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ADDRESS 
 
 ON 
 
 THE nori:hwesi\ 
 
 HEFORE THE 
 
 %mtmm itflgnrplitiil una misiml Somlj), 
 
 DKI.IVIiltED AT NEW VOItK, DKJKMBEK 2, 135s, 
 
 V. V 
 
 ISAAC I. STEVENS. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 •J . S, OlDEON, PRINTER. 
 1858, 
 
S 8 4A- 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 Mr. ['resident and GentlExMen of the 
 
 American Geographical and Statistical Society: 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen : The northwest portion of the 
 
 American Continent has of late, and is now, attracting 
 
 Touch attention. It lias hitherto, except a portion of our 
 
 own domain, been considered only a great hunting field, 
 
 rich in furs, and capable of furnishing wealth and influence 
 
 to a trading establishment. The history of this domain, 
 
 though meagre, is interesting. The coast was explored 
 
 in the latter part of the last century by American, English 
 
 and Spanish navigators. A Boston shipmaster gave name 
 
 to the Columbia river and to Gray's harbor, between that 
 
 point and Cape Flattery. A Spanish navigator gave name 
 
 to the Straits de Fuca, and other points in the vicinity; 
 
 and British navigators gave name to Vancover's island, 
 
 and to other points of the adjacent waters and coasts. 
 
 Although two centuries since the Jesuit missionaries 
 ])enetrated to the Northwest from the Mississippi, it was 
 not till towards the close of the last century that the North- 
 west Company and the Hudson's Bay Company pushed their 
 explorations to the frozen ocean and to the Pacific, in about 
 ]^arallel 52. 
 
 About this time they established posts over all this ex- 
 tensive country. The explorations of Lewis and Clark at 
 an early part of the present century, made known to us the 
 two great rivers across the continent—the Missouri and the 
 Columbia— and the general cliaracter of tlie country. They 
 
 ±z^ij^<j 
 
4 
 
 wo'C soon followed by the American trappery and traders, 
 who planted establishments to, and beyond, the Rocky 
 mountains. 
 
 The efforts of John Jacob Astor to found a great trading 
 establishment on the OoUunbia, and to make tributary to 
 it the whole western slope, by a system of posts, through 
 misfortunes of various kinds, failed, and the whole of that 
 country, as well as the country northward to Hudson's bay, 
 and stretching from the Pacific to the great lakes, came 
 under the control of i\ foreign company. Thus, so far as 
 concerned the agencies at work to develop the country, 
 the American people had control simply of the portion 
 east of the Rocky mountains, and another jurisdiction, 
 acting through a company whose interest it was to keep 
 the country a desert, to keep it in a condition in which it 
 would be remunerative in its furs, had control of the entire 
 remaining portion of that country. 
 
 I will in this connection refer to the treaty of 1846, by 
 which a line was established between the two countries, 
 and to a remark made about, or previous to, that time in 
 the British Parliament, to the effect that so great was the 
 distance iiom the American settlements to the Pacific, and 
 so serious were the difficulties to be encountered, that it was 
 idle and prei)osterous to suppose the American States could 
 colonize the Pacific coast. At the very time this confident 
 assertion was being made, our emigrant wagons were mov- 
 ing over those mountains, and that same fall American 
 citizens had carved out their homes on the shores of the 
 Pacific ocean, and raised above them the stars and stripes 
 of their country's power. The fact thereby became estab- 
 lished, that that western coast was ours by the natural pro- 
 cess of colonization, and that American genius and enter- 
 prise could scale the Rocky mountains and overcome every 
 difficulty lying between the valley of the Mississippi and 
 the Western ocean. From that time the \vay was thronged 
 with the emigrant wagons of our people, who went on the 
 
.\s 
 
 long (liwtaiit Journey with their women and tlieii' ciiildren. 
 From that time did that country become known to us as a 
 civilized community; as a community of families; as a com- 
 munity which would have a jc^rcat part yet to ])lay in the 
 destinies of the country and of the worhl. 
 
 Time rolled on; California was acquired, and its immense 
 mineral riches hecame known. Oregon, whicli had been 
 healthfully and rapidly settling, became stationai'y . Many 
 of her people went to California to dig for gohl. Emigra- 
 tion was turned overland to California, and she l)ecamc a 
 great centre of attraction, not only to the people of tlie 
 States, but to the people of other countries. This station- 
 ary condition of Oregon, however, continued but for two 
 or three years, and then she greatly increased in ])opula- 
 tion. Gold was found in Southern Oregon, and largo num- 
 bers of miners found remunerative employment there. The 
 northern portion of Oregon was organized into a separate 
 Territory, the Territory of Washington. 
 
 Within the last four or five years rumors had spread 
 abroad that gold was to be found in Washington and in 
 the British possessions to the north. The country was 
 more or less 2>'>'ospected in each year, and this year we find 
 its mineral wealth is attracting the attention of the civil- 
 ized world. We find that both in AVashington and in 
 British Columbia, facts exist, which establish the extent 
 and richness of their gold diggings. 
 
 This seems therefore to be an opportune moment for 
 presenting in a careful and deliberate manner tlie geog- 
 raphy, resources, and ultimate development of that entire 
 region. 
 
 This is the object which I propose by my address of this 
 evening. I shall endeavor to do this with all the dis- 
 passionate judgment that I can command. My pur]iose is 
 not as the partisan, to set forth the advantages of a par- 
 ticular section of country, but to present that section fairly 
 and candidly, both in its relation to the countries north 
 
« 
 
 and soulli, and the grout conni't'tioiis ou.st tiiid west. T«» 
 fiicilitatc the investigation of this wliolc subject, I have 
 liad ])roparcd a map on a largo scale, giving the entire 
 northern portion of the continent from tlie parallel of San 
 Francisco and Washington city to Hudson's bay. On this 
 map 1 liave exhibited the mountain ranges, the great navi- 
 gable streams, the practicable passes and the principal 
 prairie regions. Looking on that map, your attention is 
 arrested first by the great mountain cliain from which flow 
 waters to either ocean. Following those waters, you ol)- 
 serve great rivers having long, distant courses before they 
 reach the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson's bay, the Frozen ocean, 
 and the Pacific ocean. Observe especially those two great 
 i-ivers, the Missouri and the Columbia; follow them up to 
 tlieir upper tributaries, and you will find that they inter- 
 lock in the very heart of the Rocky mountains. You will 
 find that from the head of steamboat navigation of the 
 one river, to the head of steamboat navigation on the other, 
 the distance is but inconsiderable compared with the entire 
 distance across the continent. There is Fort Benton, 2,415 
 miles nbovc St. Louis. To this point you can take steamers 
 seven ths in the year, carrying 150 tons of freight, and 
 here at the mouth of the Palousc, on the great southern 
 tributary of the Columbia, Snake river, you come a,gain 
 to waters navigable by steamers. The distance from the 
 head of steamboat navigation on the Missouri, to the head 
 of steamboat navigation on the Columbia, is but 450 
 miles. 
 
 There arc other streams, second only in importance to 
 the Missouri. The two branches of the Saskatchawan, that 
 have their sources also in the Rocky mountains, north of 
 the Missouri, stretch a great distance eastward to Lake 
 Winnipeg, and find their way northward into Hudson's 
 bay. They connect also with the main Columbia itself, 
 affording transit for passengers and freight many months 
 of the year: and thus the Columbia river and the two 
 
I)i'iiin;lu's ol l,lu; SiiskjiU-liiUVJin liiivt' 1-',mii tin- !j;ivut lines i.l 
 travel of llio lliulsoii'.s iijiy C()mi)iin\ . II is tlii»ii,i!,li tliut 
 country tliuy liuvc cstablislicMl their many pests. 1 propose 
 in this connection sinipjy to refer to these streams geo<5ra])h- 
 ically. In another part of my address I shall refer to tlieni 
 more as avenues of travel and (^f commerce. 
 
 Tlie Mississippi lias also its source in this rc<j;ion, liii'- 
 nishing with its tributaries a long course of waters naviga- 
 ble by steamers, and aft'ording a very close connection both 
 with Lake Superior and the Red river of the north; and 
 the Red I'ivei- of tlio north, flowing northward, and in a 
 direction opposite to that of the Mississippi, is also navi- 
 gable within our own borders several liundred miles for 
 steamers, and makes the connection between our own 
 system of rivers and those which flow into Lfike Winnepig 
 and Hudson's bay. 
 
 J>ut the great feature: of the n(»rthern portion of the 
 American continent is the water line of the great lakes, 
 which stretch more than half way across from the x\tlanti(; 
 to the Pacific; a fact of deep significance, when we con- 
 sider that vessels, without breaking bulk, can pass thence 
 to Europe, either by the Canadian canals and the St. 
 Lawrence, or by the New York canals and the Hudson. 
 
 Thus, then, we find that the country w^hich wo are de- 
 scribing, geographically, is one of great natural water 
 lines across the continent — the great lakes, the Missis- 
 sippi, the Red river of the north, the Missouri, the two 
 branches of the Saskatchawan, and the Columbia. H' 
 we look to the extreme southern portion of the country 
 under consideration, we find it deficient in navigable 
 streams. After leaving the Missouri, its tributaries in the 
 vicinity of the route, the Kansas, the Platte, and the Run- 
 ning Water, are unnavigablo ; and we do not come to navi- 
 gable streams again until we have crossed the Sierra Ne- 
 vada, and gone far down into tbo valley of the Sacra- 
 mento. 
 
1 uocil ni»t wl'i'i pai'liciilurl;' \*> llic iiuiiiiiliiin cImiiiM 
 whicli cluiruck'rizu tliis CDUiiiry — tlic Sierra Nuvadu <»t' 
 California, and the Cascade Tiionntain.s of Orepjon and 
 VvaslMngton, stretching far to the nortlnvard : the Rocky 
 Mountain chain, having a vast extension in the parallel of 
 San Francinco and Washington city, and to the northward 
 of the South Pass, and then greatly diminishing in hreadtli 
 still i'urthcr north, until it passes beyond the 49tli parallel 
 into the British possessions. Again, there are, intermediate 
 l)etween these two great chains, many subsidiary chains, 
 branching off from the Sierra Nevada, the Cascades, and 
 the Kocky mountains, which need not be more specifically 
 referred to. 
 
 Another peculiarity of the country of the Missouri and 
 the Columbia is, that on the eastern slope thei)rairie region 
 extends to the very base of the Rocky mountains. On and 
 northward of the railroad line, from Fort Union along the 
 valley of Milk river to Fort Benton, there are no upheavals, 
 with the single exception of the Three Buttes, which rise out 
 of the prairie just under the 49th parallel, three thousand 
 feet high, about 10(> miles eastward of the Rockv moun- 
 tains. 
 
 If you look to the Rocky Mountain region, between the 
 40th and 4yth parallels, you will find that it is essentially 
 a country of prairies. West of the Bitter Root chain of 
 mountains, a great plain stretches to the Cascade moun- 
 tains, on the west, and from the 48th to below the 46th 
 parallel. This prairie region is, for the most part, well 
 watered, well grassed, and fiirnishes a large iiortion of 
 arable land. 
 
 One other feature remains to be considered in the geo- 
 graphy of this country, and that is, the two great ports on 
 this coast, San Francisco and Puget's sound. San Fran- 
 cisco is the great port of California, and must ever be a 
 great key-point of business and commerce. But Puget's 
 sound is admitted by all naval and military <^cntlemen 
 
 I 
 
i 
 
 geo- 
 ;s on 
 ran- 
 be a 
 ;et's 
 men 
 
 wild cvtM" visited itsNvuttM's, to Imthe most reiiiarkulil*' loiid- 
 Htoad on the shores of any ocean. It has I, GOO miU'S of 
 shore-line and p;reat nnmhers of land-lockjd, commodious, 
 and defensible harbors. It can be entered l>y any wind, '"a 
 scarcely ever obstructed by fog, and is the nearest point to 
 the great ])nrts of Asia of any harlior on our wostern 
 coast. 
 
 With this brief statement of the geogra])hy, I will now 
 consider the resources of this country ; and at this stage of 
 the proceeding, 1 am reminded of the discussions, which 
 have occurred witliin twenty years, in which tliat country 
 has been pronounced an inhospitable, cold, and barren 
 country, fit only for Indians, wild beasts, and huntera. 
 Why, sir, the climate of Tuget's sound i,j iiilder than that 
 of New York. You never find ice on its surface, or snow 
 for more than a few days at a time on its shores ; and our 
 gooa friends in San Francisco have to go north to the 
 Russian possessions to get ice. The resources of Puget's 
 sound and the country on the Columbia river and on the 
 Willamette are literally inexhaustible. The whole coun- 
 try in either territory west of the Cascade mountains has, 
 for the most part, a fertile soil, a climate so mild through 
 the winter that cattle do not require fodder, and seed can 
 be sown from September to March • and then we have the 
 glorious summers, which enable us to gather our cropa 
 without fear that they will be injured by rain. The forests 
 on Puget's sound are a great source of wealth. At this 
 time there are on that sound nine large steam-mills and 
 many water-mills in operation, manufacturing lumber, and 
 several large spar establishments. Seventy-five millions 
 of lumber are now manufactured a year, more than half 
 of which is sent to foreign ports. Spars are not only sent 
 to Asia, the Sandwich Islands, and Australia, but to the 
 navies of France and England ; and they have been pro- 
 nounced by the inspectors to be the best spars they ever 
 2 
 
lu 
 
 saw ; and yet the lumber and spar business is in its in- 
 fancy. 
 
 Within one mile of the shores of Puget's sound, there is 
 more timber than can be found on all the tributaries of all 
 the waters of the State of Maine. 
 
 On the coast there are extensive fisheries of cod and 
 halibut, which stretch from the mouth of the Columbia 
 river to beyond Vancouver's island. 
 
 This portion of our coast also abounds in whales, and a 
 single little tribe of Indians^ the Macaws, at Cape Flat- 
 tery, with their rude means, have produced 30,000 gal- 
 lons of oil in a single year. 
 
 On the eastern shores of the sound, and on the Straits 
 de Fuca, there is coal which has been pronounced by ex- 
 perts to be adapted to river steamers, and the opinion has 
 been ventured that it will answer for ocean steamers, 
 though this has not been tested. 
 
 The country also abounds in water-power near to navi- 
 gable waters, with all the conveniences to apply it to manu- 
 facturing and mechanical purposes with economy and 
 success. 
 
 From the Cascade mountains to the Rocky mountains 
 there is a vast pastoral and agricultural region. 
 
 Looking on this map I point out to you the Yakima 
 country, admitted by all to be a good grazing country. 
 In the portion immediately north of the Columbia, there 
 is a single tract of 2,000 square miles of arable land. 
 
 I will take you to the Walla- Walla valley, which, from 
 this height, (near AVild-horse creek,) presents as pleasant 
 a landscape as one's eyes ever beheld. Here is this beautiful 
 valley before you, its streams lined with cottonwood, the 
 neighboring mountain spurs covered with pine, giving you 
 the most delightful picture of what it Avill be, when it be- 
 comes settled and occupied. You can see in imagination 
 cities and villages along these streams, the village school 
 and the chiirch-spiro. Nearly the whole of this country. 
 
1 
 
 11 
 
 between these mountains and Snake river, is an arable 
 country, and nearly one half of it is adapted to small farms. 
 This valley, or rather re-entering of Snake river, is the 
 great key of our interior, and can subsist a farming popu- 
 lation of 100,000 souls. 
 
 The country west of the Bitter Root, and north of Snake 
 river, andtiience extending westward nearly to the meridian, 
 passing through the mouth of the Palouse, has a fertile 
 soil, adapted to wheat, cereals, and vegetables. As regards 
 the portion west of this meridian, it is somewhat affected 
 by drought, and is more of a grazing than an agricultural 
 country. On the line of the Columbia, on the shores of 
 many of the streams and lakes, and in many intervening 
 swales and valleys, tracts will be found where there is 
 land enough to supply the grazing population, which that 
 country is able to support. 
 
 The country north of the Spokane, and thence to the 
 49th parallel, is wooded, and a very considerable portion 
 of it is arable. The Bitter Root mountains are covered 
 with heavy timber — pine and fir, and larch and cedar. I 
 do not wish to be thought to speak as a sanguine man, 
 when I dwell on this country between the Bitter Root and 
 the Rocky mountains, known as the Flathead country. 
 If you look to the isothermal lines which are drawn on 
 this map, you will see that there is nothing in the con- 
 dition of the temperature to prevent the raising of crops. 
 But we have the practical experience of the few settlers, 
 and of the Jesuit missionaries in that country, to estab- 
 lish the fact both of the certainty and of the goodness 
 of the crops. I estimate that in the Flathead country, 
 and along the eastern slopes of the Rocky mountains, 
 the amouiit of arable land is at least one-third of the 
 whole, and that it will be found to exceed 12,000 square 
 miles. The country from the Rocky mountains to the 
 great rivers running to the Gulf of Mexico and Hud- 
 son's bay — I refer to the country stretching to the great 
 
m 
 
 12 
 
 r 1 
 
 ! 
 
 I I 
 
 1: 
 
 lakes, the Upper Mississippi, tind Lake Winnipeg, and 
 watered by the Upper Missouri and its tributaries, by tlje 
 two branches of the Saskatchawan and the Red river of the 
 north — is adapted for the most part to settlement and 
 civilization. It is not simply a grazing country, but all 
 through it are large bodies of arable land, that entitle it to 
 the distinction of being considered an agricultural country. 
 
 In my judgment, the time will come when tliere will be 
 agricultural settlements throughout the whole extent of 
 this country, from the Mississippi to the shores of the 
 Pacific, simply excepting limited extents of country along 
 the higher part of the mountain chains, and in some of 
 the prairie regions, to be referred to more particularly 
 hereafter. As illustrative of the capacity of this country, 
 I beg to refer to a few facts. The Indians of Washington 
 Territory and Oregon, east of the Cascade mountains, are 
 rich in horses and cattle, the former of which have been 
 introduced within a hundred, and the latter within thirty 
 years. Their wealth perhaps is not equalled by any 
 civilized community on this continent. Indians among 
 those tribes own from 1,000 to 4,000 head of horses and 
 cattle each. The Spokanes and Flathead nation have 
 many horses and cattle, which range the winter long 
 without fodder, and, as I know from personal observation, 
 they do not shrink away but very little in flesh. Never 
 have I seen fatter beef than the Indian cattle, in the Walla- 
 Walla, in January. At Fort Benton and Fort Union, 
 where tliere are large numbers of horses and cattle, they 
 retain their flesh all winter without fodder. 
 
 We now come to the development of this great portion of 
 our country, which I shall consider both as regards the 
 agencies actually at work now to develop the region, and 
 the measures which should be adopted looking to the ad- 
 vancement and prosperity of the whole country. Much 
 has been already done. The country has been explored by 
 order of the government, A commencement has been 
 
aiiu 
 
 they 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 made in surveying the public lands. Some progress has 
 been made in negotiating treaties with the Indian tribes, 
 and those same Indian tribes have recently been shown a 
 memorable instance of the power and the determination of 
 the government, to protect the lives of its citizens. The 
 surveys liave enabled me to speak with certainty of the 
 resources of the country, and they will enable me to sj)eak 
 with some confidence as to other measures which ought to 
 be undertaken to develop that country, looking always to 
 the honor and renown of all these United States. 
 
 The discovery of gold in British Columbia has developed . 
 on the part of the British people, an earnest persistent de- 
 termination to establish communications across the conti- 
 nent to bind into one union all its North American posses- 
 sions. It is an object Avorthy the power and enterprise and 
 the prestige of the British government, and I thank God 
 tliat there is not an impulse of my soul, which would cause 
 me to feel any uneasiness or any jealousy at the success of 
 such an undertaking. Here we £i,re, two great powers, 
 speaking the same tongue, and let us look upon it as .? 
 friendly race for supremacy. Let us see which, in this 
 friendly race, will outstrijD the other — which shall be the 
 carriers of the commerce of the world. 
 
 Gentlemen, the time has passed for men seriously to dis- 
 cuss the question as to whether the wants of commerce, 
 the duties and responsibilities of government, the fulfill- 
 ing the relations of social and domestic life, do not demand a 
 secure and rapid transit from ocean to ocean. The question 
 simply is, is it practicable to establish great lines of travel 
 from the water line of the great lakes to our magnificent 
 Puget's sound, chat port which is the nearest of all our 
 ports to Asia? Again the question is, do not great national 
 interests urge the accomplishment of this enterprise at 
 the earliest possible moment? It is not whether such an 
 undertaking will inure to the benefit of Puget's sound or the 
 people of the great lakes, but whether this is not a project 
 
It 
 
 upon vvliich rests tlie questiou, as to whether the great car- 
 rying trade from Asia to Europe shall pass over American 
 or British soil; whether upon the success of this undertak- 
 ing does not rest the question, whether the key of the 
 Northern Pacific shall be in the hands of the American 
 people or in the hands of the subjects of a foreign power. It 
 seems to me that not New York, or Boston, or Portland, is 
 alone interested, but every part of our Atlantic and Gulf 
 coast, and the entire country. 
 
 And, Mr. President, if it be a practicable undertaking to 
 build tliis road and establish tliis route, it is the duty of our 
 government and of our people to push it forward. It ceases 
 to be sectional and geographical and partisan, and it rises 
 into a noble and elevated nationality, to which all hearts 
 should yield. I propose to discuss this question in the 
 light of the practical experience, developed in the prose- 
 cution of great railroad enterprises, in regard to which 
 the facts stand out in letters of gold. 
 
 The first question which I shall consider is, the objec- 
 tions urged against the northern route in consequence of 
 the severity of the climate and the excessive depth of the 
 snows, and I regret to be obliged to waste time on a 
 matter wliich has long since been established. But it is 
 still call«d in question by men of intelligence, and has 
 even place in ofiicial reports. 
 
 In an examination of that country, which I made in the 
 years 1853-'4-'5, I deemed it a fundamental and essen- 
 tial fact to be determined, and it was determined in a 
 manner that will enable me to speak positively. The 
 passes of the Kocky mountains. Hell Gate, Northern Little 
 Blackfoot, and Oadot's Pass were crossed by my parties in 
 the months of December, January, February and March, 
 in the years 1853-'4, and in no one of these passes did 
 they find more than fifteen inches of snow. In the win- 
 ter of 1854-'5, the Flathead Indians passed through these 
 passes in January, Feb-uary, and March; whole tribes, 
 
 t 
 
with their women jind i^liildrcn, jind their pack animals 
 laden down with furs and meat. I was informed hy Vic- 
 tor, head chief of the FLithead nation, an Indian whose 
 valor and courtesy and truth have become classic in tlio 
 pages of the Jesuit Missionary de Smet — by Victor, wlio 
 at seventy-five is still the leader of his people in war, and 
 first in the chase of the bufialo, that since the memory of 
 the Indian, they had passed these mountains year after 
 year through the winter months. Tliat same winter, the 
 party that crossed the Rocky mountains in January, went 
 down Clark's Fork in February; they went on horseback, 
 the sole trouble being that there were some places where 
 the snow was deep enougli to cover up the grass; but in 
 these cases it was in the wooded portions, and 2i feet was 
 the greatest depth . 
 
 When they left the wooded region where it was 2^ feet 
 deep, and came to the prairie region, they found that it 
 was but a foot deep. Every gentleman knows what influ- 
 ence forests have in preserving the depth of the snow, and 
 how it disappears when the land is cleared. The question is 
 not what depth the snow is in the forests, but what it will 
 be on the cleared land. There is one point alone about 
 which we have not sufiicient information, and that is, the 
 crossing of the Cascade mountains to Puget's sound; but I 
 am satisfied that there will be no serious obstruction from 
 snow. The snow was but six feet, for a short distance, 
 in the latter part of January, 1856, and I am of opinion 
 that it did not subsequently increase much in depth, 
 tliough this fact has not been determined by actual ad- 
 
 easurement. At Fort Benton and Fort Campbell, ever 
 since they were established some twenty -five years since, 
 the fur companies have taken their goods to their winter 
 trading posts, on the Milk and Marias rivers, in wagons, 
 there not being snow enough for sleds. Will the snows of 
 this route, which do not prevent the Indians from travel- 
 
i '. 
 
 V, 
 
 liiii;, I'uriiish any dilliiUilUes whicli will roudcr it imii.sually 
 troublesome I'or tlie passage of railroad cars? 
 
 I will now consider tlie question of the cold. It is al- 
 leged, that the weather is so cold on the route of the 47th 
 parnllel, that it will be impracticable to work men in the 
 construction of the road for a large portion of the year, and 
 that it will bo impracticable to run cars for many days in 
 the winter. 
 
 Unfortunately for these opinions, we liappen to have 
 observations on these points, and to have great lines of 
 railroatl in operation over tracts of country as cold, and 
 even colder than the route from Fort Benton to the shores 
 of the Pacific. The mean winter temperature at Fort Ben- 
 ton in '53-'54: was 25°. 88, above zero. The average at 
 Montreal, en the Grand Trunk railroad, for the same year, 
 was 13°. 22, and for a mean of ten years 17°. 80, above zero. 
 At Quebec it was, in '53-'54, 11°. 03, above zero, and for a 
 mean of 10 years 13°. 30, above zero. On the great Kus- 
 sian railroad, from St. Petersburg to Moscow, the compari- 
 son is very similar. The mean winter temperature for a 
 series of twenty-one years at Moscow is 15°. 20, and at St. 
 Petersburg, for a mean of twenty-five years, 18°. 10, above 
 zero. 
 
 At Fort Snelling, on the great lines through Minnesota 
 from St. Paul to Pembina, and from St. Paul to Brecken- 
 ridge, now^ actually in process of construction, the mean 
 winter temperature of '53-'54 was 11°. 64, and the mean of 
 thirty-five winters 16°. 10, above zero. Thus in the winter 
 of '53-'54, an unusually cold winter, Fort Benton was 12° 
 warmer than Montreal, 14° warmer than Quebec, 14° 
 warmer than Fort Snelling, 10° warmer than Moscow, and 
 7° warmer than St. Petersburg,. Looking to the Bitter 
 Root valley, we find its average temperature in the winter of 
 '53-'54 to be 24°. 90, and in '54-'55, 30°. 30 above zero, 
 making it for the two winters respectively 10° and 15° 
 warmer than at Moscow, and 7° and 12° warmei* than at St. 
 
 t 
 
17 
 
 Petersburg. In I85ii '4 it was 12"^ warmer than at Mon- 
 treal, and 14° warmer than at Quebec. But ] will not 
 content myself with giving you the average winter temper- 
 atures: let us consider the greafcer.c cold observed. The 
 greatest cold in the winter of '53-'54 was 29° below zero 
 at Cantonment Stevens. At Fort Snelling it was 3G°, at 
 Montreal 34°, and at Que])ec 29°, below zero, from which 
 you will see, that on this route, the greatest cold is not equal 
 to the greatest cold on the route of the Grand Trunk rail- 
 road of Canada. Tlie same fact is unquestionably true of 
 the great artery of Kussia from Moscow to St. Petersburg, 
 but I have not been able to obtain the daily observations 
 for purposes of comparison. We will look at it in another 
 point of view. Take tlie number of cold days when the av- 
 erage temperature was below zero. The PA'erage tempera- 
 ture was below zero twelve days at Fort Benton, ten days at 
 Cantonment Stevens, eighteen days at Fort Snelling^ eigh- 
 teen days at Montreal, and twenty-three days at Quebec. 
 Thus you will see that tliere were more cold days on the 
 line of the Great Trunk railroad, and of tlie roads in Min- 
 nesota, than on this northern route. Having compared 
 the average winter temperatures, and the number of cold 
 days, let us look at tlie climate in another point of view. 
 Take the number of warm days when the average temper- 
 ature was above the freezing point, and I find that at Fort 
 Benton the thermometer was forty-three out of ninety days, 
 and at Cantonment Stevens thirty-two out of ninety days 
 above the freezing point, against only six days out of ninety 
 at Fort Snelling, five days out of ninety at Quebec, eight 
 days out of ninety at Montreal, and eighteen days out of 
 ninety at Albany — all in the winter of 1853-'54. 
 
 But it may be objected, that the temperature of Fort Ben- 
 ton and Cantonment Stevens is not the measure of the 
 temperature of the intermediate rocky range through which 
 the route passes, and which must be much lower. B^ortu- 
 
 nately the partv of Lieut. Grover, which has been already 
 3 
 
18 
 
 referred to in connection with the depth of snow, made ob- 
 servations of temperature on the route, and it has been 
 found by careful comparison that the party made the pas- 
 sage during the extreme cold weather of that winter, and 
 the temperatures observed, therefore, indicate tlie extremest 
 cold of the pass, and not the usual cold. A very intelligent 
 young man who accoroT)anied Lieut. Clrover to Fort Owen 
 returned immediately, and found the weather very mild and 
 pleasant in the pass, corresponding to the observed temper- 
 atures at Fort Benton and Cantonment Stevens. The mean 
 temperature in the pass from January 12th to January 
 23d, 12 days, was 10° ,!„-, below zero. At Cantonment Ste- 
 vens the mean temperature was 5°. 2, below zero; at Fort 
 Benton 7°. 3, below zero. The greatest mean cold of any 
 day observed in the pass was 22°, below zero, against 24° 
 at Fort Snelling, and a still lower figure at Pembina. 
 That the winter of '53-'54 was unusually cold in the moun- 
 tain region of the northern route, is shown in the fact that, 
 in the Bitter Root valley, the thermometer never went down 
 to zero in the winter of '54-'55, whilst it fell as low as 29° 
 below zero in the winter of '53-' 54. The average mean 
 temperature of this valley in the winter of '53-'54 was 
 24°. 90, whereas in '54-'55 it was 30°. 30. The same general 
 result, determined by observation, as regards the tempera- 
 ture of the pass, would be arrived at by using the formula, 
 that every 1,000 feet in altitude would depress the tempera- 
 ture three degrees. Now only six miles of the pass is more 
 than 5,000 feet above the sea, the greatest altitude being 
 but 6,044 feet, and the average height of the pass is but 
 about 4,000 feet. The pass, considering simply 165 miles 
 of the distance, where the altitude exceeds three thousand 
 feet, will be only from one to ten degrees colder than Fort 
 Benton, and except the six miles above mentioned only 
 from one to seven degrees colder. 
 
 Gentlemen, it seems to me that these facts, drawn from 
 official records, every one of them entirely reliable, ought 
 
1!) 
 
 V 
 
 
 to settle forever the question which has been raised preju- 
 dicial to this route, that it will be obstructed by snow and 
 cold weather. So successful has been the great rail- 
 road from Moscow to St. Petersburg, that they are now 
 pushing railroads in all directions, running* them into 
 regions truly Siberian, crossing tracts where for three 
 months the thermometer never rises above zero, and for 
 many days the temperature is lower than the greatest cold 
 ever reached in the mountains of the United States. We 
 find that Canadian roads are being extended westward 
 utterly regardless of those objections, experience having 
 shown their futility. I have lived in the snow State of 
 Maine, and am familiar with lumbering operations on 
 the Kennebec and the Penobscot, where timber is cut, 
 roads are opened, and logs hauled to the streams to have 
 them in readiness for the freshets of spring, in snow four 
 to six feet deep. We have a body of railroad engineers 
 and contractors who have gained their professional and 
 practical knowledge in these snow regions, and who know 
 that the obstacles which have been apprehended from snow 
 have all disappeared in the light of experience. It is not 
 the snow of your mountains in the interior, even if it should 
 reach a depth of from six to eight feet, that will be an 
 obstruction to the passage of cars, for by raising yc .v road- 
 bed and using the plough you can throw it off Avithout diffi- 
 culty. The snow comes not in single falls, but in succes- 
 sive falls, and there will be no difficulty in keeping the 
 track clear. On the seaboard, the snow when followed by 
 rain, and the weather suddenly turns cold, freezing the 
 sleet to the rail, may and does sometimes furnish an ob- 
 struction, that may require days to overcome. If I were 
 asked, where I should expect the most difficulty Irom snow 
 in the whole country, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, I 
 should say the first ten miles from the Atlantic ports. 1 
 cannot say this for the Pacific ports, for there snow is sel- 
 dom seen, and when it does fall it disappears in a short 
 
1 
 
 20 
 
 time. I Hhall therotbre a«Hiiriie tluit tliis route is entirely 
 practicable so I'ar as regards cold ami snow, and will pass 
 on to a more detailed view of its characteristics and its re- 
 lation to other routes. I will })resent it as a good route 
 for emigrants hy the ordinary conveyances of the country. 
 The distance from St. Paul's and the western end of Lake 
 Superior to the sliores of I'uget's sound, is in round numbers 
 eighteen hundred miles. Will the difficulties which 1 have 
 presented in tiieway of a railroad, interfere with the carry- 
 ing of the mails and the transportation of passengers the 
 entire year on this route? I think not. 1 think that 
 not only ought the mails to be ciirried over tliis route the 
 entire year, but in a limited number of days. Tiie service 
 ought to be rendered on this road in wagons in eighteen 
 days, whicii Avould be only one hundred miles a day. 
 Russia, in the matter of her enterprises for carrying the 
 mails, is ahead of any other PoAver in the world, and she 
 can give us lessons, that it will be well for us to profit by. 
 Our consul at the Amoor, Mr. Collins, has given us the 
 facts of the great postal service of Russia from Moscow to 
 Irkoutsk, in eastern Siberia. The distance is not eigliteen 
 hundred, but three thousand four hundred and twenty-six 
 miles. On this route are established two hundred and f n 
 stations, with a postmaster and the necessary relays ot 
 horses at each station. The contractors are obliged to carry 
 the mails twice a week, and they are also obliged to trans- 
 port passengers over the route at certain rates of travel, to 
 wit: at eight miles an hour in winter, six and two-thirds in 
 summer, and five and one-third in the fall. The time re- 
 quired to carry the mails over the entire route, is from 
 twenty-five to thirty days, a distance on the average of from 
 one hundred and twelve to one hundred and thirty-seven 
 miles per day, while the government couriers go over th 
 route in from fifteen to twenty days, or at an average of from 
 1*71 to 228 miles per day. That mail route is between the 52d 
 and 58th parallels, crofjses considerable mountain chains, 
 
21 
 
 and the tlicriiioint'tci' in wiiittT, on u large portion of it, is 
 habitually helow zero. At Moscow, the eastern terminus 
 of the route, the average of the thermometer is 15°, and at 
 Tobolsk 'J.'^ above zero, while at Tomsk it is 2°, and at 
 Irkoutsk l'^ below zero. Tim average temperatures for 
 January, for the three latter places, were respectively 3*^, 
 ')", and G" below zero. Mr. (.ollins himself travelled over 
 the entire route in winter and early spring, uiaking such 
 rates of travel as these. Tie travelled from Vercli-neo-dinsk 
 toChetab, oOO miles, in forty-five bours; from Irkoutsk to 
 Kvachta, li<)7 miles, in fortv-eii-'lit bours. ]3ut he mentions 
 another fact more significant still. On this distance of 3,4li() 
 miles, between tlie parallels of 52 and 58, the thermometer 
 on a large portion it, tbrougb the winter, below zero, he 
 found five hundred cities, and villages, and towns, siiowing 
 conclusivelv that the extreme cold ])resented no diJHcultv in 
 the way of the occupation of the country. This lias all 
 been done by imperial edicts, acting on a nation of serfs, 
 done simply in obedience to the idea of reverence for au- 
 thority. What will not the genius and enterprise of freemen 
 and citizens do on any of our overland routes, when the 
 government comes forward and establishes its mail service, 
 when the contractor is not hampered by petty and exact- 
 ing restrictions, and our people are left free, each man to 
 carve out his fortunes and his home. The Czar ol" 
 Russia establishes his route, and in part builds up his 
 towns and villages and cities with his prisoners of State 
 and the refuse of his jails, whereas in our case it will be 
 the very flower and substance of our people, who will apply 
 the energies of freemen and of sovereigns to the building 
 up of our routes. I therefore have a right to assume, in 
 the light of the experience of the great mail service of Si- 
 beria, that there will be no difficulty on our, comparatively 
 speaking, much milder and shorter route. 
 
 Let us look, however, to existing routes within the limits 
 of the United States. The cold on the route from St. Paul's 
 
oo 
 
 to liii CroHsu is jrrcater than in the Rocky mountuin region 
 oi the nortlieru route, and yet from 8t. raiil's to La Crosse 
 the mails will be carried this winter, a distance of nearly two 
 hundred miles, in forty-eight hours. For the last twelve 
 vears, the mails have been carried from Ht. Paul's to Pem- 
 bina, witliout, in any case, a failure to carry them in the 
 prescribed time. 
 
 The pioneers of Minnesota and the Northwest find no diffi- 
 culty in encountering the cold and attending to their out- 
 door business, and they are satisfied that the mails can be 
 carricil in that region, and passengers transported as 
 rapidly as in the Piussian service. 
 
 When we meet such men, admitted to be men of expe- 
 rience, integrity, and capacity, and who from unpromising 
 and uncertain beginnings have carved out fortune and re- 
 putation, let us accept the results of their experience and 
 observation, ratlier than the speculations of the closet and 
 the systems of the schools. 
 
 1 now come specifically to the discussion of this northern 
 route, and 1 will compare it, with all the candor and fair- 
 ness 1 am able, with other proposed routes, and endeavor 
 to show, from statistics, how much entitled it is to national 
 consideration. 
 
 llailroad lines have frequently been presented by way of 
 antagonism to water lines. Now each has its part in the 
 economical transportation of passengers and freight; rail- 
 roads cannot do away with canals, nor canals with rail- 
 roads. We find, that with the extension of our great rail- 
 road system, the canal system has also been extended in 
 an equal proportion. 
 
 New York has built her great lines of railroads, and slie 
 has also enlarged her Erie canal. The Canadas have built 
 their Great Trunk and Western roads, and now new pro- 
 jects are presented for shortening the water communication 
 from Lake Huron to the waters of the St. Lawrence. We 
 find that the cost of transporting goods on great water 
 
 f 
 
 i 
 
»»•! 
 
 lineH Ih viiHtly h'ss per mile, tlmii the lost ul" truiisportiin' 
 goods oil railrnjul lines. In a ]ai'«.,^(' ocean voyage tlio rate 
 is, j)er]iaps, one and a lialf mills per ton per mile; on n great 
 navigable river, or great canal, the amount increases to 
 two and a lialf mills per ton per mile; wliereas there is 
 no railroad line, Iniilt at liome or abroad, wliere the cost of 
 transportation will be materially less than five mills })er 
 mile, and it will vary, according to the grade of the road, 
 from five to twenty-odd mills i)er mile. Thus you will ob- 
 serve, that on the great water lines, the ocean, the Missis- 
 sippi, the great lakes and the New York canals, the cost of 
 transportation is but a fraction, seldom exceeding one-half, 
 and not often one-quarter, the cost on the railroad; and 
 hence, even in the case jf water lines closed by ice nearly 
 half the year, they will carry the heavy and ])ulky com- 
 modities, as grain, coal, and machinery; the railroads car- 
 rying the light, perishable and costly articles, where time 
 becomes an im})ortant element in the cost. If a railroad 
 communication be an inseparable connecting-link between 
 great water lines, it is entitled to special consideration. 
 Such is the proposed railroad on this northern route. It 
 connects the navigable waters of the Missouri with the 
 navigable waters of the Columbia, and at the head of 
 steamboat navigation. It connects Puget's sound and tlie 
 Columbia valley with the head of navigation of the great 
 8t. Lawrence basin, and with the heads of navigation of 
 the Mississippi and the Eed river of the north. It is the 
 shortest equated railroad line across the continent, whether 
 the eastern terminus be on the western border of the 
 States or on the Mississippi, or, in the case of the northern 
 route, on Lake Superior; and it is much the shortest lin- 
 eally of all the roads, except those from San Diego and San 
 Pedro, on the route of the 32d parallel. 
 
 In connection with either the great lakes and its system 
 of canals and rivers, or the great railroad lines of the Can- 
 adas and the United States, it furnishes the most direct and 
 
clit'upest route.' (Hi the t-oiitinent tor IVoiglits and pasHeii^cTH 
 from Asia to Eiirojje and back again, and also between 
 Asia and the people of our iS'orthwest, our West, our centre, 
 oiir East, and tlie great seats of commerce on the Atlantic 
 coast. 
 
 The lineal distances on the route of the 32d parallel 
 to the Mississii)pi are 1,748 and l,G8o, against 1.747 and 
 1,764, the lineal distances of Vancouver and Seattle from 
 St. Paul's, and against l,73i)and 1,750, the lineal distances 
 of Vancouver and Seattle from Superior C'ity; and starting 
 from tlie western border of the States, tlie lineal distances 
 on the route of the 82d parallel are 1,598 and 1,533 miles, 
 against 1,527 and 1,546 miles, the lineal distances from 
 Breckenridge to Vancouver and Seattle. 
 
 The foUoAving table is from official reports, wherein I have 
 shown the distances on an air-line between the termini of 
 the several explored j)racticable railroad lines across the 
 continent, the lineal distances, the sums of ascents and 
 descents, the equated distances in miles, the estimated cost, 
 the extent of cultivable country, *^he extent of country 
 which is less than 1,000 feet above the sea, the extent of 
 country which lies between 1,000 and 2,000 feet above 
 the sea, the extent of country between 2,000 and 3,000 feet 
 above the sea, the extent of country between 3,000 and 
 4^,000 feet above the sea, the extent of country between 
 4,000 and 5,000 feet above the sea, the extent of country 
 between 5,000 and 6,000 feet above the sea, the extent of 
 country between 6,000, and 9,000 feet above the sea, and 
 the summit of the highest pass on each route for the 
 routes of the 47th parallel, 42d parallel, 35th parallel, and 
 32d parallel. 
 
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 ^"C 
 
 r-'-a 
 
 SCO 
 
 :St^ 
 
 2 o 
 
 c4 
 
 S5 
 
 "^^ 
 
 Ch 
 
 
 
 
 
 CO "'•' 
 
 coco 
 
 •4J 
 
 
 iis 
 
 !-s i 
 
 r^ 
 
 ■1* 
 
 5 o 
 
 O -J 
 
 CO o 
 
 O " 6 
 
 i -^ V -J 
 
 --J 'O p— aj 
 
 O^OJcgCQ 
 »- CO Q f^ « 
 
 o CI 5 fl 
 
 ^ 
 
 . 5 
 
 3 3 
 
 
27 
 
 1 have assumed as the startiug point of the northern 
 route, for the purpose of this comparison, Breckenridge, on 
 the western border of the State of Minnesota, a point which 
 is a terminus of a road now actually under construction by 
 aid of the land grants of the government. 
 
 The following table makes the eastern termini at Supe- 
 rior City and St. Paul's, and of the other routes, on tho 
 Mississippi river : 
 
 *, 
 
 i 
 
28 
 
 '^ 
 
 
 K Co 
 
 •I s 
 
 o o 
 
 
 
 to 
 c 
 
 S) 
 
 0> er, 
 
 00 
 
 Si o 
 
 
 •asuddxo 
 SnxTjjoM. [Bnba jo 
 ainoj pA3[ JO qjSudi 
 
 Tfi 1:- GO rH 
 C5 «D i— GO 
 i—i O I— t O 
 
 •N rs •> 
 
 (M (M (M (M 
 
 CO 
 00 
 
 •sjuoosap 
 puw s}uaDsu JO lung 
 
 lO «.« 
 
 li- 
 
 OS J^- 
 
 GO i-i 
 
 es 
 
 T— ( r-t 
 
 c^j 
 
 CO 
 
 CO CO 
 
 •N #^ 
 
 #N 
 
 •> •\ 
 
 CO CO 
 
 (M (M cq 
 
 jb-t- t-^-. 
 oo 00 00 00 
 
 t- 10 J::- 10 
 
 (M 
 
 CM 
 
 00 
 CO 
 
 Ci 
 
 05 CO 
 
 00 o 
 
 O rH Ttl 
 
 »0 CO O 
 CO CO CO 
 
 ^ #s •% 
 
 GO O CO 
 
 CO CO CO 
 
 ■oaii p«oj[iijj 
 pasoclojd A"q soaBjsiQ 
 
 O CO -TtH Jt- 
 iO CO O '<:f 
 
 C5 
 
 CD O 
 to CS 
 CO o 
 
 '^ 'X CO 
 1-- "^i 00 
 -^ b- CO 
 
 •". •% p^ 
 
 O-l f— I T-H 
 
 o 
 
 
 o 
 o 
 
 c 
 
 OD K^ -M 
 O ?3 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 a 
 o 
 
 o 
 
 > ce 
 
 o -^ 
 
 S rt i=! 
 ^ ^ ^ 
 
 O 
 O 
 
 
 3 
 
 :3 
 
 CCCC' o 
 
 J£ a: r, 
 ^ " ^ 
 
 '^ "rt S 
 ^ t- -3 
 rt rt i; 
 
 s;-i 
 
 02 
 
 s 
 
 :3 
 
 tJ- T3 ^ S <^1 '** 
 
 - rt 
 
 j^ o c3 rt j: ^ 
 
 C^ '-S i^ i> o g 
 
 i^ o d o Jl 
 
 o o o o '^ 
 
 
 uo 
 CO 
 
 c3 
 ° o 
 
 OS 
 
 
 c ^ 
 
 '••' • ^^ 
 
 o o 
 "^ c 
 
 '-' - 
 a: 
 
 ^-< 
 
 ^ O 
 
 .- ^ 
 
 o 3 
 
 p p 
 
 ^ "13 . . , - 
 
 CO CO i^ CO CO 
 
 t- f- 5 ^ 
 
 c3 ce p c3 
 
 ri "5 
 
 o o 
 
 c 2 
 
 a 
 
 02 
 
 
 .-H 
 
 C 
 
 "n* 
 
 a 
 
 C^ 
 
 
 
 c 
 
 S 
 
 n 
 
 
 
 Ih 
 
 .ti 
 
 C 
 
 !*- 
 
 O OJ 
 
 en 
 
 S-i 
 
 ^'o 5 =s g 3 d 
 
 o o 
 
 o o 
 
 ^ I 
 
 
 
 C£ Cflas S5ft2 
 
29 
 
 
 If I am met witli the objection that the Arkansas, Missis- 
 sippi and Missouri are navigable, and that the routes on 
 the 42d, 35th and 32d parallels should be stopped short at 
 navigable waters, then, for purposes of comparison, I say 
 very well, we will stop the northern road at Fort Benton, 
 at the head of steamboat navigation of the ^Mississippi, 
 which will give a result vastly in its favor. 1 am of 
 opinion, however, that the Mississippi valley and the great 
 lakes is the proper eastern base. Thus we find — the western 
 terminus of the routes of the 42d, 35th and 3 2d parallels, 
 being San Francisco — that the lineal length of the northen 
 route is 549 miles shorter than that of the 42d parallel, 616 
 miles shorter than that of the 35th parallel, 424 miles shorter 
 than that of the 32d parallel; and that, as regards the 
 equated distances, the northern line is 689 miles shorter 
 than the line of the 42d parallel, 1,121 miles shorter than 
 the line of the 35th parallel, and 733 miles shorter than 
 the line of the 32d parallel. But, looking to tlie eastern 
 terminus, where are you when you reach the Mississippi on 
 the route of the 42d, 35th and 32d parallels? 
 
 You are on a great navigable river, from which you can 
 supply the Mississippi valley; but how will you reach 
 New York, Chicago, Portland, Boston, Philadelphia and 
 Baltimore ? 
 
 Will you tranship on the Mississippi, and take your 
 winding course by the Gulf of Mexico, or take the rail, 
 and seek some of the intermediate water lines which stretch 
 along the whole distance ? 
 
 Will you make use of the Ohio, and the railroads and 
 canals of New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia? On 
 the northern route we are on navigable waters; we are 
 now ready to enter our ships and go to Europe, or to New 
 York; or, arrived at Montreal, we can pass by rail to Port- 
 land. If we compare Chicago as a great lake port with 
 Superior City, its distance from Puget's sound on the 
 northern route ^ia St. Paul's, is 317 miles shorter than its 
 distance from Benicia via South pass. 
 
30 
 
 TJie lineal distances from Seattle via Northern route, via 
 St. Paul's, and from Benicia via South Pass, via Council 
 Bluffs, via St. Louis, to these several ports of the Atlantic 
 and Gulf coast, will be as follows: 
 
 ■'«..'• 
 
 Seattle, via ; Benicia, via 
 yt. Paul. \ yt. Louis. 
 
 Portland 
 
 Boston 
 
 ISew York 
 
 t*hiladelphia . 
 
 Baltimore 
 
 Washington.. 
 Charleston . . . . 
 
 Savannah 
 
 Mobile 
 
 New Orleans. 
 
 Averages. 
 
 3,249 
 3,352 
 3,126 
 2,988 
 2,966 
 3,004 
 3,328 
 3,313 
 3,030 
 3,115 
 
 3,831 
 3,696 
 3,546 
 3,454 
 3.355 
 3,375 
 3,445 
 3,430 
 3,147 
 3,232 
 
 3,131.1 3,453.1 
 
 Differences in 
 
 favor of 
 Nor'n route. 
 
 582 
 344 
 420 
 466 
 389 
 371 
 117 
 117 
 117 
 117 
 
 
 •V 
 
 The distance from Beuicia to St. Louis is 2,482 miles. 
 
 Thus the average distance from Seattle, via St. Paul'?;, to 
 the principal ports of the Atlantic and gulf, is 316 miles 
 less than the average from Benicia via St. Louis to the 
 game points. This saving of distance via St. Paul's ranges 
 from 117 miles, as in the case of New Orleans, to 582 
 miles, as in the case of Portland. U the equated distances 
 were used, it would make an additional difference in favor 
 of the northern route of 137 miles. Thus every 6eat of 
 commerce on the coast is nearer to Puget's sound by the 
 northern route, than to the waters of San Francisco by the 
 central route. See Appendix for the lines in detail. 
 
 I am, however, of the opinion that no single line of rail- 
 road is the proper American solution of the problem of 
 continental communication. i' 
 
 The r- thern route should not alone be patronized by 
 the government. The mail service now in operation, and 
 about to be put in operation, indicates three lines which 
 
 i 
 
■41 
 
 na 
 oil 
 tic 
 
 I in 
 
 S 
 
 'V 
 
 to 
 
 68 
 be 
 es 
 32 
 
 les 
 or 
 of 
 
 lie 
 
 lie 
 
 il- 
 of 
 
 id 
 
 3h 
 
 fihoulil share the patroiiuge of the governmeut; but thene 
 few facts as to distances, and the known relations between 
 water lines and railroad lines, must show you conclusively 
 that on this northern route must pass the great carrying 
 trade from Asia to Europe, and from Europe to Asia; that 
 on this northern route must pass Asiatic supplies for much 
 the largest portion of our own country and the Canadas. 
 It is most emphatically a national route; and if we do not 
 establish it, the British people and government will estab- 
 lish one north of the 49th parallel, and then we shall find 
 ourselves in the position of the people, from whose hands 
 had passed the sceptre of Judah. 
 
 It will be pertinent in connection with this northern route 
 for a Pacific railroad, to refer somewhat in detail to its 
 capacity for settlement. I have had the advantage of going 
 over the difficult and disputed points of this road three 
 times, and have travelled over it at various seasons of the 
 year. The last time I crossed the mountain region was in 
 the months of November and December, 1855; and I am of 
 the opinion, derived from careful, and, I trust, accurate ob- 
 servation of the country — that continuous agricultural set- 
 tlements can be planted nearly the wliole distance along this 
 line. If you will follow me on this map, you will perceive 
 that the continuous line of settlement will extend to beyond 
 James river, in the new Territory of Dacotah. From that 
 point to the entrance to the valley of Mouse river, there 
 are swales and good land from point to point, sufficient to 
 form nuclei for mail stations, at less than fifteen miles apart. 
 In this Mouse River valley there is much cultivable land. 
 In crossing the Grand Couteau du Missouri, you come to 
 an undulating and somewhat broken surface, which fur- 
 nishes tolerable grazing; but for fifty miles, not much laud 
 for settlements. When you come to the Missouri, in the 
 vicinity of Big Muddy river, you find a region for settle- 
 ments, and a large tract of country admirably adapted to 
 all kinds of cereals and vegetable)*. 
 
 f 
 
•'•) 
 oi 
 
 The Milk River valley, tliroii^-li whicli the route passes, 
 has very tine wheat lands, not simply in its own valleys 
 and those of its tributary streams, but in the adjacent prai- 
 ries. When you reach the Missouri again, you come to 
 bottoms of arable land, with groves of cottonwood, like 
 those of Milk river, of large growth, suitable for fires 
 and building. The various tributaries of the Missouri, in 
 the vicinity of the head of navigation, furnish large quan- 
 tities of arable land. 
 
 The Marias, Teton, Sun, Dearborn, High Wood, Smith's, 
 Judith, and other streams are all well adapted to settle- 
 ment. 
 
 In the .summer of 1854, explorations were made from 
 Fort Benton along the eastern base of the Rocky moun- 
 tains ; and where you see this summer isothermal line, 
 there are rich farming lands. Inspect this line, and you 
 will find it sixty degrees above zero ; and there is nothing 
 in the summer temperature which will interfere with crops. 
 Recollect that there are no chilling blasts from May to Oc- 
 tober, to blight tlie promised harvest ; and here let me 
 say, that when Lieut. Mullan passed this Divide (Mullan's 
 pass) in March, from Fort Benton, he found no snow in 
 the pass or along the route. I will therefore say, in round 
 numbers, that from Breckenridge, on the Red river of the 
 north, to the Divide of the Rocky mountains, the route 
 passes through strictly a cultivable country, capable of con- 
 tinuous settlement, except for about 150 miles, in three 
 several sections of about equal lengths ; on this j^ortion you 
 can plant agricultural settlements, at points sufficient for 
 railroad or mail stations. From near the Divide of the Rocky 
 mountains, the country is capable of continuous settlement 
 to within twenty miles of the Divide of the Bitter Root 
 mountains ; the eastern half of the great plain of the Colum- 
 bia, the northern and the southern portions, consist of rich 
 river valleys and fertile table-lands. A portion of the west- 
 ern half will not furnish arable land for continuous settle- 
 
 ; 
 
 ' 
 
'6'6 
 
 
 I 
 
 iiieiits. Between the l'ttliiinl»i;i and tlic Ca«eii<lG moiiuiitiii.s, 
 the line is flanked on the south by a large body of fertile 
 land, and passes immediately through a fine grass country, 
 and for at least half the distance through an excellent culti- 
 vable country. From the Cascade mountains to the Sound, 
 the line passes through a continuously cultivable country. 
 I estimate that the mountain region between tlie head of 
 the Missouri and the great ])lain of the Columbia, the wliole 
 intermediate country, admits < if continuous cultivation, ex- 
 cept about forty miles on tlie highest part of tlie Rocky 
 mountains, and thirty miles in the highest part of the 
 Bitter Root mountains. Look on this map: There is a 
 prairie (pointing it out on the map) of 3,000 acres, four to 
 eight miles west of the Divide of the Rocky mountains, 
 where can be raised wheat and the ordinary vegetables. 
 
 The railroad line could be laid over the great plain 
 of the Columbia so as to pass over a continuous cultivable 
 country to the Columbia, except for a few miles; but to 
 cross north of the mouth of the Snake river, which is de- 
 sirable to avoid detour, it will pass over about fifty miles 
 of country not adapted to continuous cultivation, and having 
 the general characteristics of the western half of the great 
 plains already described. I will estimate that tliere are 
 fifty miles of uncultivable country between the main Co- 
 lumbia and Puget's sound, though it is a large estimate. 
 Thus, in the whole distance from Breckenridgc to Seattle, 
 a distance of 1,544 miles, the route passes through only 
 about 320 miles of uncultivable country. East of Breck- 
 enridgc, to St. Paul's and Lake Superior, the country is 
 exceedingly rich, and inviting to the settler. 
 
 In the report of the explorations which I made in 1854, 
 I did not do justice to the route. I was over-cautious. 
 As I crossed the country, I was astonished to find it so 
 different from report, and I took great pains to guard 
 against speaking of it in terms of extravagance. Especially 
 did I do injustice to the country between the Cascades and 
 5 
 
the Bittt-r Hoot. It has since ht'oii more ciin'l'ull.v exuiiiinoil 
 by myself, and information has been collected from various 
 Kources. The Indian agents liave done much in this way, 
 in tiic discharjjje of the duty intrusted to them of ascertain- 
 ing suitable places for reservations. The agent Bolon, who 
 was murdered by the Indians at the commencement of our 
 disastrous war in the fall of 1855, had in the previous 
 summer careliiUy examined the country between the Cas- 
 cade mountains and the main Columbia, known as the 
 Yakima country, and found it much better than he sup- 
 posed it to be the previous season, when engaged on duty 
 with tlie exploration, and when he regarded it as a good 
 country. It has, unquestionably, a large quantity of 
 jrood arable land, and it is on the railroad line to Pu- 
 get's sound. From the Cascade mountains to the Sound, 
 the only diffiouUy in the way of farming will bu the im- 
 mense forest growth, which covers nearly two-thirds of 
 the country. 
 
 I have simply presented these facts to show the cul- 
 tivable character of the country. I have presented the 
 country as it is on the earth's surface. I do not desire 
 to make any invidious comparisons with other routes. 1 
 am ready to admit that other routes are equal in agricul- 
 tural capacity. I wish they were, for it is my opinion that 
 the more practicable routes we have, the more and larger 
 settlements we plant on them, the more will it help to 
 unite our country, and make us the first Power on earth. 
 
 There is another consideration, however, which I shall 
 advert to, lest invidious comparisons should be drawn 
 against the northern route in favor of more southern routes. 
 I refer to the present capabilities of this route — to the agen- 
 cies now at work to facilitate settlements, the organization 
 of a mail service, and the building of the railroad. 
 
 On this route there are already considerable establishments, 
 not simply of horses and cattle, but of farms — not merely at 
 Fort Union, and Fort Benton, but at other points, where 
 
 . ^ 
 
 \ 
 
 t 
 
ilf) 
 
 cattle and horses arc found in j^reat numbers. In tlie Flat- 
 head country there are many farms enclosed, and, although 
 they have been commenced only a few years, tliere Avill be 
 the present year a very considerable sur[)lus. At the Jesuit 
 mission in the Flathead country, they will manufacture 
 300 barrels of flour more than they will consume, nearly 
 all the wheat having been raised by the lathers and bro- 
 thers of the mission, with the assistance of such Indians as 
 *hey could get to work. ThiF flour they have contracted 
 to furnish to the forts of the American Fur Company on 
 the Missouri, and they will take it over the mountains in 
 wagons. The Indians had last year fifty tfirms, averaging 
 five acres each, under cultivation. There are in this region 
 two grist, and two saw mills. 
 
 If we pass over the Bitter Eoot mountains to tlic Spokane, 
 there we find farms, with tlieir fields, and horses, and cattle. 
 In the Colville valley, there is now a continuous settlement 
 of one hundred and twenty difierent farms. Tlie Walla- 
 Walla valley is also settled to a considerable extent. 
 
 Another thing to be considered in regard to planting set- 
 tlements through the country is that seeds, farming utensils, 
 and supplies of all kinds, both for settlers and for trav- 
 ellers, can be carried by steam to the mouth of the Pa- 
 louse, so that in connection with the running of steamers 
 on the Missouri to Fort Benton, supplies need in no 
 instance to be wagoned more than two hundred and 
 twenty-five miles, which statement shows how well prepaied 
 we are for any operation, which either the government or 
 the citizens of the country, may think proper to undertake. 
 In my railroad report of 1854, I gave a scheme, and pre- 
 sented a programme for building this road, which proposed 
 making use of the waters of the Columbia and jMissouri, 
 for transporting the workmen, and tools, and materials of 
 all kinds, and organizing the work in corresponding divi- 
 sions. One would be from Puget's sound and from Van- 
 couver to the point where the railroad line crosses the 
 
'^^^ 
 
 it to the head oi" 
 
 ition 
 
 (.'oliiinltiii, anotlicr from this point to tne Meutl oi navigni 
 iit Fort Ik'iiton, a third from Fort Benton to Fort Union, 
 nnotlior to St. Paul's, and the western end of Lake Snpe- 
 
 rud 
 
 n 
 
 Phns tlic route can he thrown intofonr divisions, on each 
 of wliieli you can work from hoth ends, so that oiglit sec- 
 tions may be worked at a time, affording extraordinary 
 facilities to hasten the construction of the road. The most 
 diiiicult of these divisions, the one between the Columbia 
 and Missouri, could be attacked almost as soon, within two 
 or three months, as those lying on the Pacific or great 
 lakes. Now, liere arc railroad men, and they know what 
 can he done. Suppose your route is established, a com- 
 pany Cornu'd, and ample mejins at hand; the only question 
 for consideration will be, what are the engineering difficul- 
 ties uu the route, and how long, if they are vigorously dealt 
 with, will it take you to run tiu» iron horse from Fort 
 Benton to the Columbia? It ii^ not necessary to wait till 
 the tunnelling is done on the route, as you can adopt, for 
 the nonce, the system of zigzags, l)y which the AUeghanies 
 are scaled in Pennsylvania. 
 
 I am sati.siied that our railroad men would not leel com- 
 plimented, if they were told they could not build such a 
 road in four years after the location was made, and every- 
 thing in readiness to commence the work. The great diffi- 
 culty will be to raise the money, and not to build the road 
 when the money is raised. Money is the sinew of railroad 
 l>rogress, as well as of war. But, sir. an engineer in pre- 
 senting his programme considers simi)ly the engineering 
 difficulties. It is for presidents, and directors, and compa- 
 nies, to raise the money. 
 
 British Columbia is attracting the attention of this coun- 
 try, and of Europe, and of course a movement will be made 
 to roach that country by great lines north of our parallel. 
 I have been thankful for this for two reasons: One, that 
 it r<'d(uinis the northern route from the reproach of being 
 
" 
 
 37 
 
 the Siberian trail, and makes it a central route with regard 
 to the water line of the great lakes; and also, because I 
 think the occupation of that country to the north of us, will 
 cause our ])rogresH to be accelerated. I desire, from reliable 
 statistics, to give some data IVom wiiich to draw compari- 
 sons between our nortliern route and the routes still further 
 north. Before doing this, however, I wish to state in the 
 most explicit manner, that in my judgment, there is a vast 
 gold region in the northwest portion of our continent. 
 Gold is not found simply in British Columbia, but for a 
 long distance south of our parallel, and extensive and re- 
 munerative diggings have been discovered in Washington 
 Territory. The gold regions of Washington extend through 
 the Cascade mountains, nortli of the Columbia, and thence 
 eastward along Clark's fork and the Kootenay river, to 
 near the llocky mountains. Geologists have passed over 
 the ground, and confirm the rejmrts of the miners, as to the 
 presence of gold throughout tliis vast region. We have 
 the evidence of officers of the army and Indian service, and 
 of reliable citizens, as to paying localities. In 1855, rich 
 paying deposits were actually worked on Clark's fork, on 
 the tributaries fiov/ing into the Columbia, from both its 
 eastern and western shores. In 1855, a great movement 
 from Oregon and Washington was directed to those mines. 
 A thousand men were on the road, when the Indian war 
 broke out, and prevented their generally reaching the 
 mines; but through the labors of the few who got to and 
 worked the mines in 1855, we became possessed ot the in- 
 formation. It is due to American citizens, that America 
 and Great Britain became possessed of reliable information 
 as to the gold of British Columbia. Had our Indian war 
 been brought to a close in 1856, as it would have been, 
 if the same uncompromising and stern measures had been 
 taken as were taken last summer, the wealth of Wash- 
 ington, its gold, its platina, and lead, and silver, and cop- 
 per, and quicksilver, would have been known to the world. 
 
S8 
 
 i\ 
 
 I I 
 
 I' ;. 
 
 .'II 
 
 •.■I' 
 
 ,..,, 
 
 ii!.:> 
 
 If you will read the most interesting narrative of Dr. Per- 
 kins, who came near losing- his life amongst tlie Indians, 
 and who prospected on Clark's fork last July and August, 
 you will see Avhy our people have not hitherto been able to 
 work the mines, ricli though they be. 
 
 The reverend Fatlier De Hmet, who went through Oregon 
 as a missionary of the Christian faith, who is reverenced by 
 Indians and by the white man, has, in his book, shown 
 how rich tlic countrv is in mineral weaLth. In conversa- 
 tion with his friends, he has dwelt particularly on the rich- 
 ness of its mines in gold. You are familiar with the char- 
 acter, experience, and great attainments of these Jesuit 
 fathers, and know that reliance can be placed on their 
 statements, in reference to tlie capabilities and resources of a 
 country, which they have examined. 
 
 Therefore, in making the comparison between the north- 
 ern route and others still further north, looking to the 
 gold region, I wish you to bear in mind that the northern 
 line leads you directly to it, as well as the lines north of the 
 49th parallel. 
 
 The distance from St. Paul's, via tlie northern route, to 
 Colville, is 1,572 miles; and thence to thcforls of Frazer's 
 and Thompson's rivers is 290 miles more, making 1,862 
 altogether. 
 
 In regard to the land route to the Saskatcliawan, from 
 St. Paul's via Fort Garry, Fort Edmonton, and Ihc Koo- 
 tenay pass to Colville, we have the narrative of Sir Geo. 
 Simpson, Avho gives a graphic account of the country and 
 the estimated distances. He cstinvites the distance from 
 Fort Garry to Colville to be nearly 2,000 miles, but his 
 own more specific statement of time and rates of travellinir 
 per day, .n.xkes it about 1,800 miles. The distance from 
 St. Paul's to Fort Garry, is given in a recent report of sur- 
 veys of the Red River country, made under the autl-ority of 
 the Canadian government, at 558 miles; from Fort Garry 
 to Edmonton 1,00{> miles; and from Edmonton to Colville 
 
 
 i 
 
:!9 
 
 800 miles; niukini;' a total of 2, ;};■)« inilcs, uguinst l,')!'! by 
 
 :ther: 
 
 ' 
 
 route, to Colville. 8ir George Simpson, how- 
 ever, made Edmonton a point of his route, in consequence 
 of its being one of tlie great trading posts, that he desired 
 to visit. A land route can unquestionably be laid two 
 hundred miles shorter, by the south branch of the Saskatch- 
 awan. To bo within limits, we wdll allow 300 miles for the 
 Edmonton detour, which will give 2,058 miles by the 
 Kootenay pass, against 1,5-72 miles by the northern route. 
 If your object, however^ is to reach the waters of Thomp- 
 son's or Frazer's river, then you must make Fort Edmon- 
 ton a point in your journey. 
 
 The route then is to the Athabasca river, 100 miles by 
 land, then up this river 150 miles, which you can ascend 
 in boats; but it wnll probably, to avoid transhipment, be 
 better to go by land; thence across the mountains by the 
 Athabasca portage 1 00 miles to the boat encampment on 
 the main Columbia — in all 350 miles from Edmonton. 
 From the boat encampment, it is about seventy-live miles to 
 the headwaters of Thompson's river, and one hundred and 
 twenty-five miles to the headwaters of Frazer's river by 
 the canoe tributary of the Columbia. 
 
 Thus, from St. Paul's to the headwaters of Thompson's 
 river, tlie distance v/ill be by land 1,983 miles, and to the 
 lieadTvaters of Frazer's river 2,033 miles. But your are 
 on the waters of rivers unfit for navigation; for, from care- 
 ful examination of narratives, I find tha'. Thompson's river 
 is never used, and Frazer's river rarely. 
 
 It is only the lower portion of Frazer's river that can Ic 
 used for a distance of one hundred and twenty miles. 
 
 From the head of Thompson's river to its junction with 
 Frazer's river, known ?« the Forks, the distance is 200 
 miles, and from the headwaters of Frazer's river to the 
 same point, 450 miles; thus making the entire distance to 
 the forks of Frazer's and Thompson's rivers, 2,183 or 2,483 
 miles, according as you follow down Thompson's oi- Fra- 
 zer s river. 
 
Ill 
 
 > I 
 
 Now lot u(s exaiiiiiic tliu Kooteiuiy, and Atluibasca piisscw, 
 ,'111(1 cornparo tluMu witli tlie jtasses on tlic northern route. 
 
 On the passes of the mountain range, in the vicinity of 
 the Missouri, no snow is to bo seen, exce])t during the hite 
 fall and winter months. In several of the passes, snow 
 does not fa.U to a suflicient depth to seriously interfere ^v ith 
 tlie travelling of animals. On the northern Little Jila'.sk- 
 ioot pass, there was no snow in the latter part of March, 
 iS,")4. Tiic height of the Divides of Cadot's and the north- 
 ern Little JUackfoot pass is but about 0,000 feet above the 
 sea. From Fort Benton by Cadot's pass to the Pacific, but 
 six miles of the country is 5,000 or more feet above the sea, 
 and but fifty-one miles is between 4,000 and 5.000 feet. 
 Pack-animals can cross all tlieso jiasses and tlirough the 
 mountains, making fifty miles per day, and expresses one 
 hundre<i miles per day. 1 have myself made the I'ormev- 
 rate, and my express men the lattei-. 
 
 Now, Sir George Simpson states that the Kootenay 
 pass is irom 7,000 to 8,000 leet above the sea; that it is in 
 the ne- 'hborhood of towering mountain peaks; that a large 
 (piantity of snow falls upon the pass, and remains there 
 till late in the spring; and that in mid .summer he found 
 tlie way difficult, in consequence of morasses and boggy 
 ground. 
 
 As regards the Athabasca portage, Pioss Cox estimates its 
 height at 11,000 feet above the sea, witii Mounts Brown 
 and Hooker in the immediate vicinity, 14,000 feet above 
 ohe sea. The pass rises up about 3,000 leet from its western 
 base. 
 
 Ross Cox made the ascent in lour and a half hours in 
 June, where he found a wilderness of snow eight feet deep, 
 and Franchere found five feet of snow on the 16th of May, 
 and was two to three hours making the ascent. Alexander 
 Ross found eight feet of snow, and was eight hours making 
 the ascent. The liiHcult and snowy character of the pass 
 is also well described by De Smet, and the narratives of De 
 
 m 
 
-n 
 
 ./ 
 
 Smet. li(»ss Cox, iMoxundei' R()ss. ami Franclici't*. sul».staii- 
 tially agree. 
 
 You thus see that the route to the forks of Frazer's and 
 Thompson's rivers, by the Athabasca portage, is not only 
 a much longer route than that by the passes of the forty- 
 seventh parallel, and Fort Colville, but is one which is ob- 
 structed by snows in the winter and spring months. 
 
 At the lieadwaters of the Columbia, and the Saskatcha- 
 '.van, the mountains, whose crest.:! were bowed down to the 
 Missouri and Clark's tributary of the Columbia, have risen 
 up again, presenting almost a wall to the transit of the 
 emigrant wagon or the railroad car. I do not call in 
 question the importance of these routes of tiie Saskatcha- 
 wan for the development of tlie Saskatchawan country and 
 British Coiambia, and thev mav bo good routes tor emi- 
 grants from the lower Red river colony. With the exten- 
 sion of settlements from Canada west to lied river, and 
 thence up the Saskatcliawan, tlie routes must be opened, 
 wliatever difficulties bo in the way, as they are necessary 
 to the development of the country. 
 
 Now let us examine, somewhat as a practical (question, 
 these great water lines of the Missouri and the Columbia. 
 In the first place, our lines are organized and inslinct with 
 life and steamers. Fc- twenty-five years steamers have 
 ascended to Fort Union, and many have gone up to points 
 noJirly half-way to Fort Benton. It may be regarded as an 
 o^'o-;.-,nized line, from the moment facilities for passengers 
 a:.: i\ hand at Fort Benton, to make the overland trip to the 
 Cciuji .bia. There is therefore on tliis route, but 450 miles 
 of land transportation between waters navigable by steam- 
 ers. N' v steamers have never run on the Red river of the 
 north, Lake Winnipeg, or the two branches of the Sas- 
 katchawan, and time is required to organize the service. 
 
 There is at the mouth of the Saskatchawan a great rapid, 
 which will require a portage. The accounts are conflicting 
 whether you can get sufficient deptli of water on the two 
 
1.1; 
 
 42 
 
 branches oi' the Saskatchawan, and 
 
 navigate 
 
 them with 
 
 '■ h 
 
 ,! I 
 
 steamers, when the river is unobstructed by ice. Sir Gleorge 
 Simpson speaks of having gone down from Edmonton to 
 Lake Winnipeg in May, in a perfectly light boat, and that 
 he was frequently obliged to get out of the boat to haul it 
 over shoal water. He stated before the select committee of 
 the British Parliament that the longest reach of navigable 
 waters was fifty or sixty miles, and that to make continu- 
 ous steamboat navigation on either branch, it would he 
 necessary to resort to canals around the rapids. 
 
 Alexander Ross, however, went down the northern 
 branch of the Saskatchawan, making no portage except at 
 the great rapids. I will, for the purpose of this com- 
 parison, take it for gra. c^ ^^at you can run with steamers 
 to Edmonton during the .son that the river is not ob- 
 structed by ice, but here is a great point of difference. 
 The Missouri river is open for more than seven months in 
 the year, and the portion of the river from Fort Benton to 
 Fort Union is open nearly eight months. 
 
 Go Avestward from the Mississippi and the climate be- 
 comes milder, and the coldest portion of the Missouii, the 
 portion in the vicinity of Forts Pierre, Clark, and Randall, 
 is never closed exceeding five months. This cold part of 
 the river opens in the month of April, whereas by referring 
 to the journals and narratives of gentlemen in the employ- 
 ment of the Hudson's Bay Company, you find that Lake 
 Winnipeg is sometimes not free from ice till June. A 
 through connection by the British system of waters, is pre- 
 vented by ice seven months in the year. Thus, the Missouri 
 is a navigable line for seven months, and Lake Winnipeg 
 and the Saskatchawan for only five months — a fact most sig- 
 nificant in regard to the facilities of the two lines in the 
 matter of an overland emigration and transportation, where 
 the distance at best is long, and where an additional month 
 or two in the length of the season, is a matter of great con- 
 sequence. Tlie f(tll(nving table will give in detail the dis- 
 
 L 
 
be 
 
 •in 
 
 taiicos from thoJSt. Paul's by tlie British water lines, to tlie 
 head of Thompson's and Eraser's rivers, to the forks of 
 the same, and to the mouth of Eraser's river. 
 
 St. Paid, via BrecJcenridge, lied river, Fort Garry, Lake 
 Winnipeg, the northern branch 0/ the Saslmtchaivan, 
 Edmonton, and Athahasca portage, to headwaters of 
 Thomp^uji's river, of Frazer's river. Forks of lliompson's 
 and Frazer's rivers, by the line of each river, and mouth 
 of Frazer's river by the line of each river. 
 
 tSt. Paul's to Breckenridge 210 by land. 
 
 Breckenridge to Fort Garry 414by\vater. 
 
 Fort Garry to entrance to Lake Winnipeg. . . 36 ** 
 Entrance of Lake Winnipeg to mouth of 
 
 Saskatchawan 260 " 
 
 Mouth of Saskatchtiwan to Edmonton 900 ' ' 
 
 Edmonton to Rocky Mountain House, on 
 
 the Athabasca 100 by land. 
 
 Up the Athabasca 150bywater. 
 
 Thence to Boat Encampment 100 by land. 
 
 St. Paul's to Boat Encampment 2,170 
 
 Thence to headwaters of Thompson's river 75 " 
 Or thence to headwaters of Frazer's river. . . 125 ' ' 
 Thence from head of Thompson's river to 
 forks of Thompson's and Frazer's rivers, 
 
 by Thompson's river route 200 " 
 
 Or thence from head of Frazer's river, forks 
 of Thompson's and Frazer's rivers, by 
 
 Frazer's river route 450 " 
 
 And thence from forks to mouth of Frazer's 
 
 river, 12(' by water, 50 by land 170 '' 
 
 Or from Boat Encampment to Colville 450 by water. 
 
 Thus, starting from St. Paul's, to reach the head of Frazer's 
 river, you have535 miles of land carriage. To reach the forks 
 of Frazer's and Thompson's rivers, by the Frazer's river 
 route, 985 miles of land carriage, and 1,760 miles water 
 
'•i^ 
 
 I !, 
 
 li 
 
 %,'\ 
 
 I 
 
 t 
 I 
 
 I 1 
 
 14 
 
 transportation. To reach the head of Tliompson s rivur, you 
 have 485 miles of hmd carriage, and 1,700 miles of water 
 transportation; and to reach the forks, hy the Thompson's 
 river route, 085 miles of land carriag-e, and 1,700 miles of 
 water transportation. To the mouth of Frazer's river, hy the 
 route of Thompson's river, the distance hy land is 735 
 miles, and by water 1 ,880 miles; and hy Frazer's river the 
 distance by Ipnd, is 1,035 miles, and by Avater, 1,880 miles; 
 or on these same water lines, to reach Colville, the distance 
 down the main Columbia ironi the Boat Encampment to 
 that point being 450 miles, the entire distance will be, by 
 water 2,210 miles, and by land 410 miles. 
 
 Now, to reach Colville, or the forks of Frazcr's river, 
 from Fort Benton, you have 480 miles of land transporta- 
 tion in the one case, and 770 in the other. 
 
 I wish now to make some comparison of the line of the 
 Missouri, and the Columbia, by the northern passes, and 
 the line of the Missouri, and the Columbia, by the South 
 })ass. This question of land or water transportation, is one 
 of exceeding consequence, looking to the interests of the 
 poi)ulation of the States and Territories bordering on the 
 Missouri river. 
 
 The following tables gi/e the distances by the northern 
 route, and the route by the South pass to Walla- Walla, Van- 
 couver, Colville, Seattle on Puget's sound, and forks of 
 Frazcr's and Thompson's rivers: 
 
 St. LouiH via Missouri and pass of \^th yarallGl to Van- 
 couver, 
 
 St. Louis to Fort Benton 2,415 miles by water. 
 
 Fort Benton to mouth of Palouse . . 450 '' by land. 
 Mouth of Palouse to old Fort Walla- 
 Walla 81| '' by water. 
 
 Old Fort Walla-Walla to Vancouver 210 '' by water. 
 
 or which 450 miles by land and 
 2,700 by water— in all 3,150| " 
 
ir, 
 
 St. Louis via /South pans to Vancouver. 
 
 Distance up Missouri to St. Joseph 480 by water. 
 
 f^' Joseph, by South pass, to ohl Fort 
 
 WaUa-Walla 1,755 by Land. 
 
 Old Fort WaUa- Walla to Vancouver 210 by water. 
 
 Giving an aggregate of C90 miles by water and 1,755 
 miles by land — in all 2,445. 
 
 St. Louis by Northern 2^ciss to Oolvillc, and forks of Thomp- 
 son's and Frazers rivers. 
 
 St. Louis to Fort Benton 2,415 by water. 
 
 Fort Benton to Colville 480 by land. 
 
 Thence to Forks 290 " 
 
 Making an aggregate of 2,895 miles to Colville, and 3,285 
 
 miles to forks of Thompson's and Frazcr's rivers; of which 
 
 only 480 miles arc by land to the first point, and 790 to 
 
 the second point. 
 
 St. Louis hij South ^>a6'6' to Colville, and forks of Thomp- 
 son's and Frazer's rivers. 
 
 St. Louis to St. Joseph 480 miles. 
 
 St. Joseph to New Fort Walla- Walla 1,730 " 
 
 New Fort Walla- Walla to Colville 180 " 
 
 Colville to forks Thompson's and Frazer's 
 
 rivers. -^0^ 
 
 or 480 miles by water, and 2,200 by land. 
 
 St. Louis by Northern pass to Seattle. 
 
 St. Louis to Fort Benton •..•• 2,415 miles. 
 
 Fort Benton to Seattle • 720 '' 
 
 St. Louis by South pass to Seattle. 
 
 St. Louis to St. Joseph 480 miles. 
 
 St. Joseph to old Fort Walla- Walla 1,755 " 
 
 Old Fort Walla-Walla to Seattle 240 '' 
 
 or 480 miles by water, and 1,999 by land. 
 
 But it is practicable to follow the route of Clark's fork to 
 Colville, and make use of a reach of its navigable waters. 
 
 ,^ 
 
I I 
 
 
 11 " 
 
 ' 'I 
 
 
 'I • 
 
 '■I ( 
 
 46 
 
 The river from Horse Plain to below the Peiid d' Oreille 
 lake, is navigable by boats and steamers. 
 
 Recollect that here we have those rich gold mines to 
 which I have referred. 
 
 The distances from Fort Benton to Colville, by the route 
 of Clark's fork, arc as follows: 
 Fort Benton to Horse Plain, by cut- 
 off from Blackfoot valley to the 
 
 Jocko tributary of Clark's fork... 270| mile« by land. 
 Thence down Clark's fork to old 
 
 Pend d' Oreille mission 195 '* by water. 
 
 Thence by land to Colville 60 ' * by land. 
 
 or 330^ miles by land, and 195 by water. 
 
 Steamers drawing from twenty to twenty-four inches of 
 water, can run on a reach of eighty miles of this distance 
 in low water, and a much longer portion of it in high 
 water. There are two short portages on the remaining 
 portion of the distance at low water. 
 
 I hr , e probably gone into this (question of comparative 
 distances at this time with sufficient detail. 
 
 I wish now to make a few remarks as to the practicability 
 of railroad routes north of the 49th parallel. 
 
 If you will look at the map, you will see that Seattle is 
 the easternmost point, of all the harbors of that system of 
 waters in American and British territory on the northwest, 
 which have an entrance to the ocean by the Straits of San 
 Juan de Fuca; that north of Seattle the coast tends some- 
 what rapidly westward; so that, assuming either St. Paul's 
 or the western end of Lake Superior as the eastern ter- 
 minus, the air-line to any harbor north of Seattle will be 
 longer than an air-line to Seattle. It is obvious also from 
 the inspection of the map, that to reach the base of the 
 llocky mountains, the course must be longer than to reach 
 the base of the mountain by the route of the forty-seventh 
 parallel, for the air-lines are longer, and it is not possible, 
 from the course of the streams, that there is less deflection 
 from a straight line. The very first link from St. Paul's to 
 
 I 
 
17 
 
 J'embina gives a greater northern dellection Ironi 1 he course 
 tlian any by the northern route. 
 
 The air-line distances from the base of the mountains, in 
 the neighborhood of the Saskatchawan, to any part of 
 British Columbia, will be longer than those from the base 
 of the Kocky mountains, in the forty-seventh and forty- 
 eighth parallels, to Seattle. 
 
 The following table gives the air-line distances from Su- 
 perior City and St. Paul's to Seattle, on Puget's sound, Van- 
 couver, on the Columbia river. Fort Benton and Pembina ; 
 from Fort Benton, to Seattle and Vancouver; from Edmonton 
 to Pembina, and the mouths of Frazer's and Salmon rivers, 
 in British Columbia. Salmon river was struck by Sir 
 Alexander McKensie, in his trip to the Pacific, in 1793: 
 
 ' 
 
 Seattle. 
 
 Van- 
 couver. 
 
 Fort 
 Benton. 
 
 Pembina. 
 
 Mo. of 
 Fruzer R. 
 
 Mo. of 
 Salmon R. 
 
 Superior City. 
 
 St. Paul's 
 
 Fort Benton.. 
 Edmonton .... 
 
 1,412 
 
 1,403 
 
 545 
 
 1,455 
 
 1,435 
 
 592 
 
 867 
 859 
 
 276 
 339 
 
 767 
 
 540 
 1,176 
 
 646 
 
 Pembina 
 
 
 
 
 1,377 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 From which we deduce the following facts: The air-line 
 distance from Superior City to Fort Benton, is 867 miles, 
 against 1,043 miles from Superior City, via Pembina, to 
 Edmonton ; from St. Paul to Fort Benton 859 miles, against 
 1,106 from St. Paul, via Pembina, to Edmonton; and that 
 the air-line distances from Fort Benton, to Seattle and Van- 
 couver are respectively 545 and 592, against 540 and 646 — 
 the air-line distances from Edmonton to the mouths of 
 Frazer's, and Salmon rivers. The air-line distances from 
 Superior City and St. Paul's, via Fort Btnton, to Seattle, are 
 1,412 and 1,404 miles, against 1,646 and 1,752 miles — the 
 air-line distances from St. Paul's, via Pembina and Edmon- 
 ton, to the mouths of Frazer's and Salmon rivers, and against 
 
!i (! 
 
 ' \' :, . 
 
 I 
 
 48 
 
 1,58:5, ami 1,1181) miles, llu' tiir-iiiic diHljiiu'cs Iroiii Si^tcrioi' 
 City, via Pembina and l'](lm(»nton,tot]io inoutlis oi'Krazer's, 
 and Salmon rivers. 
 
 Thus, tlie air-lino distances from >St. Panl's and Superior 
 City to the Pacific, arc from 171 to 348 miles shorter by 
 the route of the 47th paiallel, tlian by the routes through 
 P>ritis]i Columbia and the Saskatchawan. 
 
 Consider the course of the rivers on the route of the 
 forty-seventh and forty-eighth parallels. Look at the 
 Missouri and Clark's fork, look at the general course of the 
 Spokane, Bitter Root, and St. Regis de Borgia rivers, and 
 see how, by careful ex})loration, a nearly due cast and west 
 connection has been made, between the Flathead (;ountry 
 and the great plain of the Columbia. This interior plain 
 enables us to lay a co^'\. .ratively straight line across it, 
 from the mountain region of tlie Bitter Koot, to tlie Cascade 
 mountains. Can it be so in British Columbia? Tlio 
 streams run nearly north and south, and are separated by 
 high mountain spurs. If use is made of the Kootenay 
 pass, then the route must either go south of the 4yth 
 parallel, or it must cross the dividing ridge between the 
 Kootenay and the main Columbia, giving one mor<j chain 
 to cross than the route by the Athabasca portage. 
 
 It is not possible that a course can bo laid across the 
 streams and dividing ridges from the base of the moun- 
 tain passes north of the 49th parallel, which, starting from 
 Lake Superior and St. Paul's, will not be several hundred 
 miles longer than the nortliern route. These are obvious 
 and natural inferences, drawn from what we know of the 
 geography of the country. We cannot speak positirely as 
 to what paFi the British route will cross. I und(rstand 
 that Col. 1 aliser, in the service of the British govern- 
 ment, crossed the Kootenay pass the last summer on his 
 way to the Pacific, charged with an exploration of the 
 country. 
 
 The following table gives the sailing distances from the 
 
 4 
 
4« 
 
 piincipul povls t>r Ahju It) tlh»sc ot'diir wcslmi roast; IVuni 
 which it will bo fieen, that Seattle's Jivcu'iige distance from 
 the ports of Asia is twenty-five miles less than Vancouver's, 
 sixty-three miles less than San Francisco, 368 miles less 
 than San Diego, and sixty-five miles less than Mazatlan. 
 As regards the four ports, tlie mouth of the Amoor, Shang- 
 hae, Canton, and Calcutta, the average (listan(;eH are re- 
 spectively 54, 206, 532, 1,212 miles h-ss tlian to the 
 other ports. 
 
 "[■ 
 
 I 
 
 o 
 
 From Amoor 
 
 From Shanghae... 
 
 From Canton 
 
 From Calcutta 
 
 From Melbourne.. 
 From Sandwich Is 
 
 Average distances. 
 
 3,850 
 5,140 
 5,900 
 8,730 
 7,280 
 2,380 
 
 5,542 
 
 
 2 •>. 
 
 
 cv 
 
 lb 
 
 y. ;: 
 
 
 I H 
 
 3,895 
 5,215 
 5,975 
 8,805 
 7,205 
 2,305 
 
 4,110 
 5,430 
 6,140 
 8,970 
 6,930 
 2,050 
 
 5,567 
 
 5.605 
 
 4,520 
 5,830 
 6.550 
 9,380 
 6,990 
 2,190 
 
 5.390 
 6,700 
 7,380 
 10,210 
 7,125 
 2,835 
 
 5,910 6,607 
 
 If we look to European connections, the following table 
 gives the distances from Liverpool, Havre, and Bremen, to 
 Halifax, St. John's, Portland, Boston, and New York: 
 
 
 To 
 Halifax. 
 
 To St. 
 .John's. 
 
 To Port- 
 land. 
 
 To To New 
 Boston. York. 
 
 From Liverpool 
 
 ' ' Havre 
 
 2,430 
 2,540 
 
 3,080 
 
 1,960 
 2,070 
 2,610 
 
 2,750 
 2,860 
 3,400 
 
 2,800 
 2,910 
 3,450 
 
 2,970 
 3,080 
 
 '' Bremen 
 
 3,620 
 
 
 
 There is a scheme on foot of a railroad communication 
 from both Halifax and St. John's to Quebec. The distance 
 
 7 
 
Hi 
 
 4 
 
 ') 
 
 li.l 
 
 •111 
 
 11 
 
 !!•'■ 
 
 5(1 
 
 I'roiu Uiililiix lo (^hu'lu'c will lie iVMS miles, uiid iVoru JMoii- 
 treal 801) miles, and from St. John's to Quebec about the 
 same distance; making llie entire di.stancc^ by railroad, from 
 Western connections, 511 miles shorter to Porthind tlian 
 to Halit'ax and St. .Fohn's. Tbis great increase of distance 
 cannot compensate for the less ocean distance from the two 
 British posts. Wc thus stand in this strong position; the 
 great water-line of the lakes, and its system of canals and 
 rivers, has the shortest railroad connections with American 
 ports, both on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts; making Tu- 
 get's Sound the great port for all seasons of the year, and 
 Portland the winter port of the Canadas, and the depot for 
 the business wliicli will pass over the rail at all seasons of 
 the year. 
 
 Mr. President, I did not suppose, when I entered upon 
 tbis subject, that I shouM occupy so mucli time. There 
 are otlier subjects tluit I desire much to dwell upon, in 
 regard to which 1 have made a most careful examination. 
 Since 1 accepted the invitation of your committee to address 
 your society on the subject of the Northwest, I have en- 
 deavored to exhaust all existing information respecting the 
 climate of this great region of country. 
 
 I will refer for a single moment to the isothermal lines 
 laid doAvn upon this map. 
 
 In constructing this isothermal map, the curves have not 
 been reduced to the level of the sea, but liave been laid on 
 the natural surface of the ground. They have been de- 
 duced from the observations of temperature brought down 
 to the present time. This method, though not strictly 
 correct, w^ill be near enough for practical purposes. The 
 rolling character of a country will make it impossible to 
 arrive at perfect accuracy in establishing the isothermal 
 curves of the natural s irface. But it is not probable that 
 the error in any case w ill exceed one degree. 
 
 The altitudes of important points, as the passes of the 
 Rocky, Bitter Root, Cascade, and Sierra Nevada mount- 
 
 I 
 
 ■-i 
 
II- 
 ho 
 )in 
 an 
 
 ■TICO 
 
 wo 
 
 51 
 
 H...O, iini)ortjuit key puirit.s, sis Fort Uiiioi), Fort 15«.'iitoii, 
 Fort Lurainic, Salt Lake, Cantoiinu'iit StovciiH, of tlio lar<''o 
 valleys and prairies, are laid down. 
 
 To construct the isothermal chart reduced to tjie level of 
 the sea, the result of observations at a given ]ioint are 
 modified hy the formula that every one tliousaiid ieet in 
 altitude is equivalent to a diflerence of threes decrees in 
 temperature. Thus an increase of tliree degrees for every 
 thousand feet of altitude will, applied to the several ])oints 
 named, furnish data by which the isothermal curves re- 
 duced to the level of the sea can be constructed. 
 
 Let me call your attention to the remarkable fact, that 
 as you go westward from the Mississippi the climate rapidly 
 becomes milder; that though the Missouri river takes a 
 great course northward, the mean winter temperature of 
 Fort Benton is ten degrees higher than Fort Pierre, though 
 the latter is more than 1,000 feet lower, and three degrees 
 further south than the former. The climate of the western 
 coast, is very similar to that of the western coast of Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 Examine, Mr. President, for one moment, that country 
 stretching from Wisconsin through Minnesota to the Red 
 river of the North, through which American, and English, 
 and Canadian captalists are now projecting great lines of 
 railroad communication to reach British Columbia. And 
 unless the Congress of the United States can cease its discus- 
 sions, andventure upon action, even our people in the North- 
 west will, in self-defence, have to join hands with the Catia- 
 das, tnat they may have a passage to the Pacific, even 
 though it be on British soil, and cause to grow up a great 
 commercial and controlling British port on the west- 
 ern coast. These facts are full of significance. They should 
 dissipate doubts, and impress us with the importance of 
 rising up to the height of this great argument, and witli 
 faith and steadiness enter upon, and accomplish the woik 
 of binding together the shores of our great oceans. 
 
 i^^ijtj 
 
I I 
 
 VH! 
 
 ii;:' 
 
 A P P E i\ T) 1 X . 
 
 Ill 
 
 'If' 
 
 The ibllowing tiihh' gives the lines in detail, and on sev- 
 rial routes, as re<^ai'ls some of the most importants ports. 
 Tlic least distance has been in each case taken. 
 
 SIIOUTKST TJJAVKLLED ROUTES. 
 RAILWAY ROUTES. 
 
 PortUuid, JIc, to St. FauVs, Jllnnesota. 
 
 Grand Trunk Railroad- -Portland to Montreal.. 292 miles. 
 
 Montreal to Toronto... 333 
 
 *Toronto to Sarnia 180 
 
 Detroit and Mihvuukio llailroad — *Sarnia to 
 
 Grand Haven 280 
 
 Grand Haven steamers — Grand Haven to Mil- 
 
 waukie 75 
 
 La Crosse and Milwaukie liailroad — *Milwaukie 
 
 to St. Paul's 325 
 
 1,485 
 
 Pitriland to St. Louis. 
 
 Portland to Montreal 292 
 
 Montreal to Torontc 333 
 
 Toronto to Hamiltoi' 38 
 
 Hamilton to Windsor 186 
 
 Detroit to Lake Station 260 
 
 Lake Station to Joliet 45 
 
 Jolict to St. Louis \ 245 
 
 St. Louis to Portland 1,399 
 
 '•Unfinished 
 
53 
 
 Neto York to St. Faults, via 
 Hiidsuii liiver llailruad — New York to Albany.. 144 inilus. 
 
 New York Central — Albany to N. Falls o05 
 
 Great Western Canal — N. Falls to Detroit or 
 
 Windsor 221) 
 
 iliciiigan Central — Detroit to Chicago 284 
 
 Chicago, 8t. Paul's and F. D. L. Railroad — 
 
 ♦Chicago to St. Paul's 400 
 
 1,302 
 
 Boa ton to St. Louis, via Chicago. 
 As above — Boston to Chicago 1,018 
 
 C/hicago and 8t. Louis — Chicago to St. Louis.. 256 
 
 1,204 
 
 New York to St. Louis, as above 1,208 
 
 Boston to St. Paul's. 
 Western Railway — Boston to Albany 200 
 
 As above — Albans to St. Paul's 1,218 
 
 1,488 
 
 Philadelphia to St. PauVs, via 
 Pennsylvania Central — Philadelphia to Pitts- 
 burg 353 
 
 Pittsburg, Fort Wayne and Chicago — Pittsburg 
 
 to Chicago 471 
 
 Chicago, St. Paul's and F. D. L. — *Chicago to 
 
 St. Paul's 400 
 
 1,224 
 
 Baltimore to St. Paul's, via 
 Northern Central — Baltimore to Harrisburg, . . 84 
 Pennsylvania Central — Harrisburg to Pittsburg. 247 
 
 As above— Pittsburg to St. Paul's 871 
 
 1,202 
 
 Washington to St. Paul's, via 
 
 Baltimore & Ohio— Washington to Baltimore. 38 
 
 Baltimore to St. Paul's... 1,202 
 
 1,240 
 
f 
 
 ;' I 
 
 
 ,1 
 
 i! 
 
 li ' 
 
 Hi'. 
 
 
 51 
 
 Philadelphia to Chicago, as above 824 miles. 
 
 Baltimore to Chicago ' ' 802 
 
 Washington to Chicago •' 840 
 
 Charleston to St. Louis, via 
 
 South Carolina Kailroacl and C. — Charleston to 
 
 Chattanooga 446 
 
 M- nphis and Charleston — Chattanooga to Cor- 
 inth 217 
 
 Mobile and Ohio — *Corinth to Cairo 175 
 
 Illinois Central — Cairo to Sandoval 114 
 
 Ohio and Mississippi — Sandoval to St. Louis... 61 
 
 1,013 
 
 Charleston to St. Paid's, via 
 
 As above — Charleston to Cairo 838 
 
 Illinois Central- Cairo to Dunlieth 45 1 
 
 Mississippi River — Dunlieth to St. Paul's 275 
 
 1,564 
 
 Neiv York to St. Louis via Dunkirk and Indianapolis. 
 
 New York and Erie Railroad — New York to 
 Dunkirk 469 
 
 Lake Shore — Dunkirk to Cleveland 143 
 
 Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati — Cleveland 
 Crest li ne 67 
 
 Indiana and Bellefontaine — Crest line to In- 
 dianapolis 206 
 
 Terre Haute and Richmond — Indianapolis to 
 Terre Haute 73 
 
 Terre Haute and St. Louis — Terre Haute to St. 
 Louis 183 
 
 1,141 
 
 Neio York to St. Louis via Philadelphia. 
 
 New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Com- 
 pany—New York to Philadelphia 93 
 
 Pennsylvania Central— Philadelphia to Pitts- 
 '"•i"g 353 
 
.>i) 
 
 Olevelaiul and Fittsburji; — rittshiiri'' 1«» \V heel- 
 
 er 
 
 ing 03 miles. 
 
 Central Ohio — Wheeling to Colunbiis 141 
 
 Columbus and Xenia — Columbus toXenia.... 55 
 
 Indiana Central — Xenia to Indianapolis 124 
 
 As above — Indianapolis to St. Louis 256 
 
 1,115 
 
 Fhiladelphia to St. Louis, as above 1 ,022 
 
 New York to St. Louis via Baltimore and Ohio, Marietta 
 and Cincinnati, and Ohio and Mississii)pi llailroad. 
 
 As above — New York to Philadelphia 1)3 
 
 Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore — 
 
 Philadelphia to Baltimore 98 
 
 Baltimore and Ohio — Baltimore to Marietta... 383 
 Ohio and Mississippi — Cineinnati to St. Louis. 340 
 
 1,114 
 
 Baltimore to St. Louis, as above 923 
 
 Washington '' " 943 
 
 Savannah to St. Louis, via 
 Georgia Railroad — Savannah to Chattanooga.. 431 
 As above — Chattanooga to St. Louis 567 
 
 998 
 
 Savannah to St. Paul's, as before 
 
 Savannah to Chicago " 
 
 Charleston to Chicago '' 
 
 ,. 1,549 
 ,. 1,178 
 ,. 1,193 
 
 3fohile to Chicago, via 
 
 Mobile and Ohio— *Mobile to Cairo 540 
 
 Cairo to Chicago 355 
 
 89f 
 
 o 
 
 Mobile to St. Louis, as before 715 
 
 BTobile to St. Paul, via 
 
 Mobile and Ohio— *Mobile to Cairo 540 
 
 Illinois Central — Cairo to Dunlieth 451 
 
 Mississippi river — Dunlieth to St. Paul's 275 
 
 1,266 
 
I 
 
 ') 
 
 or. 
 
 New Orleans to St. Louis, via 
 N. 0. 1. and (I. N. Miss. C. and M. 0. R. R. - 
 
 *New Orleans to Cairo 625 miles. 
 
 As above — Cairo to St. Louis l75 
 
 800 
 
 New Orleans to Chicago, as above 980 
 
 New Orleans to St. Paul's, as above 1,351 
 
 
 .i., 
 
 II 
 
3S. 
 
 00