises
some what, and 10 surmounted by high slop-
ing ridges rising FIVE or six hundred feet
above it, and the canon becomes much
broader, and issi walls more elevated for
two milee, rhpAit makes largo bend to
the north; b1}oH this. the walls gradually
decrease, and ii two miles the canon opens
to the width Of halt y mile, which il pre-
serves for three miles TO- tho succeeding
valley. The highest portions Of the walls
rise two hundred feet above the stream,
with an accumulation Of fallen rocks ex-
teuding half way to the top. For eight
miles the course OF the canon 10 direct; il
then makes long bend to the north, and 's
followed by two or three short cures, bot
with generally direct courss. lts open
part i. timbered, and its v.hs lsss abrupt;
and on the right bsek Of the stream, the
mountains, followed by the river, extended
con.ida,ably in the plain Of Free river. The
Nest favorable line for the passage Of .
railway leads along the plain on the north
side of the river, and descsnds the aides Of
hills which surmount it, and continues on
the side Of the mountain until is enters the
plain of Fall river. The second canon is
less formidable thsn the 6rst, because i 10
of less extent. It. viii be perceived the
rire. IS small-from twenty TO sixty feet
wide. The canon 10 straight, or has long
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