32d CONGBESS,              [ SENATE. ]
1st Session.                                           No. 67.
MEMORIAL
OF
HENRY O'R( I'lLLY,
PROPOSING
J, system of intercommunication by mail and telegraph, along a military
road through our own Territories, between the.ltlantic and Pacific
States, (being the plan approved by the St. Louis national convention,
in 1849.)
APRIL 6, 1852.
Referred to the Committee on Territories, and ordered to be printed.
Telegraphic and letter-mail communication with the Pacific-including
the protection of emigrants and the formation of settlements along
the route, through JYebraska, Deseret, California and Oregon, with
branches to JYew iJlexico, 4c. —and facilitating the correspondence
across the American continent between Europe, China, Hawaii, 2lustralia, the British and Russian dominions on the northern coast, &-c.-(J.
plan approved by the national convention at St. Louis, in 1849.)
1. The extraordinary events connected with the sudden colonization of
California having quickened the public mind respecting the plan previously
published by the undersigned for extending the telegraph to the Pacific
ocean, the attention of the federal government is now again respectfully.invite(d towards the propositions in the memorial which Senator Douglas of
Illinois, (chairman of the Committee on Territories,) presented on his behalf
at a former session, three years ago.
2. The general character of the lines (about seven thousand miles) of
telegraph already constructed under the arrangements of'the undersigned,
in the first division of the "Atlantic and Pacific telegaph range," eastward
of the Mississippi —lines constructed amid difficulties probably unparalleled
in the history of any similar enterprise-may indicate to Congress whether
the undersigned would now propose any impracticable plan for completing
-the comparatively short section of two thousand miles, between Missouri
and California.
3. The fact that the undersigned solicits neither money nor favor from
the federal government, may at least free this memorial from some of the
difficulties usually connected with individual applications for governmental
attention. The undersigned asks nothing from that government which
should not be shared in common with all citizens whose business requires
protection of life and property across the public domain. Having been
sustained by public confidence, and not by any governmental assistance,
from the cowmencement of telegraphing in America down to, the present




t[6t1                           l
period, he prefers to continue that reliance upon his fellow-citizens, individually-being well assured of adequate support in this enterprise from energetic capitalists and business-men-rather than solicit from government any
assistance which may not be commonly enjoyed by all persons who embark
their lives and property in telegraphic or other enterprises through the public domain between Missouri and California.
4. Annexed is a brief statement of the proposition respectfully submitted
now, as at a former session of Congress-a proposition which has met with
much public favor wherever it is understood, as shown by the newspapers
of Missouri and other States, as well as by the report of the general committee of the St. Louis national telegraph and railroad convention, as
shown in the pamphlet, wherein that committee republish the propositions,
and expressly declare their hearty approval of the course proposed by the
undersigned for extending the telegraph to the Pacific. (A.)
The proposition is substantially to the following effect: That Congress
shall pass a law providing that instead of establishing forts, with hundreds
of men at long intervals apart, the troops designed for protecting the route
shall be distributed in a manner better calculated to promote that and other
important objects, on the principal route through the public domain;
namely, by stationing parties of twenty dravoons at stockades twenty miles
apart, and providing also, that two or three soldiers shall ride daily, each
way, from each stockade, so as to transport a daily express letter- mail
across the continent; while at the same time protecting and comforting the
emigrants and settlers, and thus incidentally furnishing all the protection
which the undersigned invokes as a necessary preliminary for completing
the comparatively short link of telegraph between Missouri and California —
short, comparatively, as contrasted with the seven thousand miles of telegraph constructed under his arrangements in the first division of the Atlantic
and Pacific telegraph.'
5. The public intelligence, when fully directed to these subjects, will
readily perceive the instantaneous and immense influence which such a
simple and economical telegraph and letter-mail system across the American
continent would effect in revolutionizing the correspondence. of the world,
as well as in promoting the perpetuity of the Union, and in advancing the
settlement and security of vast regions which cannot be settled without
some such protection as may thus be afforded by a proper distribution of
the troops already employed ostensibly for repelling the Indians along the
route to the Pacific.
6. Mature investigation and reflection, after consultation with friends
familiar with the plains and mountains, warrant the undersigned in saying
that those arrangements, faithfully carried out with military precision by
relays from each stockade, would guarantee the transmission of daily lettermails'between Missouri and San Francisco (a distance of about twenty-three
hundred miles) with almost equal speed and certainty as the steamer-mails
between New York and Liverpool-certainly with greater speed and regularity than the winter mails between New York and the western frontiers
of Missouri and Arkansas-'incidentally rendering this line one of the best
and quickest mail lines in the world? and also the most economical, by
causing the mounted soldiery to transport letter-mails without extra expense-while securing amplest supervision of the telegraph, and protecting
and encouraging travelling and emigration in the most efficient mannerwhile colonizing the country along the route, and securing friendship with




3                            [6T1
the Indians by ffrnishing market for their game antd frs —and  while offering inducements fbr the immediate cultivation io land around the stockades
for supplying travellers —making a continuous line of well-organized settlements whereat emigrants and travellers could readily find shelter and sustenance, together with telegraphic and mail facilities for comnmunicating
with their distant friends, instead of being debarred from correspondence
for months, as at present: while travelling between the Mississippi and the
Pacific.
7. While either one of the foregoing considerations is seemingly sufficiently important to justify prompt action on the part of thle government,
the movement would also be useful as preliminary to the stupendous railroad schemes which are now justly exciting attention among the American
people.
8. This project did -not originate in) the excitements co.nnected with the
modern Eldorado. It was first submit-ited to and approved by the wtestern
press and people, waen the undersigned first extended the telegraph lines
to the MItississippi, in lthe  inter of 1-84I7, as showin by the publications of
that period. (B.)  Before California was ceded by.Mexico —before the
golden attra ctions of tlhat region were known. —-ihis policy seemned sufficiently important lo command attention and anprobation in the western
States, and wherever else the subject was examined. The language of the
St. Louis and otLher journals, and the adoption and aprobation of the proposition by t-he committee of the great St. Louis convention, show th'at the
value of thle enterp rise was coolly calculated by gentleme-n famili-ar with
the emigrlation, and. with the country between the "' old Steates " and the
Pacific coast, and writh the vast commerce of that ocean which mirght seemingly be brought I'vwithin hailing distance" of the Atlant:ic, through the
instrumentality oief the telegraph. And if the objects were satisfaiectory to
inquiring miids, in the ten condition of the country, it may vell be imagined that the policy is now vastly more important, in view- of the revolution suddenly effected in the relations bettween th e Atlantic and Pacific
coasts, in view of the recent acquisitions of territory, the rapid development
of population and wealth, tanid the extension of goverinmenrtal institutions
along the shores of the Pacific, in Oregon as well as in C'al'ornia, superadded to the increased ex'te-,t of Americn and fireign commerce afloat on
that ocean; the importlance of which considerations is sfficeiently indicat 2ed
by the extraordinary sudienness of establishing State sovereignty (instead
of territorial government) on the Paific sope  o te o i eocky -mountains.
9. The undersigned has already corpleted far more extensive telegraph
lines than he promised at the commencement of the enterprise, those lines
extending between the Ptlani tc the   lakes and the Misssissippi, froi the
British f ont er to tne Gulf of Mexico-mlaking a total of nearly seven
thousand miles, with four thousand nore under contract for construction;
and the American people can judge whether the person vwho arranged this
extensive system of telegraph lines would be likely to propose any impracticable plans for comrpeting the coraparatively snort section between the
Mississippi abnd the Paci fc.
10. With ttiese remarks, from which the President and the Congress of
the United States may iudge of the attention bestowed by the undersigned
on the subjents to which he now again respectfully invies examination, he
submits this mnemorial, praying, not for money or flavor for himself, but
merely that the present military force may be so distributec   along the line




67 ]                           4
as to protect all citizens who, like himself, may desire to promote or effect
communication through the public domain, from the Missouri frontier,
through Nebraska and Deseret, to California and Oregon, in which latter
countries he has already contracted with responsible parties for the extension
of the telegraph system, in unison with his arrangements on the Atlantic
side of the continent.
11. This memorial is published in the newspapers, that the public may
understand the precise nature of the plan proposed by the undersigned for
completing the telegraphic connection across the American continent, which
has met with much favor from various quarters-for the further purpose of
answering many inquiries addressed to him from various sections-and for
the purpose, also, of enabling those who are interested in the subject, (and
who is now without some interest in the matter?) to determine whether any
action is necessary on their part to promote the adoption by Congress of
some efficient "plan for promoting telegraphic and letter-mail communication with the Pacific-including the protection of emigrants, and the formation of settlements along the route-and facilitating the correspondence
across the American continent, between Europe, China, Hawaii, Australia," &c.
12. With such a system promptly and liberally carried into effect, the
undersigned does not hesitate to repeat the prediction, that, within two
years at furthest, the European news may be published on the American
shores of the Pacific ocean within one week from the sailing of the steamers on the "shortened route" between the old world and the new.
13. This whole subject acquires additional importance from the immense
rivalry suddenly aroused respecting the vast regions on the Pacific, between
which regions and Europe the telegraph across the American continent will
prove inestimably valuable in the transmission of intelligence and the regur
lation of trade.
The condition of society presents few cases wherein moderate means may
be rendered more quickly productive of magnificent results for the welfare
of mankind.
HENRY O'RIELLY.
NEW YORx, December, 1851.
PROPOSAL FOR EFFECTING THE PROJECT.
1. Influenced by the foregoing and other important considerations connected with the social, commercial, and political interests of the United
States, (and who will doubt that such a system is of high import to the
happiness and prosperity of our rapidly expanding settlements, and also for
the harmonious preservation of our national confederacy.)
2. And encouraged by the general approbation bestowed upon the project wherever it is understood, (and it was understood by those who compqsed the great national telegraph and railroad committee at St. Louis, in
1849, and by many of the leading journals of the United States, brief extracts of whose expressed opinions are hereto annexed.)
3. The undersigned respectfully invokes the attention of the federal government to the propriety of passing a law, at the earliest practicable period,
for accomplishing the objects briefly outlined in this memorial, with the
least practicable delay, with a view to arrangements for the coming season
on the plains and mountains, which law shall authorize the executive de



~~~5                [;67fl
partment of the federal government to designate a suitable route, which
shall be declared a "post road," and station the troops in stockades of say
twenty dragoons, at distances twenty miles apart; and shall also authorize
the formation of a contract with such person or persons as may offer most
advantageous terms for the public interest, for the transmission of express
letter-mails, deliverable within ten days at each extremity of the route,
on the Pacific and on the Mississippi river; having reference in this contract, also, to the employment of the dragoons in carrying the letter mail
bags, while patrolling daily between the stockades foi the protection of
travellers; and having reference, also, in all the arrangements, to the encouragement and protection of. a line of electric telegraph, connecting all
the stockades along the route, for the transmission of governmental despatches, as well as the despatches required by the social, commercial, and
political relations of the people generally throughout the United States.
These telegraph and mail arrangements being incidentally calculated to
"promote the protection of emigrants, the formation of settlements, and
the extension of amicable relations with the Indians, through Nebraska,
Deseret, New Mexico, California and Oregon, while facilitating intercourse
across the American continent, between Europe and China, Hawaii, Australia, the British and Russian possessions on the north-west coast, and
other regions of the Pacific world."
4. If the federal executive shall be promptly authorized by law, (where
his general powers are insufficient,) to carry out these suggestions, so as to
make immediate arrangements for the enterprise, the memorialist will, if
required, construct and organize a line of telegraph, in connection with
express letter-mail transportation, as a part of this general plan, before
next winter, to the Rocky mountains, to Fort Laramie, if not to Deseret
or Utah, if that route shall be selected; or at least to a proportionate
extent along a more southerly route towards the Gila valley, including
New Mexico-bringing the settlers and soldiery of those regions this year
within range of telegraphic and letter-mail communication, while the completion of the whole route to the Pacific can be secured at an early period
of the following spring or summer-with less expense than the government
is now actually suffering for want of such conveniences of communication. (C.)
5. "With such a system promptly carried into effect," the memorialist
repeats that "he does not hesitate to renew the prediction that, within two
years at furthest, the European news may be published on the American
shores of the Pacific ocean within one week from the sailing of the steamers
on the shortened route between the old world and the new;" while the
route, once established, will shorten by one-half the time now ordinarily
required for letter-mail transportation between the Atlantic and Pacific
States, and at the same time serve' as a well protected road, which may be
emphatically termed the people's highway for the multitudes who are now
unable to encounter either the privations of a journey with their families,
through the now unguarded and cheerless wilderness between the Mississippi and the Pacific States, or to incur the heavy expense of steam navigation, by the roule of Central America, or by the more circuitous way of
Cape Horn.
6. It will be seen that this memorialist asks no exclusive favor-no appropriation-no appointment. He asks for nothing which shall not be
open to free public competition. If he cannot arrange to accomplish these
varied and important objects promptly and economically, and satisfactorily,




(iving ample security for the fulfilment of any contracts, as  r as the e
(giving ample security for the fulfilment of any contracts, as far as the execution of the objects can be accomplished under contracts,) he will rejoice
to see these great measures of national policy completed by others who
may be deemed capable of more largely benefiting the public interests, in
this important enterprise-an enterprise which, in its manifold and immense
influences, may challenge comparison with any system of policy (aside
from questions of personal liberty and national independence) now under
discussion in this confederacy, or any other nation of the world.
HENRY O'RIELLY.
APPENDIX TO THE CIMEMORIAL,/ &C.
In connection with the foregoing "memorial" and "proposal for effecting the project," the undersigned respectfully submits copies of resolutions
which were adopted unanimously by the national railroad and telegraph
convention at St. Louis, in 1849, which resolutions will be found in the report published by the general committee of that convention, (quoted at page
17 of the documents accompanying this memorial,) and are as follows:
Resolved, That as an important means, as necessary and preliminary to
the construction of such railroad, it is the first duty of the American Congress, immediately on its assembling together, to make provision for the
establishment of military posts from the western confines of the western
States to'the Pacific ocean; that these posts should be established numerously in all proper places not far distant from each other, and that civilized
and productive settlements should be encouraged around them by liberal
sales and grants of public lands, and by ample protection to the settlers.
Resolved, That the Congress of the United States be memorialized to
construct or authorize the construction of a national line of telegraph along
the line which may be determined upon, by national authority, for the great
railway to the Pacific; said line of telegraph to be constructed in connection
with the military posts named in the preceding resolution, and to be pushed
to completion as early as practicable.
Attention is also further respectfully invited to the language in which
the report of that national convention endorses the plan proposed by this
memorialist, which report declares that "the scheme of Mr. O'Rielly is admirably adapted, in every respect in which it can be considered, to the production of beneficial results," the report further adding that "the more we
have reflected upon this scheme, the more firmly are we conscious of its
feasibility and utility." 
This memorialist may be pardoned for quoting, also, the concluding paragraph of the address published by the general committee of the aforesaid
national convention, which paragraph is in the following words:
"That the Congress of the United States, to which the following pages
have been inscribed by the author, will act with promptitude and efficiency
upon the subject, there can be little doubt; and that a system which has
been sanctioned and approved with such unexampled unanimity, by those
who, from their locality, association, and pursuits, must be the most competent judges, will receive from that body respectful consideration, is'surely
to be anticipated."
All which, including documents to which reference is made in the memorial, are respectfully submitted.
HENRY O'RIELLY,




7                          [67s]
A.
ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC TELEGRAPH.
Extracts from the report and resolutions published by the general committee of the national telegraph and railroad convention at St. Louis,
1849, approving O'Rielly's project for intercourse and correspondence
across the American Continent.
At an early period during the past spring, the people of St. Louis, profoundly impressed with the importance of opening a commercial communication from the Mississippi to the Pacific, for the double purpose of binding
to the Union our colonies on the western coast, and of effecting a radical
change in the route of commerce to China and the East Indies, assembled
themiselves in mass meeting to deliberate upon these important objects. In
this matter it was resolved that a national convention consisting of delegates
from every State and Territory in the Union which might take sufficient
interest in the grand object to appoint them, should be invited to assemble
in the city of St. Louis, on the 16th day of October, to give expression to
the will of the American people. After ample discussion the following
resolution, among others, was adopted.
Resolved, That the project of a great line of railway across the American
continent, is, in all its aspects, a national project; that as such, it is due to
every State and section of the Union that their opinions and views shall be
heard,'and their interests fairly considered; and that we deprecate any
attempt to excite sectional jealousy, party rivalry, or personal feeling in
reference to this important subject.
The mayor was then authorized to appoint a general committee of twentyfive citizens to address the people of the United States, and by correspondence and otherwise to secure a full representation in said convention.
This committee was appointed accordingly by the mayor, and consisted of
the following persons, viz:
L. M. Kennett, Thos. Allen, T. B. Hudson, M. Tarver, Henry Keyser,
V. Stanley, A. B. Chambers, R. Phillips, John O'Fallon, Edward Walsh,
John F. Darby, J. M. Field, L. V. Bogy, Geo. K. Budd, N. R. Cormany,
John Loughborough, Charles G. Ramsay, J. C. Meyer, John Withnell, G.
L. Lackland, Thos. T. Gantt, Thos. D. Yeats, Saml. Gaty, 0. D. Filley,
A. Olshausen.
Acting in strict accordance with this magnanimous resolution, the general
committee of twenty-five appointed by the mayor of St. Louis, of which I
have the honor to be the chairman, at its first meeting constituted five subcommittees, viz: a committee to frame an address to the people of the
United States; a committee of publication; a committee of finance; and a
committee to prepare statistics for the use of the contemplated convention.
The committee upon the address were instructed to treat this subject as
a great national measure, above all party considerations and all personal
designs, in the construction of which the whole Union had a deep interest
and every section of it a right to have its sentiments considered. The duty
imposed upon this committee, of which Thomas Allen, esq., was the chairman, was performed with fidelity and eminent ability. The committee of
correspondence received a like instruction, That committee, of which A.




[67'                            8
B. Chambers, esq., was the chairman, conformed its action faithfully to the
true spirit of the resolution of the people of this city.
Upon the committee of publication the duty was devolved of collecting
from every one feeling an interest in the subject essays, and facts illas.
trative of the great purpose, and giving them to the people. In consequence of the prevalence of that most awful of calamities, the cholera, this
committee, of which M. Tarver, esq., was the chairman, found it impracticable to accomplish much in reference to the objects for which it was
constituted. The committee of finance, of which John C. Meyer is the
chairman, has continued throughout to perform its duty with fidelity. Upon
the committee on maps and statistics, of which J. Loughborough, esq., was
the chairman, the duty was devolved of collecting and classifying facts and
statistics illustrative of the project, together with accurate maps for the use
of the convention. This was a most serious labor, and a most responsible
duty; but I am gratified to believe that it was performed to the entire satisfaction of the general committee and of the national convention.
The first step taken by the committee on statistics was the composition,
by its chairman, of the annexed essay upon a Pacific railway, which, after
being approved by the committee of publication and the general committee
of twenty-five, was inserted in the Western Journal. A large number of
extra copies of that valuable periodical were ordered by the general committee for distribution, and;we. have abundant evidence by letters from
all parts of the Union, and through the public press, that its effect upon the
public opinion of the country has been eminently beneficial.
Upon the day appointed for the organization of the national convention,
the delegates met in the court-house in this city. The Hon. Abner T. Ellis,
of Indiana, was unanimously called to preside over the assembly, pending
the appointment of its permanent officers. A committee was then appointed
to select permanent officers for this convention, and reported the name of
the Hon. Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, as the president of the convention,
with a vice-president from each State represented, and several secretaries,
all of which nominations were unanimously concurred in by the convention.
The following States were represented in the convention, viz: Missouri,
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio/Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee, New Jersey, and Louisiana. The whole
number of delegates was eight hundred and thirty-five.
v      *.*                *.*        *       *
[As a pioneer,of railroads and settlements, the St. Louis report makes
the following statements:]
A TELEGRAPH TO THE PACIFIC.'
THE NECESSITY FOR SUCH A LINE.
In the present condition of things, it is almost impossible for the government of the United States to retain in its hands any supervisory control
over the affairs of California and Oregon, without subjecting the citizens
of those colonies to inconveniences and privations which no liberty-loving
people can be expected to bear with for any great length of time. These
colonies will, ere long, become States; their manufacturing and commercial
power is rapidly on the increase; the capital of a large number of the enterprising cities of the Union is daily' seeking investment on the coast of the.




Pacific; thousands of young men of intelligence and energy are annually
emigrating to those countries, leaving families and friends here; the ships
of our merchants are multiplying upon this great ocean; and new, extensive
and important commercial relations are opening with the thronging millions
of China and the Indies. We have now a considerable military and naval
force stationed on the Pacific coast; we are conducting important surveys
of coasts and harbors; we shall soon be compelled to establish a system for
the government and amelioration of the condition of the numerous Indian
tribes, whose very names were, until recently, unknown to the civilized
world; a new general survey of more than one hundred thousand square
miles of territory, west of the mountains, must be made at an early period,
numerous land offices established, and regulations framed for their government; and we shall find it necessary to enter upon a botanical and geological examination of this vast region, for the purpose of tracing the
medicinal and useful properties of a new system of vegetable life, and of
developing those immense mineral resources which have already excited the
enterprise of the whole world. How can all this be done without a line
of telegraph to the Pacific?
Again: with an energy and industry which have excited the admiration
and the astonishment of the whole Union, that peculiar people, the Mormons, have established themselves upon a rich valley, interposed between
the stupendous chain of the Timpanogos mountains and the Utah and Salt
lakes. There their admirable organization, strict discipline, and general
conformity of habits and opinions, have enabled them to accomplish more
in four years, than could have been accomplished in fifty by a people analogous in principles and habits to the great mass of the people of the United
States; and we are almost constrained to believe that Providence has guided
these people into this isolated region for the express purpose of subduing
a wilderness which would have appalled any other class of American citizens. Already have these people met in convention and framed a constitution, with the view of applying, at the next session of Congress, for admission into the Union. In a few years more, groups of settlements and
civilization will be scattered through the three "Parks," Bear River Valley,
the delightful valleys towards the sources of the Missouri and Columbia,
and along the western base of the Wahsatch chain, to the valley of the
Joaquim; and the State of Deseret will be surrounded by other communities, emulating it in the race of improvement and civilization. If we are
to retain political connexion with all these extensive and valuable colonies,
how are we to do it, save by the instrumentality of the telegraph and
railway? It is obviously impracticable; and for these reasons, every public
ournal, and every public man of respectability in the Union-so far as we
ave been enabled, after extensive correspondence, to ascertain-is decidedly
in favor of taking prompt and efficient measures for the construction of these
important works; and the whole people have sanctioned the polity, without
a solitary dissenting voice.
A PLAN FOR ITS I1MMEDIATE CONSTRUCTION.
For this portion of this article, we are indebted to Henry O'Rielly, esq.,
who has studied the subject with great care and attention for some years
past, and whose eminent practical ability entitles his views to the serious
and favorable consideration of the convention and of Congress. We have




0 617]                          10
only to add, in introducing it, that we have ourselves traversed more than
half the distance to the, Pacific, and there made extensive collections of
facts touching the character of the country, the trade with the Indian tribes,
and the characteristics, condition and resources of these tribes; and that,
in our estimation, the scheme proposed by Mr. O'Rielly is admirably adapted, in every aspect in which it can be considered, to the production of beneficial results. This, too, we know to be the opinion of a number of
intelligent persons who have been familiar, for many years, with the whole
western territory and its contents.
The Congress of the Union have already authorized the construction of
a line of posts from our western border to the Pacific, and directed a regiment of dragoons to be so distributed as to furnish a competent garrison to
each. Of this contemplated'line, two have been already built-one at the
mouth of Table creek, near St. Joseph, and the other at Grand Island, in
the Platte river; and two more have been purchased-Fort Laramie, situated on Laramie's fork of the northern fork of Platte river, near the
entrance into the Black hills, and Fort Hall, situated on the Lewis fork of
the Columbia river. The objects which Congress had in view were to
furnish protection and supplies to the emigrants and traders to Oregon and
California, and to exercise a salutary restraint upon the Indian tribes.
These posts are evidently situated too far apart to accomplish the purposes
contemplated; for it is obvious that emigrating or trading parties if attacked fifty or one hundred miles from either of them, could not obtain relief
until it was too late to be of any avail to them. As respects supplies, it is
certain that no adequate quantity of them can be collected at these posts,
without a very extravagant cost in transportation; and lastly, no effectual
curb can be put upon the Indian'tribes, when the soldiery are collected into
large parties, at great distances from each other.
Mr. O'Rielly proposes that the Indian title be extinguished to a band of
soil-say five miles on each side of the designed line of telegraph and railway-the palisade or brick forts with ample enclosures, shall be erected at
distances of thirty miles apart from the western border to the Bay of San
Francisco; that these enclosures shall be large enough to accommodate the
garrison and give shelter and protection to parties of one hundred men with
their animals and teams; that thirty dragoons shall be placed in each one
of them; that a telegraph apparatus shall be placed in each; that a line
of wires shall be constructed from the frontier to the bay; that Congress
shall advance for its construction a fair sum, in consideration of which the
perpetual use of it shall be secured to the kover ment, or that Congress
shall give himself and associates, or other competent parties, the simple
right of way, with the protection herein provided, paying for the despatches
of the government at a fixed reasonable rate; that a daily mail shall be
carried across the continent by the dragoons, each one being required once
in fifteen days to carry the mail-bag, or drive a cart to the centre of the
intermediate spaces, there exchange bags, and return; that donations of
land shall be made for a limited period, to such persons, with or without
families, as may actually settle upon the belt of land on which the Indian
title has been extinguished; that the supplies of posts, in bread, cattle, and
vegetables, shall be purchased of these Nettlers at a reasonable rate; that
they shall be sworn not to introduce, under any pretence whatever, ardent
spirits of any kind into the territories west of the State line, andt east of
the Sierra Nevada; that they be authorized to give employment to such




11                          [67]
members of the Indian tribes, male and female, as shall evince a disposition
to betake themselves to the pursuits of civilized life; and that the commanding officer at each post, alone or with other associates, shall be constituted into a civil and criminal tribunal, to do justice between the settlers,
the emigrants, the traders, and the Indian tribes, with the privilege of
appeal, in appropriate cases, to one supreme tribunal, to be fixed at some
point or other along the line.
The more we have reflected upon this scheme, the more firmly are we
convinced of its feasibility and utility. 1. It is of course absolutely necessary that -the Indian title should be extinguished along the line of the
contemplated telegraph arid railway; and, moreover, it will be but an act
of justice to compensate those tribes for the direct and fatal injury'these
works will inflict upon them, by driving out the game-their only present
means of subsistence. In this particular they have already seriously suffered in consequence of the extraordinary number of emigrants andtraders
who have passed through (their territory. If this whole system shall be
adopted, a portion of this compensation to them should consist of agricultural implements and domestic cattle. 2. The palisades here recommended
are of easy and cheap construction. They should be built in imitation of
the traders' forts, and of those dotted all over British.America by the
Hudson's Bay Company. The soldiers themselves can construct them,
without any cost whatever to the government. 3. Of course they should
be large enough to contain, in case of necessity, from one to two hundred
persons. One hundred individuals are as many as can traverse the plains
and mountains with any convenience, and parties should be limited to that
number by law. Occasional jars with the Indians must, of course, occur.
In these cases, a place of security, such as these palisades, may be necessary
as a resort for the settlers until peace is restored. 4. Thirty soldiers are
ample protection to each other; and assisted by emigrants and settlers,
can overcome a war party of six hundred Indians with ease. This number
of trappers have, been known to take beaver in the Blackfoot country for
months together; and this is the fiercest and most implacable tribe between
the Mississippi and the Pacific. A party of twenty men has always been
considered strong enough in any region south of the valley of the Yellowstone.
5 and 6. With a telegraphic instrument at each of these posts, a break
in the wires could be discovered in a very brief space after it occurred, and
the re-connection can-be made in an hour or two at any time. The posts
would generally be secure, for Indians do not work to annoy their enemies;
and in all our travels we have yet to see a male Indian chop a sapling down
four inches through! Besides, there is no better reason for anticipating an
injury to a telegraph line than to the forts of the traders; and an injury to
the latter has very seldom occurred, although nothing is more common than
for a party of a half-dozen white traders to, remain at a fort for weeks
together, alone, with large supplies of goods, and even alcohol, the Indian's
nectar. Indians are like all other people; unless wantonly aggravated
into passion, they duly consider their own interests.
7. It would probably be preferable for the government to advance a
round sum at once to aid in the c.struction of this line, instead of paying
perpetually, even at half the usual rates, for its despatches. It seems to us
that, at very moderate rates, the tax upon the government would be very
considerable. However, this is a matter for the deliberate consideration of




H[67 ]                         12
Congress.  Whoever constructs it would probably prefer that nothing
should be advanced, as their profits would be enormously enhanced.
8. This system for carrying the mail across the continent is one which
will cost the government nothing. Upon any other plan of carrying the
mail, the contractors must be paid a large sum, and the carriers must be
furnished with a competent guard. Five thousand dollars per trip for carriers and guards seems to us a moderate estimate for the cost of a mail on
the usual system. A semi-weekly mail would cost, at that rate, $520,000
per annum. With the arrangements herein proposed, a mail will cost nothing, and the soldiers themselves will be absolutely benefited by this amount
of active service.
9. The system of donating lands, until such time as the line of the telegraph and the contemplated railway shall be sufficiently populated to protect' themselves and property; to furnish supplies and relief to emigrants
and traders; to furnish the means of subsistence to those who shall construct
the railyay; and to give to such of the Indians as may seek it, profitable
employment, is surely a line of policy recommended as well by its economy
as its philanthropy. Already the wretched' tribes who wander over our
western plains are beginning to suffer in consequence of a deficiency of game.'That deficiency has been brought about by our own policy. The marching of troops to Santa Fe, during the war with Mexico, and the enormous
amount of emigration since, have almost driven the buffalo entirely away
from their original haunts; and all the tribes whose hunting grounds lie
south of the latitude of forty-two degrees, are absolutely in danger of outright starvation. Hence the ferocity of these tribes at the present time,
and their constant attempts to murder and rob travelling parties. We say
that the conduct of these Indians is rational and justifiable; and that it is
not only their right, but it is the solemn duty of the government of the
United States to make judicious and permanent provisions for their sustenance, and their advancement in the domestic and useful arts, in morals
and in religion. The system which is herein recommended has been acted
upon by the Catholic, missionaries from the beginning-has been practiced
by the Hudson's Bay Company for the past two centuries-and has been
adopted, for many years past, in different portions of Mexico and in California; and it has uniformly operated beneficially to the Indians themselves,
and profitably for the whites. Not the least of the advantages of this
system is the protection and encouragement it will afford to those pious
missionaries who, with a zeal and pervseverence worthy of all praise, have
for years past labored for the improvement and conversion of these unfortunate people; but whose labors have effected so little, in consequence of
the deficiency of the means of furnishing the Indians profitable occupation,
and the inadequate protection afforded them by the government. The Indian race is evidently destined to extinction. This is the natural result of
the contract between civilized and savage people. But we may ameliorate
their condition; we may provide a system for their comfortable maintenance; we may cultivate their moral and intellectual faculties; and we may
contribute, in a number of ways, to their peace and happiness here, and
their hopes hereafter.




13                         [67]
COST OF A LINE TO SAN FRANCISCO.
[Estimated by the St. Louis committee.]
The distance from St. Louis to the mouth of the Kansas, or to Fort
Leavenworth-crossing the river, so as to furnish facilities to the valley of
the Missouri-would be about 438 miles; from Fort Leavenworth to the
South Pass, 900 miles; and, from the South Pass to the bay, 1036 milesmaking atotal distance of 2374 miles. At the rate of $150 per mile, the
whole cost of a line from St. Louis to the bay will be $356,100; but as
a battery and instruments must be furnished to about eighty officers upon
the line, and, as there is a portion of the route bare of timber, a fair estimate will probably swell this sum to $400,000.
A branch line would, of course, be needed at an early day to Santa Fe,
to the new Mormon State of Deseret, and to Oregon. The shortest line for
a branch to Sante Fe will be from Fort Laramie, on the north fork of
Platte river, 550 miles. This will cost about $90,000.'To the new Mormon State, the branch line must be taken from the Soda Springs, in the
northern bend of Bear river, a distance of about 300 miles. This will cost
about $50,000. The shortest branch line to Oregon, will be from the
northern bend of Humboldt river, to the mouth of the Wallamette-425
miles. This will cost about $68,00. The total cost of the whole system
proposed, for the present and in the future, $608,000.
REASONS WHY THESE LINES SHOULD YIELD FULL DIVIDENDS.
1. We have now in the Pacific upwards of three hundred and fifty whaling ships, the owners of which are compelled to communicate with them
by letter around Cape Horn, or across the Isthmus of Panama. Other
productive sources of trade are rapidly opening upon that great ocean,
which must furnish employment to a large number of other vessels, both
with steam and sails. Their present communications are delayed from one
to six months. It is therefore curtain that these parties will find it their
interest to use the telegraph.
2. There are, at this time, more than seventy thousand citizens of the
United States in California, and their number is so rapidly augmenting,
that if Congress shall authorize the extension of the telegraph at its
next session, its completion in fifteen months will probably find a population
there of one hundred and twenty-five thousand persons. Nearly all of
these individuals are connected as partners or employees of capitalists in the
United States, who are constantly in need of information, to enable them to
ship to that country supplies of goods, mining implements, &c. All of
them, too, have left near connections by blood in the United States. Is it
credible, that all the parties thus interested will await the tardy movements
of a mail across the Isthmus, when the telegraph affords the means of instant
communication? Certainly not.
3. The population of Oregon is upwards of twenty-five thousand persons.
They, too, have left in the Union relatives and partners in business, who
are anxious to communicate with them with celerity and certainty.
4. The new Mormon community, in the vicinity of the Great Salt Lake,
numbers at this time over sixty thousand individuals, and this population is
augmenting at an unprecedented rate. Their business and other connections




[ft;67]                         14
in the Union and on the Pacific, will render the telegraph a thing of necessity to them.
5. The line will pass by some of the posts of the fur traders. This trade
now amounts to $300,000 per annum, and large sums are expended by the
traders in sending expresses to St. Louis every season. Of course, they
will avail themselves of the telegraph to dispense with the expresses.
6. The trade to Santa Fe and New Mexico is at this time estimated at
about $1,000,000, and this trade is rapidly on the increase. The necessities
of business will compel the use of the telegraph in that direction.
7. The border trade with the Indians is now very considerable, we all
know; but we have not been enabled to collect sufficient data upon which
to make an accurate estimate of it. The telegraph will be needed in this
trade.
8. Twenty years will not elapse-perhapse not three-before a new territory will be organized between our western border and the Rocky mountains. The proposition to do this has been already introduced into Congress, upwards of five years ago. When this is done a pastoral population
will fill that vast region, and they will need the telegraph.
9. Other settlements will be immediately formed in the Bear River valley, the Three Parks, at Pierre's Hole, Jackson's Hole, and in numbers of
the rich valleys scattered along the vicinity of the line to the bay, and
they will need the telegraph.
10. A large naval force must in future be kept up on our Pacific shores,
to protect the commerce of California and Oregon; a considerable military
force must be stationed in California, Oregon, New Mexico, Deseret, and
along the line of travel from the frontier to the Pacific; and an increase in
the military force in the present western territory is inevitable. To communicate with all these, a telegraph is indispensable. A single overland
despatch of the government will cost about $15,000. When it is considered
how many of these must be sent in the course of a year to the various
points mentioned, there can be little or no doubt that the expense of sending these communications for a single year, will exceed the actual cost of a
telegraphic line.
11. The introduction of white settlements into the western territory, and
into Oregon and California, will render a new and enlarged system of
Indian intercouse absolutely necessary; and to regulate this intercourse,
numerous agents must be scattered through those regions. Is it not obvious
that in the delicate relations which will exist in respect to so many tribes,
the instant communication by telegraph is indispensable; otherwise wars
and bloodshed may be carried on for months together before the central
authority can'receive information of the fact, and send military force to
quell the disturbances.
12. The lands, including about 600,000 square miles, east and west of
the mountains, must be surveyed ere settlements of any size are permitted
to be formed upon them; and topographical, geological, and other scientific
expeditions will have soon to be made. All these services will require a
large body of government agents, with whom frequent and prompt communication will be a thing of necessity.
For all these reasons we are constrained to believe it is the duty, as we'have no doubt it will be the pleasure of the next Congress of the Union,
to authorize the extension of a telegraph line to the Pacific. For the
present, a single line to the bay may possibly suffice; but we incline to the




belief that It will be decidedly preferable to complete the whole of the
branches enumerated, as soon as the direct line shall be perfected.
PROBABLE PROFITS OF A LINE FROM THE MISSISSIPPI TO THE PACIFIC.
We will speak first, of the direct line fromn St. Louis to the Bay of San Francisco, and
then of the branches herein proposed.
The despatches of the government to the military and maval forces stationed in California,
together with its communications with the local government there, the Indian agents, the
land officers, the custom-house officers, the postmasters and mail carriers, and the topographical and scientific parties engaged in the survey of the country and the adjacent coast,
are very difficult of calculation. We will, however, make an estimate, which we think will
be admitted by all to be within bounds:
1. Suppose the government sends a single despatch per month to our naval force on that
coast, containing thirty words. This, at the, rate of charge usual on telegraphic lines, would
amount, per annum, to'$93 60. If a single answer, containing thirty words, is received by
the government, this will be, in one year, $93 60 more.
Suppose these despatches and answers contain sixty words, the cost will be..  $374 00
Suppos'e there are two despatches and answers of sixty words per month....  748 00
Suppose there are four despatches and answers of sixty words per month....  1,496 00
Suppose there are eight despatches and answers of sixty words per month...  2, 992 00
That this amount of matter will be sent to the naval force alone, can scarce
be doubted; and, indeed, we think the reports-if to be had —will show not
only this number of words, in a year, but tqenty times as many.
2. Let precisely the same calculation be made for the despatches sent to and
from the military forces in California, and the amount will be...........  2, 992 00
3. The same calculation as respects the Indian agents will yield............   2,992 00
4. The same as respects the land officers will yield......................;.;''2-,992 00
6. The same as respects the post office will yield.....2.................   2992 00
6. The same as respects the local government of California will yield.......  2, 992 00
7. The same as respects the custom-house will yield......................  2, 992 00
8. The same as respects the surveyor of public lands........................  2, 992 00
9. The same as respects scientific surveying parties.......................  2, 992 00
Total....................................................  26, 928  00
Double the number of these despatches and the amount of words in them will
yield.............................................52, 856        00
1. There are in the Pacific upwards of 350 whaling vessels. Suppose the
owners send one'despatch per month, and receive one answer, containing
thirty words, or fewer despatches with more words, the amount will be..  187 20
2. Double this number, and the amount will be..........................  874 40
3. Treble it and the amount will be.....................................  561  60
4. Quadruple it, and the amount will be..................................  648 80
And this last number is a very low estimate to make of profits fr6m this branch of business.
From the 70,000 men in California, suppose that a single despatch of ten words from each
man shall be sent to the Union in one year, and a single answer of ten words given, the
amount will be $364, (100.
It may be that not more than half the people there might use the telegraph; but the cost
of a single despatch of ten words is only $2 60, and certainly those who do use it-including merchants and mining companies-will send the number of messages here calculated.
5. Double this number of words, either by the quantity or number of despatches, and
the amount will be $728, 000.
1. Suppose those engaged in the border trade with the Indians shall send one
despatch of ten wordsper month, and receive as many, this will yield...  $13 20
2. Double this number of messages...................................     26 40
8. Treble  them.....................................................  89  60
4.  Quadruple  them....................................................  52  80
1. The several companies of fur traders certainly send as many as five mes- sages of thirty words per month, and receive answers. This would yield  264 00
2. Double this number of despatches.................              528 00
8. Quadruple them.......................................  *  1056  00




[67]                                   16
1. The new territory in contemplation between the- frontier and the Rocky
Mountains, will very soon contain 20,000 inhabitants, if this telegraph and
railway is constructed. Suppose one in five hundred of these people send
a single message in two months, and receive answers, containing thirty
words, the amount will be................................      $26 40
2. Double  them.................................................      52  80
3. In this territory, the government must have a military force of several regiments. Suppose two despatches of thirty words are sent to them per
month, and two answers received. This will be......................   188 40
4. Double them.....................................................       316 80
5. Quadruple  them...................................................,633  60
6. This territory must be surveyed and sectionized. If a like number of
despatches be sent to and received from the surveyors, this will yield....  633 60
7. A number of other Indian agents must be placed in this territory. At the
same rate this will yield..........................................  633  60
8. The despatches sent to and from the local government of this territory will,
at the same rate, amount to...................................      633  60
These calculations are evidently far below the mark; for the despatches now sent to this
city to be mailed for Fort Leavenworth, cost several thousand dollars.
9. Inaddition to all these sources of profit on the Mississippi and Pacific line,
we must estimate the business on the first section of it, already alluded
to, between St. Louis and Fort Leavenworth; and this will yield, there
can be no doubt, ten per cent. upon the cost of that section. Say......  5,000 00
BRANCH LINE TO SANTA PE.
The branch line from Fort Laramie to Santa Fe will cost.................  90,000 00
1. If the government sends one despatch per month to Santa Fe, to the military force, and receives an answer of thirty words, it will amount to...  98 00
2. Double these despatches, or the amount of their contents...............  196 00
3. Quadruple them...................................................  392  00
4. The same as respects Indian agents...............      392 00
5.       "     "      land offices.................................       92 00
6.      c      c      post  office.....................................   392  00
7.      ",         the local government..........................     392 00
8.,         the custom houses.............................      392 00
9.;,         surveyors..............................     392 00
10.   "'               scientific surveying parties...................    392 00
T otal...................................................  3,136  00
11. Double the number of these despatches..............................  6,272 00
12. The present trade with New Mexico amounts to $1,000,000. Certainly
such a trade will yield to the line a revenue of........................  10,000 00
BRANCH LINE TO THE STATE OF DESERET.
This line will cost the sum of....................,.................... -50, 000 00
1. Here, too, the government must have full as much intercourse with the
military, Indian agents, surveyors, &c., as with California and New Mexico. This will yield, for one despatch per month, and answers to them,
the round  sum   of about..........................................  5, 000  00
2. Double the number of despatches....................................  10,000 00
3. Quadruple them...................2............                      20,000 00
4. With apresent population of over 70,000 persons, the commercial necessities of the  State will yield, say.....................................  6,000  00
BRANCH TO OREGON.
This line will cost...................................................  60,000 00
1. The government despatches here, too, will yield, if sent to the military and
naval forces, the government surveyors, agents, custom house, &c., once
per   m onth........................................................  10 000  09
2. Double them.................               20,000 00
~3. Quadruple  them....................................................  40,000  00
4. The commercial and private necessities will yield, say..................  10, 000 00
We have furnished the complete data from which the reader can make his
own estimate respecting the probable profits of these lines. Of course it




is impossible for us to know what number of despatches will be sent along
these lines by the government and private individuals. Each reader, however, can estimate that for himself, and come to his own conclusion from
the data we have furnished. The calculations are mlade from the usual
rates of charge on telegraph lines, and moreover these rates are very cheap.
The influence of' the electric telegraph upon the progress of civilization,
is a theme upon which we should delight to dilate, if we could do so within the space which we have limited ourselves to in the preparation of this
article; but we are reluctantly compelled to forego that pleasure until a
future occasion shall be offered.
In conclusion, we shall only add, that the rapid interchange of thought
in an extended empire like ours, gives the same compactness and homogenity to our social and political systems which result in communities confined to a smaller space; that intellectual activity and moral power are
rapidly augmented by it; that every department of science and knowledge
receives from it a decisive impulse; and that it constantly and steadily
tends to that uniformity of manners, habits, opinions and sentiments which
are essential to the suppression of wars and divisions, and to the permanent peace and security of the world. With an electric telegraph penetrating into all our populated and business districts, frauds in trade will be
suppressed-equality will be produced between those who contract-exchanges will be indefinitely multiplied —industry and the arts stimulatedcrime comparatively suppressed-agriculture and commerce improved-and
all those conditions which are essential to the security and prosperity of
a well-ordered society produced. With a lightning communication across
the continent, the hourly interchange of sentiments and opinions with our
brethren upon the Pacific coast, will keep alive in their hearts and minds
the remembrance of the happy homes of their youth,. and of the great and
glorious system of polity under which they grew up to be free American
citizens; the new relations which they are forming with strange people
will not obliterate the manly characteristics of the republican character;
they will never entertain the idea of separate political existence; and they
will prove to be efficient pioneers in that great system of liberty and civilization which Divine Providence has so distinctly marked out as the mission
of the people of the United States.
We are gratified to learn that Mr. O'Rielly, animated by that indefatigable energy, decision, and perseverance which have established for him an
enviable reputation for usefulness and public spirit, is determined to build
this telegraph section-the first span in the magnificent design which he
has labored for years to accomplish-a line of lightning to the Pacific; and
if the Congress of the Union shall respond to the universal public sentiment of the country, this splendid work-the pioneer of the railway-will
be consummated within eighteen months to come. When this is done, the
line from St. Louis to the bay of San Francisco will be the most profitable
line upon the continent, and the best stock in the civilized world,
At a subsequent stage of the proceedings the following resolutions were
severally moved and adopted:
By the Honorable Samuel Treat: Resolved, That as an important means,
as necessary and preliminary to the construction of such railroad, it is the
first duty of the American Congress, immediately on its assembling together,
f   Ii Mis- 3




[67]                           18
to make provision for the establishment of military posts from the western
confines of the Western States, to the Pacific ocean; that these posts
should be established numerously in all proper places not far distant from
each other; and that civilized and productive settlements should be encouraged around them by liberal sales and grants of public lands, and by
ample protection to the settlers.
Resolved, That the Congress of the United States be memorialized to
construct or authorize the construction of a national line of telegraph along
the line which may be determined upon by national authority for the great
railway to the Pacific. Said line of'telegraph to be constructed in connexion with the military posts named in the preceding resolution, and to be
pushed to completion as early as practicable.
*      *       *             *       *      *      *      0
That the Congress of the United States, to which the following pages
have been inscribed by the author, will act with promptitude and efficiency
upon the subject, there can be little doubt; and that a system* which has
been sanctioned and approved with such unexampled unanimity by those
who, from their locality, association and pursuits, must be the most competent judges, will receive from that body respectful consideration, is surely
to be anticipated.
L. M. KENETT,
Chairman of the Committee of Twenty-five.
ST. Louis, November 25, 1849.
JNote upon the foregoing estimates of cost and business.
The foregoing is copied from the report published by the St. Louis c Committee of Twenty-five," as prepared by John Loughborough, esq., of the
Missouri bar, and is embodied in the voluminous document published by
that committee, chiefly between pages 61 and 74; showing the objects and
opinions of the "National Telegraph and Railroad Convention" at St.
Louis in 1849.
The rapidly increasing value of the multitudinous interests clustering
around the American and Asiatic coasts and among the islands of the Pacific
ocean-interests rapidly increased beyond all anticipation since the foregoing estimates were made in 1849-must satisfy readers generally that- the
amount of telegraph business, on the proposed line to the Pacific, will
greatly exceed these estimates:'
While on the other hand, the construction and organization of aJ telegraph line across the continent, with the degree of solidity and exceilence
which should characterize a work of such immense importance to the United States and to the world at large, would doubtless cost more than is.estimated for ordinary lines through well-settled regions: 
But the more perfect and, reliable the line, THE GREATER WOULD BE THE
AMOUNT OF BUSINESS; and no investment would pay better than the additional sum required to render the line as permanent and accurate as human
ckill and energy can render it.                         H.' 
* Referring to railroads as well as telegraphs,




19                         [ 67 ]
B.
Some extracts from prominent western journals of 1847-8-9-50-51, cr..
respecting O'Rielly's plan for communication across the American
continent.
MR. ORIELLY S PROJECT FOR A TELEGRAPH TO THE PACIFIC.
Mr. O'Rielly re-publishes the subjoined memorial to the Congress of the
United States in the St. Louis papers. Mr. O'Rielly can accomplish whatever is possible, and no man is a better judge of what is possible.-Louisville (Ky.) Journal.
We think that the present is a fitting moment to make a suggestion,
which, but a year since, might have been considered wild, but which the
extraordinary march of events-above all, the arrival of Mr. O'Rielly with
his wires on the banks of the Mississippi-now may recommend to the attention of thinking minds. We would suggest that the only natural termination of the telegraph line west, should, be the mouth of the Columbia
river, and that it ought to be extended by government thus far without
delay, inasmuch as that the value of its services would be incalculable;
that its expenses in round figures would be but say $600,000; and that it
could actually be put in operation in six months! Is this last statement
too wild either, when we reflect that the energy and systematized method
of O'Rielly has put in construction seventeen hundred miles of telegraph
since last June, in spite of persecutions and annoyances which could not
attend this further enterprise? Are there natural obstacles to be overcome?
We would simply say that O'Rielly set his line in operation over the Alleghenies in the depth of winter; further, that in the Pacific enterprise it
might be done before winter. Send an early corps of men forward to commence eastward, from the South Pacific, and by the time they reached
Wallamette, the corps from Independence should have linked wires with
them at their starting point in the mountains. We only are showing that,
judging from what has already been achieved, the work could be done in
thetime named. Further, if it were placed in Mr. O'Rielly's hands, we
feel that the work would be done; however, give a year to it, if necessary.
The transportation of material might be somewhat more expensive, but the
difference would be no serious consideration. Following the river valleys,
there would be no scarcity of timber; and say that Indians interrupt the
connection twice, thrice, or a dozen times, the inconvenience would be
trivial, comparatively; the same with storms. We have mounted companies on the plains, &c., and how better could they be employed than in protecting the wires, especially as doing so they would save themselves, mainly,
from harsher labor among the tribes?
But should government apathetically decline this enterprise, would it
not pay-that's the word-would it not pay, even should the work be confined to the merchants of Boston and New York? These cities have immense interests at stake in the Pacific. China merchants, oil merchants,
ship owners generally; the traders to the islands, Oregon, California, &c.;
would not a line of telegraph to the mouth of the Colurmbia be of the highest importance to them? especially as packets, even now, are making the
Columbia a centre, while this project would at once connect itself with
steam iiassociations, bringing the whole Pacific shores within twenty days'




reach of our Atlantic cities-Whitney's enterprise, in part, accomplished —
and all at the expense'of $600,000.
Looking at what has been done, we regard the feasibility and utility of
this plan as already demonstrated. For the present, it might rest here, but
would it continue to do so? Would not the next dash be to connect the
Wallamette and Sacramento valleys? Would not San Francisco, Monterey, Los Angelos, San Diego, soon be linked, and the returning line be
found, on its way from this last point, flashing up the Gila valley, once
more crossing the mountains, striking the Del Norte. below Santa Fe, and
eventually completing the grand circle by linking itself, at the capital of
New Mexico, with that earlier line which should already have connected
New Mexico with Missouri? This is certainly extensive; but in support of
it ve repeat, O'Reilly has erected seventeen hundred miles of telegraph
since last June!-St. Louisi Reveille, Dec. 17, 1847.
TELEGRAPH WESTWARD.
Whilst government is arranging steamers for rapid communication with
our distant citizens, it seems to be proper enough that Mr. O'Rielly should
be invited to completely annihilate time and distance, so that the Oreagonians may feel the common impulse of their brethren on this side of the Rocky
mountains. The project does not appear so visionary as did two years'ago
the proposition to connect the Atlantic, the lakes, and the Mississippi. Its
immense importance to the government may be readily appreciated;,but it
should also be borne in mind that our Pacific commerce is not only of immense value at this time, but is augmenting with great rapidity. The Boston and New York merchants would gladly avail themselves of such means
of hearing from their ships on far-off voyages, and New Bedford would
thus hold frequent chats with her whalemen. Lightning has now become a
necessary attendant on commerce~ and it should traverse our continent on
errands of love, profit, and patriotism.
The fears which once agitated statesmen, as to the perpetuity of our republic should its boundaries be enlarged, are now mostly dispelled by the'triumphs of art. Although our national domain now stretches to the Pacific
on the west and the Rio Grande on the south, it is not more difficult of
access, nor the Territories and States fruther apart, for all practical purposes, than in 1789, when nearly the whole American'population was along
the-eastern slope of the Alleghenies. The fears of many eastern statesmen
at that day, Jed them to oppose every movement tending to open the Mississippi valley to civilization; and during Washington's administration, the
hostility was carried so far that a public meeting was held by the Kentucky
pioneers to adopt measures for their protection. That great western demonstration induced Washington to write a letter to the principal persons
connected with it, disclosing the then condition of negotiations, and assuring
them that the government would not abandon the right to the free navigation of the Mississippi. Still the apprehension of the eastern statesmen
continued; and when Mr. Jefferson concluded the treaty of 1803, by'which
Louisiana was acquired, a bare constitutional majority ratified the act. At
length steam gave new impulse to western prosperity, and brought the remote settlements of this valley into intimate intercourse with each other




2t                         [f67 ]J
and with the east. Hardly had the distance from Fort Leavenworth, New
Orleans, and Chicago, to New York and Boston, been practically reduced
to a few days' journey, before lightning came as the harbinger of newer
and closer connection. The " winged thoughts" of the poets were no longer
the mere fancies of bards, but sober realities. The most distant regions of
our republic were made neighbors, and those thousands of miles distant
could hold familiar converse with each other. This last great achievement
should remove all doubts as to the safe extension of our national boundaries.
It is now universally admitted that a new State is soon to exist in Orego, and generally confessed that California must be permanently ours.
The government, in view of these important facts, has employed steam as
an agent of its will in binding these remote regions closely to the republic,
and giving them rapid and easy intercourse with the older States of the
confederacy. Next year steam vessels will bring New York within six or
eight weeks communication with the mouth of the Columbia-a shorter
voyage than between Boston and Savannah in 1780. A telegraph line in
continuation of that now constructed to St. Louis, would completely annihilate the distance, and the government at Washington be in instant receipt
of news from our Pacific coast. The line should precede the contemplated
railroad, and can be finished in one or two years. It must necessarily be a
government enterprise, and would give to our country early and firm hold
on the rising commerce of the Pacific. It is the duty of those entrusted
with public affairs to take a far-sighted view of the mission and future destiny of the United States. In the progress of events, if we are not blind
to our power, this land may rival in greatness and prosperity-nay, surpass
-all that the world has yet seen. Those who urged the settlement of
Oregon, and gave impetus to the wave of emigration thitherward, understood well the mighty results of which such events would be the precursor.
The exploration of Lewis and Clarke, under Mr. Jefferson, and the later
labors of Fremont, have all heralded the same consummation. The persevering efforts of Benton and Linn to open Oregon to civilization, the early
writings of the former when a St. Louis editor, and his subsequent exertions
in: the Senate, as well as the unremitting enthusiasm of the latter, have yet
to he viewed in the light of impartial history and of true philosophy. The
historian of this republic will, in the next century, look back upon those
early and discouraged efforts as the beginning of an order of events which
will then be realized in the existence of new States on the Pacific, of an
unrivalled commerce with India and the Pacific isles, and of immediate
communication between all parts of this extended confederacy. The statesmen of the west have gone hand in hand with the improvements of science
ali art, and scarcely have they pointed the way to new and glorious events,
before.steam and lightning have appeared to render bright and easy the
road marked out by their wisdom.
Itis in this broad view of the future, as it is now opening to our republic, that we speak of extending the telegraph to the Pacific coast. The
"tfmes and the man" have already come for the fulfilment of so vast a
dlesign. O'Rielly has brought the lightning to the old frontiers of the
Union-let him carry it forward to the Pacific ocean.-St. Louis Daily
Uniion, Dec. i8, 1847,




[67]                           22
ATLANTIC AND PACIfIC TELEGRAPHf.
Since mention has been made of continuing the telegraph from this point
to the Pacific, we have heard many objections urged against its possibility,
but none, we think, which presents a serious obstacle, where determination
and energy attempt the accomplishment of the object. "It would be impossible to obtain timber," says one. Follow Fremont in his explorations
on the Oregon route, and see how clearly possible it is to obtain plenty of
timber over the whole way, and that of the best character, at a comparatively short distance from the direct line of travel at any point.
"The trees would fall on the wire and break the connection; at such
distance from posts, too, that it would be impossible to keep it continually
clear."
Here is another objection, which may be urged against every mile of
telegraph already constructed; yet the agents contrive, with very little
difficulty, to keep the connection open from New York to St. Louis, and
much of this route is through heavy timber. Our mounted men, connected
with the Oregon posts along the route, might easily keep the wire clear of
obstructions, and at the same time perform the duty of protecting emigrants
and traders from the Indians.
" Ah, well," says a third, triumphantly, "c if the posts escape the prairie
fires, the Indians will be sure to destroy them for the purpose of obtaining
the wire."
This prairie fire, which is so confidently advanced as an insurmountable
obstacle, occurs but once a year, and then is so rapid in its course that a
single isolated post is in very little danger of destruction from its force; the
outer surface may be burned, or slightly charred, but the flame never lingers long enough in one spot to totally destroy it. As for the Indians, a
few lessons in the way of punishment would check their depredations upon
the line. The wire found in their possession would always be an evidence
against them, and one which they could not use without discovery; for it
is not a commodity which Indian traders carry into the country.
The common exclamation against the project is, that it is visionary.
This word is often advanced as an argument against any scheme of magnitude, and frequently men of sense, as well as the ignorant, indulge in the
expression, without taking trouble to examine whether it really is what
the pronounce it. We need not go further for an illustration of this fact
than the triumphant progress of the telegraph to this city. The conveying
intelligence to any great distance was at first pronounced visionary; but
this great means of communication has demonstrated its power by its action,
and minds unable at first to comprehend it, have been so far enlightened, by
proof of its capacity, as to yield an acknowledgement that, though to them
at first a vision, yet to the discoverer and to scientific minds who compre —
hend the subject, a magnetic telegraph was a reality. Henry O'Rielly,
esq., has clearly demonstrated that it may be successfully carried clear
across the continent of America; and the best'evidence of the possibility
is the fact that at this moment the shore of the Mississippi is in telegraphic
communication with the Atlantic.'The untiring energy of an individual,
in the face of human opposition as well as natural obstacles, has extended
the telegraph, since last June, over a distance of seventeen hundred miles.
A great portion of these lines, both between this point and Cincinnati, and




23                         [67 
around the northern lakes, runs through almost as'wild a country as the
territory lying between this point and the Rocky mountains.
Mr. O'Rielly, on his route to the Pacific, would find nc difficulty comparable with the crossing of the Mississippi. We repeat, the enterprise is
called for, is practicable, is politic, is economical; that $600,000 will accomplish it; that it can be done during one summer; and that the talk
about Indians, &c., is the only dreamy part of the matter. The savages
of the plain will play fewer tricks with the telegraph than have been already practiced by the civilized speculators of the seaboard.-St. Louis
Reveille, December 23, 1847.
OREGON TELEGRAPH.
The "Union," of this city, the other day, embraced the project warmly
and eloquently, regarding the question as only one of time. We have shown
that the work, once properly put in hand, can be done in one summer as
well or better than in two; and the question of time, therefore, can only
be as to when the work shall be commenced. It is hoped that the government, in view of the immense interests at stake upon the Pacific, will, by
next spring, authorize the immediate prosecution of the work; but should
the enterprize be declined or deferred, as we said in our first article' on the
subject, it will be no harm to examine how far it might be made to pay as
a private project.
If our memory serves us, we have, of whalemen, merchantmen, men-ofwar, coasting and trading vessels, about-five hundred in the Pacific; few
of which but would, during the year-if not from the mouth of the Columbia, from the Sandwich group, or other points in communication with the
mouth of the Columbia-have deeply important occasion for corresponding
with their principals along our Atlantic coast. In addition to the mercantile and government despatches-the latter, how frequent and grave
in their importance!-how many, many times would love and friendship
and:mere amusement avail themselves of the electric medium? Would
not the fleets in the Pacific, of all nations, avail themselves of the wires in
corresponding with Europe? To leave the bosom of the ocean, how many
messages of trade and kindness would there be exchanged between the
Oregon settlers and our western States! Steam connection between Oregon
and California!-and what pride and pleasure would not the unseen thrill
of the wire convey to and from the Californians also  Would the Hudson's Bay Company be insensible of the value of this mode of communicating with Canada? Would not all their vast home transactions be conducted, in their own cypher, along this new convenience? There is steam
between Vancouver anJ Sitka, the chief factory of the Russians on the
southwest coast. When we consider that from this point is kept up a
regular communication with the imperial government, and that to do this
they have to encounter the perils of the extreme north Pacific, and then
landing at Ochotsk, travel over land seven thousand miles, when we consider this, does it appear improbable that even these despatches would
find their way along the wire to Boston, thence to be forwarded, through
the Russian consul, by steam to Europe? Coming nearer home, how many
messages would be received in this city during the year from Fort Lara



67                            24
mie, that centre of the mountain trading and trapping interests? How
many messages would be sent back, from certain points, by emigrants and
travellers along the route? All this may be considered idle by many, but
at any rate there can be " no offence" in it. We think that we have demonstrated the chance for the original one thousand messages each way,
and also the chances for as many thousand more as would cover the expenses of operating, fixtures, repairs, right of patent, &c., &c. We are
not now discussing the protection of the line from Indians and what not;
but we have a regiment of mounted rifles, originally designed for similar
service, and it cannot be long before they may be employed as was at first
intended.-Sit Louis Reveille, January 1, 1848.
COMMUNICATION WITH THE PACIFIC.
The discovery of the gold mines in California, and the large influx of
population there, consequent upon that discovery, have aroused public
attention to the importance of speedy communication between our Pacific
territories and other portions of the confedracy.
Railroad and telegraphic communication with the Pacific, transcends in
importance all other questions now before the country, and ought to be
discussed in every possible form, so that public opinion may be fully matured and without unnecessary delay. That feature of Col. Benton's plan
which includes the electric telegraph, must not be overlooked. The instant
transmission of thought from us to our California brethren, and back from
them to us, is an essential element of that great system of works which is
to bind together, indissolubly, the various parts of our vast confederacy.
With the energy of such a man as Mr. O'Rielly, the telegraphic part of the
enterprise can be accomplished within two years, and so managed as to carry
with it the other public conveniencies of great'" pith and moment."
The thousands who are now hurrying to our Pacific domain, with earnest
thoughts and fond affections for the home they leave behind, can desire no
greater boon than that the republic should furnish them with the means of
an instant interchange of sentiment and information with their friends and
kindred in the States. On the Atlantic coast are now, and for years will
be the maritime enterprise and capital by means of which this nation is to
control the commerce of the Pacific. How important, then, that the Atlantic merchant should be placed in instant communication with his factors
in California and Oregon, and with his sailors and ships on that distant
coast. How necessary, too, for the government to learn promptly what is
occurring in so remote a territory, whither are thronging thousands from
all portions of the world.
This scheme is a glorious one-and yet how like a fairy tale! When
Col. Benton suggested, thirty years ago, that the future route of Asiatic
commerce would be across the American continent, his essays fell on listless
ears. No one caught up those early hints, or urged them on the public
mind. They seemed the day-dream of overwrought imagination, beautiful
in fancy, but alas! without feasibility or substance. Now, steam and electricity have solved the problem beyond a lingering cavil. That vast conception is soon to'be realized, the continent to be spanned, the wealth of
the Indies to be poured through the gorges of the Rocky mountains, and
down their vast eastern slope to the Mississippi river. Aye, more! a few
days will suffice for a journey to San Francisco, and a few minutes for




25                          [ 67 
intelligent converse with the inhabitants of that remote region. Our destiny
as a nation is almost incomprehensible.
By the obstinacy of a neighboring power, California has been forced into
our possession, as if to put within our reach and under our control those
great influences which are to determine the future commerce of two continents, and the civilization of Asia. After the lapse of many thousand
years, civilization, in its continued journey to the westward, marching onward with increasing power and vitality, has began to look from the shores
of America across the vast deep to the coast of China, the seat of the
most ancient yet lifeless form of religion and intellectual culture. The
cycle is entirely completed. The ancient and the modern, the oldest and
the youngest civilizations, are soon to be thrown in contact. The improvements which have been gathering strength through successive ages, dynasties and revolutions, which have sprung from the discovered arcana of
nature, and subjected even the elements to the common use of life as man's
ministering agents, the developements of profound social, moral and polical truths, all these will, ere many years pass, be brought into immediate
proximity and striking contrast with the stationary forms of oriental civilization. All this is a simple, plain, matter-of-fact affair. The results
almost appal the imagination, yet they are not only attainable, but by the
simplest means.
It is for those who can look calmly and practically at the greatest enterprises, to co-operate in this undertaking.  No petty jealousy of rival
statesmen or paltry conflicts of interest should be permitted to intervene,
to retard or reject the work. Those who are familiar with the history of,
great enterprises, know that they are often defeated by too much confidence
in their intrinsic merits, and by the rivalries of personal ambition. To the
valley of the Mississippi-aye, to the whole Union-this is now the greatest
of public measures; and nothing should be omitted which research or argument can do in pushing it forwarl. St. Louis is especially interested, and
should spare neither labor nor expense in ripening public opinion for its
early adoption. It is too important a matter to be Suffered to slumber
whilst any thing remains to be done. Proper exertions can insure speedy
Congressional action, and if a convention can contribute to that end, why
not have one here as well as elsewehere.-St., Louis Daily Union, May
2, 1849.
Yesterday we presented a few general considerations on this subject, and
to-day we wish to refer more particularly to the proposition of Mr. O'Rielly,
as recently published. In his printed proposal for extending the telegraph,
he alludes to his design of going westward to the Pacific. More than a year
ago, in common with other editors in St. Louis, we endeavored to show the
practicability and importance of so great an enterprise. Since then great
{events have occurred, demanding early action in the matter. The following
extracts from Mr. O'Rielly's recent circular, develop his plan. They show
that he is fully alive to the progress of the times: 
If any persons are disposed to be incredulous on this subject, let them
remember that,, but a few years ago, the project of a lightning connexion
between the Mississippi river and the Atlantic coast was pronounced "visionary and absurd;" that an official report from the Post Office Department
tteated electro-magnetic telegraphs as a failure, so far as their appplicability
to the business of the country was concerned. Since that report was made
Mr; O'Reilly has put into successful operatian 4,000 miles of telegraph, and




[67]                           26
has under contract 4,000 miles more, (since completed,) a distance equal to
the diameter of the globe, or as far as from London to San Francisco in a
direct line. All this has been done by individual enterprise; and the various lines are actively employed in forwarding communications from one
extreme of the Union to the other. When these facts are considered in
connexion with the mode of constructing the line to the Pacific which Mr.
O'Rielly suggests, it is not too much to say, that the plan is not only practicable, but combines many national advantages. The men who have already
constructed lines for 4,000 (8,000) miles, camping for large portions of the
time in the open air, can certainly carry this enterprise to the Pacific with
but little difficulty. We have no doubt that as private stock it would pay
handsome dividends, but its national importance will more than justify Congressional legislation and aid. It is in exact harmony with Col. Benton's
policy, and the views of many of our wisest and most sagacious statesmen.
About a year ago we were in the city of Washington, when the President
was urging on Congress the necessity. of sending a force to Oregon for the
protection of its white inhabitants against the hostile Indians. We accompanied Mr. O'Rielly to the President's, when he offered a battallion of men
for that service. His purpose was to-send forward a party of those men
who had been long employed by him in the construction of his telegraphic
lines, so that they might be at the Pacific section of,the future route for a
telegraph, ready to engage, at a proper time, in that great lightning enterprise. They were hardy, resolute, brave, moral, and energetic, would have
made good soldiers and valuable settlers, and have been on the spot to aid
in the building of a Pacific telegraph at the close of the Indian war. The
occasion did not require their military services, in the opinion of the executive, and Mr. O'Rielly's patriotic offer was not accepted.
We mention this' incident, merely to show that the plan now published
by Mr. O'Rielly, has been fully matured by him.
The policy which has directed the repeated efforts for the organization of
Nebraska Territory, is, that a pathway to the Pacific may be opened and
settled, without Indian interference or obstructions to travel. As soon as
that organization is accomplished, settlements will spring up at various
points along the route for the accommodation of travellers, so that a journey
to Cnlifornia and Oregon may be made without hardship or danger. The
raising of the mounted riflemen looked to the same object. It has been a
point with our statesmen for some time past, especially was it with Col.
Benton and the late Dr. Linn, to encourage emigration to Oregon. The,
acquisition of California has given new force to the subject, and has aroused
the public mpind to the vast importance of prompt action. Hence the various projects for railroads to the Pacific.
We have stated that there need be no delay in the construction of a telegraph-indeed, that is the proper pioneer of the railroad. Col. Benton's
plan looks to lightning as well as steam communication.  Already, the
government is expending large sums for carrying the mails to California;
and the shortest time in which that can be done, under the present arrangements, is fifty-one days. Now, if the ideas of Mr. O'Rielly are adopted,
the mails can be taken through overland in twelve days, whilst there will
be instant communication also by lightning. The amount expended by
the government in two years, under the present plan, will build the telegraph to San Francisco, establish the various intermediate stations, and




a7:                0 [67]
involve no additional expense whatever for keeping the whole system in
constant operation.
This plan is briefly this: Distribute the mounted regiment, or whatever
Iforce is designated for duty on that route, in parties of twenty or twenty-,five men, at stockades about thirty miles apart. Let two mounted men
start from each stockade daily, and ride to the intermediate telegraph stations, half-way between the respective stockades. Those riders can take
mails with them. Half-way between the stockades, the telegraph company
will establish stations, at which the families of the operators, &c., will
reside. Thus the distance for each dragoon to ride daily, will be only fifteen miles, if a daily mail is desired. Whilst making that short trip, they
willfurnish all the protection to the wires which they require-indeed, will
give to this line more supervision than is now bestowed upon any telegraphic
route in the Mississippi valley. A very simple computation will show that one
regiment between Fort Leavenworth and the mountains, and another from
San Francisco to meet it, thus distributed, will accomplish the whole object.
These regiments have to be kept up now, and may be thus usefully employed.' According to such an arrangement, they will be kept on light duty,
and will give to travellers their guidance and protection. They will save
to the government the whole expense of this mail service, remove it beyond
all danger or doubt, and make the route to California as easy and comfortable as any in the United States.
It can be readily perceived that, by securing in this way regular stopping
places for every fifteen miles of the immense distance, the emigrants will
find the comforts of which they arenow deprived, and meet with'friends to
cheer and provide for them. At those points, where water is not otherwise
to be procured, wells will be sunk for the use of those residing there, and
for the emigrants en route. Each station and stockade will probably be
soon surrounded with gardens and corn-fields, and will furnish markets at
which the Indians can sell their game.
In a newspaper article all the features of this project cannot be presented
so fully as they deserve; nor can many of the arguments in its favor be
even referred to. Its practicability cannot be disputed. The gentlemen
familiar with the route, to whom it has been communicated, have promptly
endorsed it, not as feasible alone, but as just the thing required. A little
wise action at Washington next winter, will enable this design to be commenced in the following spring, anti perfected in two years, at the farthest.
Future travellers across the plains will go with ease and comfort. The
emigrants will communicate promptly with their frienqds at home, both
whilst on the route, and when they reach their far-off destination. The
merchants of the east can send orders for their vessels in the'Pacific, and
the government direct its officers in California, New Mexico, and Oregon
without delay. There will be no loss of mails, or detention for months.
By letter, information can be sent in twelve days-by lightning, in an hour,
or even less. The extremes will be knit firmly together, and a residence
in or journey to the Pacific coast, will be shorn of all its terrors. We know
of no plan for immediate communication with the Pacific, which presents
so many advantages. At the close of each day's travel, emigrants can stop
at a stockade or station, rest for the night among friends, and be ready to
resume the next day's journey refreshed and invigorated. The nucleus of
settlements will be formed along the whole route, so that Nebraska will be,
in a short period, what it is designed to make it by its proposed organiza



E6, 1                          28
tion into a territory. From the main line to California, branches can be
extended to New Mexico and Oregon, whenever thought advisable. Theaid to emigrants which would be thus given whilst they are on the plains,
would surpass all that government has done thus far, and at no more cos t
than at present. The saving in mail expenditures would more than meet
the required outlay. As an economical measure, it commends itself to the
government; and as the means of promoting the public policy with regard
to California, Oregon, and New Mexico, it'is invaluable. Why, then, can
it not be undertaken promptly? Congress can pass the bill next session,
and in less than two years there will be lightning communication hourly
with the Pacific coast, and a regular mail running through in twelve days,
beyond the reach of accidents by sea, or of enemies in war-all, too, at less
cost than the present slow mode adopted.-Ib. May 3, 1849.
MR. ORIELLY S PLAN FOR EXTENDING TELEGRAPHIC AND MAIL FACILITIES TO
THE PACIFIC. 
The plan of Mr. O'Rielly for securing communication between the At-.
lantic and Pacific overlands, is thus stated in the Union:  *  *  *
The plan here stated is one that has suggested itself to hundreds,, since
the question of establishing communications over the plains and mountains
has become one of immediate interest. Such a portion of the army as
would be required for the service mentioned, could not be more usefully
employed. It wasthe Roman system, by which the republic conquered
the world, to use the Roman soldier as a combatant in war, and a laborer
and artizan in peace. When the soldier achieved the conquest by his sword,
he secured it by the implements of his peaceful industry. He built towers,
castles and fortifications; opened and constructed roads; and prepared the
country for the reception of the cultivator, the mechanic and the merchant.
Under our system, too little is required of the army in time of peace.
Large bodies of it are too frequently sustained in idleness, and its officers
and engineers grow rusty and unserviceable by long habits of inaction.
It is obvious to every man, that soldiers must be maintained on the line
of the route across the plains and the mountains. Why not make them
additionally serviceable-to an extent not easy to calculate-by requiring
them to lay the foundations of the settlements, that may in no long time: be
made to checker the surface of a country now a wild, and, upon Mr.
O'Rielly's plan, to forward the mail and guard the telegraph?
The plan,i feasible, greatly more economical than any other conceivable
plan of securing the proposed advantages, and falls in exactly with the idea
of establishing a military force on the route. In fact, it is merely showing
how the measures that the government must necessarily take for the protection of that route, can be made, without one cent's additional expense,
IMMEASURABLY SERVICEABLE TO EVERY INTEREST BOTH OF THE GOVERNMENT
AND THE PEOPLE.-From the St. Louis Daily Organ, 3May 4, 1849.
NOW FOR THE PACIFIC 
"Mr. O'Rielly also states that he is ready to complete the whole line to
the Pacific ocean, within tweve months after the passage of a Congress ion4




bill for the purpose. Truly this is a project worthy of the age. A few
days ago, we spoke of its immense importance to the government and
people-the union of the Atlantic and Pacific by "links of lightning"-givng to the inhabitants along the American shores of the two great oceans,
instant communication. The subject is worthy of Congressional attention.St. Louis Daily Union, January 6, 1848.
MOVEMENT TOWARDS THE PACIFIC-INCREASED DEMAND FOR THE TELEGRAPH
— THE GREAT COMMERCIAL WONDER OF THE AGE-SETTLEMENTS ON THE
PACIFIC, &C. -
The London Chronicle, reviewing the causes which have suddenly revolutlonized the prospects of commerce and colonization on the shores of the
Pacific ocean, mentions them as "the great commercial wonders of the
age."  Referring particularly to " the mighty wave of immigration which
is now rolling towards the western shores of the American continent," the
Chronicle remarks that "it is impossible to foretell the mighty influence
which it will exert upon the future prosperity of commerce on that ocean."
In connexion with this " mighty wave of immigration" (a large portion
of which is now and will long continue rolling onward via St. Louis and
the Missouri valley,) the London editor refers to the great importance of
facilitating the intercourse and correspondence between the Atlantic and
Pacific. " A railroad has been talked of, and will doubtless soon be commenced," says the Chronicle. "Boston and St. Louis are already connected by a magnetic line —an extension of which is already contemplated
to the Pacific coast. The expense of completing a line from St. Louis (or
rather Fort Leavenworth) to the Pacific has been estimated at four hundred thousand dollars," continues the London editor, "and we confidently
believe that in our day and generation both undertakings will be accomplished.", If our British friend were resident in St. Louis about these days, witnessing the trade and travel occasioned by the attractions of the Pacific
coast, his faith in railroad and telegraphic improvements, strong as it appears to be, would be vastly quickened. The well-considered project of
Senator Benton will unquestionably soon eventuate in the completion, as
well as the commencement of a national railroad to California. The public mind, indicated by the general tone of the press throughout the United
States, points with certainty to such a glorious result at no distant day.
The lightning line of correspondence is already arranged for construction beyond St. Louis as far westward as Fort Leavenworth-the principal
towns of the Missouri valley having indicated their readiness to sustain
Mr. O'Reilly in the plan proposed last year, when this paper, in common
with other journals of the west, expressed concurrence in the importance
of the enterprise-at a time, be it remembered, anterior to the discovery
of the golden attractions which are now drawing multitudes of immigrants
towards California. Even before California was acquired by treaty, and
before its vast mineral riches were discovered, a telegraphic line to the
Pacific was deemed advisable by many who had well considered the subjet; and surely now, when we consider the immense impulse suddenly and




[67]                           30
permanently given to colonization and commerce on the shores of that
ocean, we cannot wonder that even a London editor has full faith of "seeing the enterprise accomplished in his day and generation."  He will not
probably grow many years older before his news departmentwill teem with
"the American steamer's news, including despatches from the Pacific,
transmitted by lightning across the American continent."
The readers of the Republican will bear witness that its editorial department is not readily influenced by excitements concerning visionary projects.
It belongs to the history of the time to record fuller particulars of one
project-the telegraphic enterprise-to which allusion was made in the
early part of last year, and to which reference is now again made, as one
of the subjects most immediately interesting to all classes of our fellowcitizens throughout the Union; not only those who are now embarking for
the " land of promise," but to those who remain at home. As this is probably the last paper that will reach the frontiers before the immigrants start
thence upon their journey across the plains, and as they are now having
peculiar opportunities for judging of the necessities and comforts of telegraphic communication, some extracts are hereto annexed from a circular
showing the plans of Mr. O'Reilly for extending the telegraph to the Pacific ocean, if Congress renders reasonable assistance in carrying it across
the public domain. Excluding such parts of the circular as refer merely
to the details of business, the following portion may indicate the spirit
with which the work will be prosecuted.
The circular is headed as follows: " Mississippi and Pacific telegraph —
being the second division of the Atlantic and Pacific range."  The following are the introductory remarks of Mr. O'Reilly, indicating the general
plan, &c., &c.-St. Louis Daily Republican, a.pril 26, 1849.
ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC TELEGRAPH.
The notion has not yet been abandoned entirely that railroads should
necessarily precede telegraphs, although the extraordinary spread of the
latter continues daily to demonstrate the fact, that they are the most independent means of communication yet devised by man-the easiest of construction, and the most available for profit, when once put in operation.
Many still exclaim that we shall not have a wire communication with the
Pacific until the railroad is first established, and perhaps the best plan will
be to,allow the wires themselves to silence such cavaliers.
A wondrous change in sentiment, as well as in everything else, has taken
place since (but eighteen months ago) the project of a Pacific telegraph
was first broached in this paper. California was not then named in the
connexion; for it had not passed into our hands, and there were enemies
enough of all "mad schemes," without challenging the objectors to the
war and the acquisition of territory to opposition. Eighteen months, and
a world has been added to the area of freedom, peopled already with thousands and thousands of our citizens, to echo every call of enterprise and
progress which may appeal to them from the Atlantic and from our own
valley. We need not say that the telegraph extension will be at once popular in the valleys of the Sacramento and Wallamette. Senator Benton's




31                          [67]
great work will summon the national energy and ambition into one useful
channel, and as "'vant courier" to the undertaking, the electric wire-will
be found flashing from point to point its promises of speedy fulfilment to
the hopes of the most sanguine.
Mr. O'Rielly having completed the organization of his unparalleled lines
east of the Mississippi, is now prepared forthwith to proceed westward,
even beyond the bounds of our State. The work in fact is in hand, and
the towns along the Missouri-aroused, as they have been this spring, by
scenes which will be annually repeated through the future-have only to
say, how fir and how promptly they will become interested in that which
so peculiarly concerns them. Let us here submit to our readers an extract
from the circular which Mr. O'Reillv is sending forth in connexion with
this new work, &c.-St. Louis Daily Reveille, Jipril 26, 1849.
C.
Jttlantic and Pacific Telegraph.-Practicability of the project-advantages of the route,;c.-Opinion of a gentleman who has traversed the
region he describes.
As the proceedings and calculations of the St. Louis national convention,
already quoted, referred chiefly to a route from the western frontier of Missouri or Iowa to the Pacific, it may be well to give the views of one of
those gentlemen who are more familiar with another route in a more southerly latitude. The ability with which the writer of the following letter
has discussed various highly important national, questions, (though anonymously published,) is well known to many of our prominent statesmen, as
well as to the editors of some of our leading political journals:
WASHINGTON, February, 1852.
MY DEAR SIR: I have carefully and attentively read your memorial in
relation to the construction of a line of telegraphs, diverging from different
points on the "routes to be selected," to San Francisco, on the Pacific; and
I am well aware of the diversity of opinion which exists, in relation to the
"routes to be selected," in the west, for the accomplishment of this great
national project;' but I am satisfied that the diversity of opinion which exists in that quarter of the country, is of a sectional character. Eyery
intelligent man with whom I have conversed unites heartily in the importance of the undertaking, in A NATIONAL POINT OF VIEW; but their local
prejudices and their private interests, in a great many instances, absorb their
national feelings. These difficulties exist in no other part of the country.
The importance of connecting our Pacific possessions with the Atlantic
States, is a subject that should engage the attention of every statesman and
every intelligent man in our common country-a country brought into national existence by the blood of our revolutionary fathers, and cemented
together by social and political considerations worthy of perpetuationwhich it should be the pride and boast of us all to protect and defend.
The age in which we live is called the " age of progress and improvement."  So it is. But the question arises, Ito whom are we indebted for
the advancement of our country in all that is great and noble?  To the




man of genius and enterprise, no matter in what department of industry
that genius and enterprise are engaged. War has its horrors and disadvantages, but it is the great element of civilization. If it had not been for the
war with Mexico, which was depicted with so much affected horror by false
philanthropists during its prosecution, we would not this day have witnessed
a city on the Pacific coast with a population of seventy thousand enterprising American freemen. There is a propelling power about the American
character which is the wonder and admiration of the civilized world, and
no obstacle-great or small-impedes its progress. It appears to me that
it is our destiny, by our indomitable perseverance in the extension of our
commerce-the element of a nation's wealth and the hand-maid of civilization-to revolutionize the world, politically and socially. By these means
the condition of mankind will be ameliorated in every quarter of the globe;
and the impetus thus given them will propel them onward in all that is great
and noble, until they shall reach the apex of human happiness.
You know that I am a plain unpretending man, but little known to the
large body of our countrymen; but, at the same time, I have always taken
an active part in the discussion of every question that presents itself, if it is
of a national character, and with which the honor and prospority of our
country are intimately associated.
Looking, then, to the vast importance, in a military as well as a commercial point of view, of a telegraphic line to the, Pacific coast, with a
cordon of military posts, equally distant, for the protection of the immigrant, I will candidly and freely give you my views in relation to what I
consider the best and most practicable route for the construction of your
proposed line, as well as for a railroad, derived from practical observation.
It is my (andid opinion that the best and most practicable route for this
great national highway, is to cross the Mississippi river at Memphis, Tennessee, thence in a westwardly direction to appoint on the Arkansas river,
opposite Little Rock, crossing the river at that point; thence along the
mail road to Fort Smith, at the junction of the Poteaux, and on the south
bank of the Arkansas; thence in a westwardly direction through the
Choctaw country, crossing the north fork of the Canadian; thence in a
westwardly direction through the Creek country, to Edwards's tradinghouse, on Little river, crossing that stream; thence westwardly to Choteau's
old trading-house, on the margin of the great prairie; thence, in a southwestwardly direction to Albuquerque, on the Rio Grande —from  which
point a diverging line might be established to Santa Fe-thence down the
margin of the Rio Grande, diverging until you reach the Gila, following
the banks of that river until you reach the Rio Colorado at or near Los
Angelos, where it empties into the Gulf of California; thence, crossing the
Rio Colorado, westwardly to the Pacific.
The natural advantages of this route (nearly all of which I have personally examined) over that of a more northern one, for the construction of
either a telegraph or railroad, are, indeed, very great, to my mind.
In the first place, you avoid the Rocky mountains and Sierra Nevada,
because you are southeast of them. The country is level, and the watercourses abound with timber adapted to such purposes.
In the second place-which is of vast importance-you avoid the hard
winters of a more northwardly route, the deep snoios of which would be
great obstacles to the construction of these works and the transportation
of letter-mails,




33                         [ 67 ]
In the third place, you would be able to work nearly the whole year on
this route, while, on the more northern one, you would be impeded by the
severity of the winters.
I have thus stated to you frankly my opinions upon this subject; and I
sincerely wish you every success in such a noble and grand enterprise, the
accomplishment of which will redound to the honor of American genius
and enterprise-the true elements of our national prosperity-and thus
make our country the greatest commercial nation of the earth.
By the establishment of a line of steamers from San Francisco to Canton,
and the telegraph line connected from the Atlantic to the Pacific,.AJew
York will be within twenty-eight days' news of China.
When this shall be accomplished, and the Pacific railroad completed, the
commercial supremacy of the world will belong to us; and, instead of getting our tea from England by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, or in
American vessels by the way of Cape Horn, England will get her tea direct from New York.
These are the fruits of American genius and enterprise, which should not
be looked upon with indifference, but should be pressed onward to a glorious consummation.
Your friend and fellow-citizen.
E. B. ROBINSON.
HCINRY O'R.lELLY, Esq.
SOME OPINIONS OF PUBLIC MEN.
As these pages were going to press, the memorialist received some letters
from Washington, copies of two of which may be annexed, expressive of
the general views of all the writers; one of the writers of the subjoined
letters being a member of Congress, and the other occupying one of the
most prominent public stations in the Union:
[From a distinguished public functionary.]
"WASHINGTON, February 19, 1852.
" DEAR SIR: I have your letter of the 12th, (which enclosed a memorial,) and have perused it with pleasure, as I take a deep interest in any
project calculated to facilitate the intercommunication between the Atlantic
and the Pacific States.
If we cannot bind those States to us by roads, railroads and telegraph
lines, we may soon see them setting up for independence.
" The C home tie' which binds the Californian to his native State on the
Atlantic, will grow weaker every day; and a new generation will soon
arise that know not the east, and then the only bond of union will be a
common country, and a common glory, and a common interest, that can
only be equalled by a free and uninterruptad communication from the seat
of government to every part of this wide-spread republic.'" I shall be happy to receive a copy of that part of the report of the St.
Louis national convention to which you refer, and after I have had time to
Mis.-3




[ 67                           34
peruse it, it will give me pleasure to receive from you any verbal explanations which you may be pleased to give.
"I am, your obedient servant,
"HENRY O'REILLY, Esq."
[From a member of Congress.]
" WASHIINGTON, February 16, 1852.
" DfAR SIR: Your letter and memorial, presenting a proposition and plan
for telegraphic and letter mail communication with the Pacific is received.
The plan seems to have been well considered, and to be complete in the
measures proposed to accomplish the purpose.
"You request criticism, that, if any objections exist, you may obviate
them if possible. I do not see any important change of your plan that
could be made, and yet leave it efficient for its object. The difficulty is to
obtain the attention and action of Congress upon it.
C Yours, truly,
6 To HENRY O'REILLY, isq."'