, 1865-03-21
Qbtfa96 Qribnne>
TUESDAY, MARCH 81 1865,
DIRECTIONS TO EMIGRaNTs.


cefnbS the best route to Montana Idaho
Oregon, etc. Not only that, but thsre il a1se
the most surprising Ignorance upon the sub
ject, even among men who have been to som,
one OF the points named for It seems to be =
bad featurc Of the human mind to settle into
| liked belief, without adequate knowledge,
Isasd to maintain that belief oil the more dog,
Enat'calIy because Of this want OF understand.
ing. Yet men are moved oy different Impul,
ees' L have seen old 1relghters who have
travelled over one route for years, and would
| Try no other, although assured by those who
we're entitled to their confidence that there
were other routes which we're far better and
have known others who were never satisfied
with any route they had Travelled, but were
| eveEmorc searching for something better, and
always thinking they had, from tho begin
ming, gone on from bad to worse. To these
men am not now addressing myself, but to
or ut least bY not more than .one route, are
| sincerely destrous Of comparing notes With
those who hare Travelled BY others.
AS to the best point Of departure from the
| Missouri river. opinions arc divergent, some
maintaining that one point IL best, another
Of this, that the most general belief, among
those who are most likely to know. Is that
Atchison is the best starring point, but that
LeaEenWolth ta the best place to purchase an
| outfit, BY which is meant teams, wagons, pro
visions. clothing, and goods necessary for the
Joseph, Nebraska City, and Omaha a1e also
good points, and do mot suppose there is
vast difference between them.
To all enigrants going from Wisconsin,
Northern and Central Illinois and Iowa, It
seems most natural to 60 ria Omaha consc-
nfrntiT NJ on1A
sections 60 t7a the North Platte, keeping the
north side of the river throughout, This Is.
unquestionab)y, the shortest route and has
some advantages which are not to be o1er.
looked. From Omaha to Fort Laramie, d dis
lance Of flT* hundred miles, there Ia nothing
to complain of-the road is as good as any
! road ever could bs, and wood, water and feed
can always be obtained By littlo care-saye
At one point about sixty miles below the fort,
where the low raDge Of sand bluffs which
there the trnveler must cross the point Of
them, will he, nil he. There teams must be
doubled, and at best it is good two days'
job to get through this sandy reach, and the
/ .'ha.dest pulling" for teams it was ever my
fate to Witness. The sand is rery light and
| soft, and animals sink into it knee deep, aud
some Of the hills are steep and long. think
| two days Of this work will do mole injury to
teams than all tho rest Of the journey. From
Ft1t Laramie to North Platte bridge, Qower
hridge} $50 miles, Is pretty bard travelling "a
great deal OF sand, and ugly crossing OF the
black Hills, besides rrouble In gcttin g water
at some points: By crossing the river ut
Laramie much better road is secured, up N
almost every account, though there Will be
two tolls 10 pay, amounting 10 ESQ for fer
| rage at Laramie and $500 toll at the bridge
for every four-ho1se tenn. This seems Ike
enormous toll, but think it cheaper TO nav
it than 10 60 UP the north side.
At the lover bridge, over the North Platte,
! new Ton1e comes into the main road known
as the " Bosman route" opened last season
By Mr.. Bosnian, Of Ohio, and going ria the
| Big Horn Mountains.
ives: ol Red Buttes, another new route come,
In, known as the *t Bsidser Route,'' or 's Brid-
| ger Cut Oh, y as it Is usually called. There is
no essential difference between these two
routes. They run very nearly parallel with
each Other, and finally come together about
two hundred and iitty miles from Virginia
City. They are impfacticabie routes Tor vary
heavy freight trains, as there arc heavy hills
to descend, whose PERCEPTIONS sides are cor
| cred with immense bou1derB, threatening pu-
utilization to everything in the shape OF a ye-
hicle. Furthermore, alter leaving the Platte
river there is distance Of eighty or ninety
miles "a weeks trayel) which wilt try man
snd beast, On account Of the absence Of good
water. The only water yet discovered is that
obtsined BY digging, and which Is found to be
strongly alkali. The first good water Is Pow
der 1aTcF. Both men aud animals suffer ter
Iib!y, upon this long stretch. Of poor water.
Then the Yellowstone and Big Horn rivers
are yer, uncomfortable streams to ford, wa
ron hi 1es haring 10 be raised foot above
the wagon beds to insure dry freight. The
| currents Of both streams are strong, the riv-
er beds tu1l Of bo1ldera. and it is found dit1i-
cult to urge many teams through than. For
these reasons should not advise freiehters
/ p RhSFnen Rrj9N a.
yet for feed, water, fuel, fish and ganc these
two routes cannot tc equaled after leaviu.
Powder river.
Passing on from where the Brldger route
comes intd the road, day ysdsive takes US to
the Sweetwater River. We see no more Of
Buttes. The Sweetwater Is a clear, beautiful
stream, but runs through sandy, half:bar-
ren valley, and the. whole country seems to
rest upon Asnbstratum OF soda, for We see It
everywhere, in ponds, rivera and lakes, and
:llkali water 50 abonnds as to proyc very fatal
to stock, requiring great care IN travelling, es-
pecially with cattle. -Four or fve days of
| good tInvcl, however, will take US out OF this
valley 10 South Pass. would say, before
going further, that many ftefghtess complain
Of the sWcetwater Valley, but We found plenty
IF iced, water and wood, though the roads
are pretty heavy and The dust, at times, nj
| most unbearablc.
From South Pass there are two roads :. the
old telegraph or Mormon road, straight on
wt6t to Fort BFidEer, and the road kno9n as
"Lander's Cut:ott," which bears away to the
north, follows along the southern base Of the
"snoWJ Range" and crosses the Bear River
Mountains. ihe first Of these roads only
would he followed hy those bound to Salt
Lake City, while e1nigrants for Oregon, Mon
tam or Idaho would gain something Ia dis.
lance by taking the Lander route and prob
ably niue -ttnths Of those un their way to the
J n hA 1An 10
not to lie e1cel1cd in regard to feed, water
and wood the streams abound in noun tain
| trout; there are no very difficult streams to
ford, except two crossings Of Green river in
very high water; and 1t is the most direct
route for Oregon. Idaho and Montana. But
the Bear River Mountains are very heavy
hills, and three days are required to ret
through them, cyen with moderately loaded
wagons, and some parts Of this mountain
road are rocky aud rough. while other parts
ale misy and full Of luts. Fer rery heavy
freight Way rs it cannot be the best road, alt
things considered.
| Leaving South Pass, aud going BY the old
telegraph rad, some advantages will be Sc
cured, and pe1haps Others lost, az there is no
one of these routes not open to objection In
some particular. But this road il good one,
fed and ,;,i wste. are p plenty and th-1e are no
OF five days travel from South Pass another
n ad leads of to the northwest, known as
sublette'e Cutoff" which is represented as
an excellent one IN all respects. It is re-
ga1ded as much better route togo than ria
Fort Bridger, us hard piece Of road is there
hy avoided, which Travellers know as the
= 'Rittrr Greek" country, stretch of eighty
miles where feed H. scarce. water bad, and the
| rrnds sandy aud heavy. By taking Subfet,e's
Cutoff you leave Fort Bridger sumo thirty
miles to the southwest, and strike the cid
read from Fort Bridser to the Bear River
settlements and Soda Springs almost due
nor Of Brldycr, and probably fifteen miles
| there are two or three days travel where the
| country is a complete desert in respect to feed
for stock, nothing green milking Its appear
| ance excepting the endless fields If saga.orush
| aud g1easewood, There is no such piece OF
read rs this to be found anywhere on the
| Lander Cutoff; and tlis is probably the rea-
Son why the Lander road is 60 popular with
is nU further trouble feed md water is abun-
dan. and good, and the rtad equal to the
stDoothest turnpike of The East: FIVE Or six
days will bring the cmigfant to Blackfoot
Creek, where the Lander road comes In, and
where The emfgrant for Oregon or Idaho
will sepa ate from the man bound to
Montana, the former keeping On west, and
RIVER, which he will reach in two days at q
poln, known as Harry Richards Ferry:
There is here another desert Of scyenty-fVe
| miles, or ntatly that, altogether, though the
! teed On Snake River itself Is good, and BY
| .at'hH q hay or tHo to rest up here, stock
| VII &c IN good shape 10 encounter tbs fifty
mnes OF barren, sandy country which you
mnst cross after leaving the river, ten miles
above The Terry. Yet il Ia not in absolute
desert eltber, Tor about twenty-five miles from
the river is hamas Creek, which was not en-
| tirely dry LAST season, the water standing in