The Placer herald., 1866-11-17
The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad.

AT the last session OF Congress, agrant was
made Of over "a, 900 acres TO the mile, to aid
in building Railroad and telegraph line
from Missouri and Arkansas to the Pacific
Ocean. Under this act the Board of Com
missIoners recently met in the city of ST. Lou
is, aud after transacting their business, the
company was fully organized by the election
of Gen. J G. Fremont, as President; Dan
eI r. Garrison of Missouri, Wire President;
Cbas H. Rowland, Secretary; James p. Rob.
nson, Treasurer. Cen Fremont on taking
the chair remarked;
GENTLEMEN: Before taking the chair |
wish to say few words; and first OF all | wish
to make you my very sincere thanks for the
the hcnor you have done me in naming ne
your President. The duties | shall to fulfil
will be very congeuiaI to me. Although in
this early stage of our proceedings the duties
of your Board and its officers are simply those
IF organizing the means of building our Pa
citic railway, they are all of the same general
nature and 90 to the same end They may
therefore enable me to give some useful point
to the labor Of many years, undertaken With
the same object, and thank you sincerely
for giving me the opportunity to do SO.
1t becomes now our first duty to ask frcm
the country at large subscriptions to our cap.
ita stock, and it will be therefore necessary
to make the proposed Atlantic and Pacific
railway well known to the public This be-
ing, to day, our initial point, it will, | think,
be suitable to present concisely the character
of our enterprise, and to set out the elements
of success upon which we yely.
BY recent act of Congress, the line of the
road is laid in Southwestern Missouri and the
the valley of the Canadian, and generally
along the thirty fifth parallel to the head Of
navigation on the Colorado, and thence to
The Pacific coast. 10 aid in its construction
the act grants OVER $4,000 acres of land to
the mile, making for the entire route about
forty six millions of acres. Its really central
position makes the line national We be-
Iieve that it will prove to be the shortest, and
it certainly presents fewer natural obstacles
and is the most practicable Of any among all
the proposed routes to the Pacific. From
Springfield to San Francisco its estimated
length is 800 miles, making for the distance
from St. Louis about 1000, and from New
York about 5000 miles to San Francisco
From New York, by way of Memphis, to Saa
Froncisco, the distance is $500, making a
difference Of 5 90 miles in favor Of this route
1t is singulary directaud easy Of construction
lying for the most part in the valleys Of
streams. 1t is not obstructed by mountain
chains other than the low ranges bordering
the valley of be Rio del Norte. Some 400
miles west Of St. Louis, it crosses the Arkan
sas waters where they are still navgable, Civ
ing again an opening TO the Mississippi river
1t passes through the heart Of New Mexico al
Albuquerque, securing to itself valuable way
traffic, and it affords The site for an important
city at the head of navigation on the Coora-
do river, where the Great Basin is opened to
the Gulf coast and the ocean. 1t enters CAL
ifornia without crossing mountain and with
out going over snow at any season, passing
around what was called in the familiar Ian
guage Of trapper days the Point of the Noun-