The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-08-25
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD.
Inter AdvIcer from the e Exploring Party.

CAMP No. IS, ON JoCKo RIVER, Montana
Territory, Aug. 8, 1S69-Lat. 1920 Long. 114'10
(about).-Messrs. Jay Cooke e. Co., Philadel-
pha.-Gentlemen-We are now about 4S6 miles,
by our train, from Walla Walla, including about
thirty miles along Lake Pend d'Oreille on
which ourselves and animals were conveyed on
the steamer Mary Moody, which was generously
placed ut the service of the party by the Oregon
Steam Navigation Company, through Mr.. Aims
WORTH its liberal President.
My last letter to your firm was written ut
Walla Walla, July Is. On the Goth we left there,
and we have since advanced at an average rate
of twenty-four miles day, which is considered
very good rate for pack animals.
have, as we marched, made many observa-
tions and taken numerous notes of the character
of the country passed through, both with refer
cnce to railroad construction and railroad pabu-
lum. Our route lay ten or more miles north
west of Captain Mullan's military road, in order
that we might see more of the rolling prairie
country between Walla Walla and the Spokane
river For over one hundred and fifty miles
the general character is much the same, rolling
body of rich land covered everywhere with
bunch grass, excellent for cattle, and
with climate certainly of a
remarkably favorable character, where gene
rally cattle range all winter without necessity
for other food or for housing, and where our
grains wheat rye, barley, oats, and all our
vegetables grow in great perfection, and where
apples, pears, plums, and grapes, etc, attain
larger sizes and as fine flavor as our own though
ranging in latitude AZ deg. and AZ deg or 46
to 48 deg
Hundreds of thousands of cattle may be fat
tened on these plains from the bountiful proyi-
sion of nature as cheaplyas in any part of the
world, not even excepting the pampas of the
Argentine Confederation. At present there are
at long distances apart ranches with little i'm
proyements enough to show that the country is
susceptible of fine agricultural development,
especially in the valleys. Between one
hundred and fifty and one hundred and
sixty miles from Walla Walla, we crossed the
Spokane rivera fine stream. Thence about
| thirty-two miles over prairie timbered most of
| the way to Lake Pend d'Oreille q beautiful
sheet of water, which we spent a day exploring.
/ have had no time to digest the notes taken on
| oUr immediate route, and prefer not to speak
definitely respecting the character of the ground
for railroad construction till have attained the
summit, and seen something of the passes
| through the main body of the Rocky
| Mountains. | am not at all sure that
| the particular route traced by us will be
| the best ground for the railroad. | must thor
| oughly digest Captain Mullan's reports. 1
must read myself and carefully consider Gov
ernor Stevens reports. must study the charts
of the harbors of Puget and the straits of Fucu.
Then, with my own personal observations,
| aided by additional information gathered as we
| advance with our exploration l will be pre-
| pared to give an intelligent opinion on the
merits of routes proposed. I have taken my
own way OF making notes and my own way
OF rejecting upon the whole question OF this
| railroad route from the Pacific Ocean to the
| summit of the Rocky Mountains; and | pur-
| posely avoid sending you any random state
| ments. In general way may say that am
| satisfied that there is q practicable railroad
route from Puget Sound, and from the mouth of
| Columbia river in the valley of Columbia, to
| this place. with favorable grades and cur
vature, without Gerry great cost per mile;
and that a large portion of the route
lies through or near to q country good either for
the finest grazing or for agricultural purposes,
| and much of it through the best-timbered region
| ! have ever seen. Notwithstanding that | am
| prepared to make the above statement, it will be
| incumbent on me as an engineer to present the
matter much more in detail when treating of
| routes; yet | regard the above as embracing an
| important general fact.
! There are miles of the road which will be very
| costly and troublesome, but there are so many
favorable miles that l am warranted in going as
| far as | have in the preceding statements; but
desire particularly that you should not under
stand me as expressing an opinion in favor OF
The Clark's Fork of the Columbia along
which we passed from its debouche into Lake
| Pend dOreille to the mouth of Flathead
river one of its main branches, is noble river
| averaging from seven hundred to one thousand
or more feet in width, and having even ut itS
| lowest stages an immense volume of water. Il
| is as large as the Ohio between Pittsburg anC
| Wheeling, but it has very much more fall pei
| mile, averaging about eleven feet, counting the
| rapids; so that to sustain navigation, large
| volume of water is indispensable. My approx
| mate estimates of the quantity passing ut tht
| lowest stage enables me to state with certainty
that it has more hdnSiG times the low water flow
| of the Ohio.
The Flathead river is from five hundred to
| seven hundred feet in width, with volume o
| water in its lowest stage more than three time
| the low water of the Ohio; and, for about eighty
miles in one stretch it is naVigable when th
| river Is at medium stage. There are TIVE
steamers on Cark's Fork, in addition to th
| Mary Moody on the lake, built by mechanic
| sent up from Portland, and they are intended
| solely at present for the accommodation of tht
PACKERS" and their trains. -Four thousanC
animals per year have been carried around the
| lake.
The completion of n railroad through the Co
| lumbia valley Will be the means OF settling this
country. Without n railroad through it the set
| tlement will proceed gerry SLO'Ciy, because with
, | out it produce has no active value, and it is
| costly to get cattle from this distant region
| to good market.
| favored as it is in many respects by nature,
| settlements and way business would follow from
| the arrangements and facilities made by the
| railroad authorities for finding market for the
| productive interests of the country. The eX-
| treme western end of the route in the vicinity
| of Portland, will at once furnish considerable
} amount of local trade and travel; and the Will
| lamette Valley is already so well settled as to