Year: 1867

Stockton and Copperopolis Railroad.


The benefits that will arise to the entire
Valley of the San Joaquin, and the counties
of Stanislaus and Calaveras, from the con-
struction of line of railroad from Stockton
to Copperopolis, are incalculable. The me-
cessity of keeping communication open be-
tween Stockton and the interior, during all
seasons of the year. is one that is apparent to
all, and the building of line of rail to some
point that is above water during the rainy
season, is the cheapest ard most direct
method of obviating the difficulty. The
route was surveyed and the contract for
constructing the road let some time since !;
but for some reason best known to the con-
tractors, but very little was ever done towards
its completion, and for the past year labor
has been entirely suspended. Copperopolis,
the northern terminus of the road, is situated
in rich mineral district, and the shipment
of copper ore from that point alone, would
make it paying concern. But, n addition
to this, the road will pass, throughoutitse en-
tire length, through section of country
unsurpassed in fertility, and become the
medium for the transportation Of vast
stands, farmers are obliged to dispose of
their grain in the Fall, before the rains set
in, or keep it until Spring; the state of the
roads being such during the Winter months
as to utterly preclude the possibility of its
being taken to market. In many instances
ranchers are 30 situated as to be unable to
hold their grain for great length of time,
but are compelled to dispose of it in order
to pay the expenses of harvesting. Beng
well aware that if it is not sold previous to
the commencement of the bad weather that
they will have to store it until Spring opens,
they are forced to dispose of it when the
product of their labor commands but low
price. On the contrary, could they be
assured of means of transportation at any
time when they saw fit to place it in the
market, it would enable them to take advan-
tage of the rise which the demand for export
generally causes during the Winter, and not
leave them entirely at the mercy of monopo-
lists. But this is not all. A vast section of
mining country receives its supplies by the
way of Stockton, and its interior trade forms
the principal part of the business transacted
in that place. During the rainy season the
roads from that point to the foothills are
other m h1o .,,e,


dition that the cost of Transporting freight to
the mountain towns is SO heavy as to be bur-
densome in the extreme. The mountain
roads, however, at all times of the wear. are
comparatively good, and when the railroad
Is completed to Copperopolis, freight can be
conveyed to that point by rail, and from
there shipped to its destination at a great
saving both in time and money. There can
be no doubt but what the railroad will prove
profitable investment to those who engage
in it, and that when it is finished it will do
more to build up and develop the resources
of this section of country, and add more ma
terially to our wealth and population, than
any other enterprise which can be entered
into. The Bill which has recently passed
Congress and become law, granting ten
sections of land, to the mile, to aid in its
construction, should certainly be sufficient
to insure its speedy completion The entire
length of the route will not exceed tbirtv-
four miles, thirteen of which will be over a
level plain, and the balance over n sect;on
where the grade will be easy. If capitalists
will move in the matter, by the time another
Winter sets in, the road can be completed a
distance sufficient to secure uninterrupted
communication between Stockton and the
interior. The citizens of San JOAQUIN should
exhibit a lively interest in its behalf and
leave no means in their power untried to
procure its early completion.