The weekly Arizona miner., 1872-06-01
THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC
 RAILROAD.
Topography and Resources cf tis Country
 Through Which it is Located.
Th:rty-ffth Parallel Route

Iouis ifs western terminus at present being ] y.uita in the Indian Territory, and at this
 noint effects junction with the Missouri, Kansas and Texas railroad, running from Junction Citv on the line of the Kansas Pacific connecting with Fort Scott and Sedalia and the IIne of Missouri Pacific railroad, and also connecting at Preston on Red River with the Texas Central, running from Galveston to Preston. From this statement 1t Is appar- ent that its eastern division IS most adyanta- geously worked in with the railroad system of the Western and Southern States, while its eastern terminus at St. Louis establishes its connection with the network of roads through the Middle and Eastern States and the Ms sissiDpi river The route of the Atlantic and Pacific railroad Is from St. Louis to spring field which latter point was the original start ing point, bnt the purchase ot the Southwest Pacific Railroad gave 1t direct connection
 with St Louis. From Springfield, the line : extends in a southwesterly direction to a point on OF near Canadian river; thence west war,lIy following the general course of the Canadian valley and the 35th parallel of latl tude to Albuquerque upon Rio Granae dei Norte. From this point 1t continues across ! Arizona along the 35th parallel oi latitude as nearly as may be practicable to the Colorado | River. and thence by the most ellglbie route through California to the Pacific at San Fran
 cisco. The road also includes branch rom Fort Smith or Van Buren, Arkansas, west
 wardlv to connect in or near the canadian valley with the part of the route through i Missouri. This will be an important branch, l ss it will serve to connect tue road with the existing railroad system, centerlng at Mem- phis. This route was not hastily adopted 1 but it is the result of an intimate acquaint-
 ance acquired by patient explorations and the
 sifted experience of years. For part of the distance, it is one Of the oldest travelled routes across the continent IL was along this par
 allel that the early settlers of the valley oi New Mexico communicated with the missions of the Pacific Coast.
 The Only Line for Trans-continsntal Railroad.
 We do not propose to enter into minute comparison of this route with that oi the l Union and Central Pacific, for few simple 1 facts are sufficient. Instead of running through a desert like the great plains, the
 Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, 1t pass es throuch-nearIy the entire way-uell-
 watered and arabic land This one statement the accuracy of which cannot be questioned,
 and is proved by official documents, Is enough to establish the immense superiority of thls
 route over the present railroad to the Paciflc It was worse than folly to have expended enormous sums in constructing line through q wilderness of mountains, where settlement and agricultural development were impossible and obstruction during tue winter months permanent and disastrous reality, when nature had furnished another route through beauti- ful and fertile country and genial climate. A trans-contuental railroad should be as great artery to the nation, source of life and de- velopment, not merely connecting two distant termini or two distant oceans, but a channel for population as we'll as for interoceanic com merce, distributing settlement, and creating farms, towns and cities throughout the bound les, regions of the interior. That the Allan tic and Pacific will accomplish this there is every reason to believe, while the stream of
 trade between the two great oceans will meet
 with no interruptions by the seasons. The necessities the nations imperatiyely demand such a railroad and the present movement
 East and West for its construction arises from the very urgency of these necessities.
 The Fertility of ths Country. Lieut.. Beale. in bis admirable report on this route. referring to the valley of the Canadian along which, the line runs for many hundred miles, states: The general course of the Cana dian Is remarkably direct between its mouth and the IO4th meridian; it never runs furth- CT north than the 35th parallel, and but once passes below it, and in that instance, down for about sixty miles parallel to 1t and only few miles below it. A line located along the valley of that stream from its mouth to t. the l,h meridian would not exceed G35 miles in length. There are but few points along the river where any considerable work would be required.
 East of North Tom Fork, some few bluffs
 would offer unimportant obstacles, but west of that point a magnificent valley offers every facility for the construction of first class lroad, with very few grades and easy curva- ture."
 Lieut.. J. H. Simpson, who also surveyed the Canadian valley, says: "The advantages
 to be derived from this route, as one of loca- tion for the great national highway, are its comparative freedom from obstructions caused by snow; its passage for 275 miles through q region mostly of prairie and wood land character; the region furnishes the timber necessary for the work; it's passage through the Indian country, adjoining the State of
 
 through a country capable of atfording all the requisite stone material, and the necessary supply of water; its line of location being en- tirely between and parallel to, and never crossing the two only great rivers ot the re zion of country traversed. These are, in the main, the advantages which this great route rosseses. To these remarks may bc added the statement that not only docs the country offer
 Facilities for Railroad Construction.
 But for human settlement, and the develop ment of those pastural and mineral resources which must ever lie at the foundation of a peoples growth and prosperity. Along this route, nature has made the avenue not only for railroad connecting the Pacific with the
 Atlantic-the Old world with the Ncw-but in fruitful praries, in rich Towering uplands, in clear and rapid rivers, in reservoirs of met
 als hid among ,the mountains, she has spread
 out a glowing invitation to the industrial en-
 ergies of the human race.
 i Here, if wise counsels had prevailed, would
 now be running steam cars across the conti-
 neEt instead of over fIowning and gloomy