Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-12-06
Through to the Pacific.
Neto Orleans Democrat.

Five hundred and twentV-oue days ago
the work on the Texas Pacific was begun at
Fort Worth, and gradually the track trav-
tled westward at the rate of one mile daily.
Five hundred and twentY-one miles of iron
have been laid, ard Thursday evening the
Texas Pacific and the Southern Pacific we're
united at the great Blanco Peak just as the
evening sun was sinking I'm the west.
Thus has been accomplished desidera-
tum that has been lOnged for by the people
of this section. Slowly, day by day, the
wearied laborers toiled on, while their
course lay over arid plains where but sell
dom the foot of white man had ever trod-
den, and the sound of the workman's mat
took or the carpenters hammer for the
first time broke the sepulchral silence that
had for untold ages brOoded over the soli-
tary Texan plain.
Where the buffalo sought the tenderest
herbsge and the antelope its favorite diet
the tracks of the Texas Pacific now mark
the way to the distant ocear; and where the
wild though gallant Comanche but short
time ago roved free and unrestrained, the
undisputed lord and master of the vast
herds OF game and wild cattle of the
almost unknown ElaDo E5tacado, the snort
Of the iron horse now diSturbs the quiet air.
The connection of our city with the
Pacific slope by this new route will mark
an era In the commercial history of this
seaport. A vast field of commercial enter
prise will gradually be opened to the mer
chants OF New Orleans, and the gold f1ecks
that burden the beds OF the mountain
streams of Southern New Mexico and
Arizona will be the spoil OF the hardy
miners Of this section who will flock in
crowds to the New Eldorado.
The mountaiDs of the Southwestern Ter
ritOries groan under the weight of the pre-
cious metals they bear, while wide fields,
where outcroppings Of coal, iron, lead, and
even tin are visible, have been seen by
adventurous prospectors who, at the risk Of
their lives, ventured over the mountains
where the Hill Apaches hold their ferocious
sway, and explored fertile valleys where the
Apaches of the plains have always made
their home.
These precious metals are the legitimate
property of the people of this section, for
they, and they alone, are the natural pos
SCISSORS of that vast and unknown territory
that will now be opened to travel aud traf-
ic by the two great railroad lines that
were but few bours ago united at the
Blanco Peak. The Eastern States colo
nized, aud their sons have held possession
of the great range of territory rorth OF the
Mason and d N line and west of the Mis-
sssippi river, but the new Southwest is
destined to be settled by our own people,
and the States that will eventually be carved
out of Western Texas, New Mexico and
Arizona will be inhabited by people from
this section.
Thus a new South and new country has
been opened to our enterprise and industry
by the completion OF this great railroad en-
terprise. The country will soon be settled
and developed, and the fertile valleys that
lie hidden among the tall mountains of the
Southwest will return bountiful haryests
which will find their way to the sea through
New Orleans, and the bullion torn from the
reluctant grasp of the rock that holds It
will be coined into broad, shining pieces of
money by the mint of this city.