University of California Berkeley 
 
THE . , 
 
 GREAT COMMERCIAL PRIZE 
 
 ADDRESSED 
 
 TO EVERY AMERICAN WHO VALUES THE PROSPERITY OF HIS COUNTRY. 
 
 
 BY CHARLES C. COFFIN. 
 
 MEMBER OF THE BOSTON PBESS. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 A. WILLIAMS & CO., 
 
 100 Waihihgtoh Stkest. 
 
 1858. 
 

. AJID W. NOLAN * J* 
 
 C 
 
 TnE GREAT COMMERCIAL PRIZE. 
 
 AN ENQUIRY INTO THE PRESENT AND PROSPECTIVE COMMERCIAL 
 POSITION OP THE UNITED STATES, AND A PLEA FOR THE IMMEDIATE 
 CONSTRUCTION OF A RAILROAD FROM MISSOURI RIVER TO PUGET SOUND. 
 
 Great events are transpiring in the world which have a direct 
 and all-important bearing on the United States. China and 
 Japan have recently been brought in connection with the rest 
 of the world. The five hundred millions of beings in those 
 countries are henceforth to be readied by the hand of civiliza- 
 tion. Russia is extending its power, its enterprise, its lines of 
 trade and traffic eastward to the Pacific, to seek in that direc- 
 tion an outlet for her trade, now denied her through the Black 
 Sea. India under British rule is throwing its lines of railway 
 in every direction. Australia is taking the proportion of an em- 
 pire, yielding a hundred million dollars in gold per annum, with 
 unequalled agricultural recources with a population already 
 numbering six hundred thousand, who speak the Anglo Saxon 
 tongue, and who are animated with ideas of progress and ad- 
 vancement. The Islands of the Pacific the half-way houses of 
 trade and travel are feeling the vivifying influence of the time. 
 Chili is building along her vallies and mountain peaks, railroads 
 which shall bring the riches of the Andes to the sea. On our 
 western shores, California, Oregon, Washington and Vancou- 
 ver are awaiting the hand of industry to yield their riches. 
 Around and in the Pacific Ocean are the " signs of the times." 
 The question arises as to the bearing of these movements on 
 
the future of the TTniteH States ? There is a great commercial 
 prize before us. What are our relations to it ? Can we make 
 it ours ; or are we to see it grasped by other hands ? 
 
 In the following pages no attempt will be made to name the 
 vastness of the prize, or its value ; for its vastness and richness 
 is incalculable. An attempt only will be made to set forth very 
 briefly the means, the only means by which that prize may be 
 secured ! To that single point the attention of every American 
 who loves his country's prosperity, is called. 
 
 There are but two river systems on the Pacific coast of this 
 continent, which can be made, in any great degree, available for 
 commerce the Sacramento and the Columbia. The only com- 
 modious harbors on the Pacific coast, are connected with these 
 river systems. The Columbia river is obstructed by a bar of 
 sand at its mouth, which renders the navigation of its waters 
 dangerous; but near by, and in effect connected with the Co- 
 lumbia, is Puget Sound, the great northern gateway of the con- 
 tinent, where, as at the Golden gate, a great metropolis is soon 
 to rise, for nature has selected it to be in future years, one of 
 the world's great centres of trade. 
 
 Ten years ago, San Francisco was a place of half a dozen 
 houses ; but now it is the great metropolis of the Pacific coast. 
 Commerce has made it her mart, and a great state, the richest 
 of all states in mineral resources, has grown as if by magic, 
 with all the elements of civilization during the decade. But in 
 the future, San Francisco is not alone to gather the riches of 
 the West. The Northern gate-way is to receive its portion of 
 trade. 
 
 Puget Sound is reached from the Pacific Ocean through the 
 Straits of Fuca. It is as will be seen by a glance at the map, a 
 series of deep indentations, sawn into the continent, close up to 
 the coast range of mountains and down almost to the Columbia, 
 as if Nature had been trying her hand at fancy cabinet work. 
 These indentations are deep bays, navigable for the largest ships, 
 securely land locked, reaching an hundred and fifty miles inland 
 from the sea. There, in this scroll work, is 1500 miles of coast 
 line in the United States territory, furnishing a number of 
 
the best harbors in the world deep, capacious, and surrounded 
 with every thing needed by commerce. In the language of 
 Commodore Wilkes, of the U. S. Exploring Expedition, "There 
 is nothing to prevent the navigation of these waters by the larg- 
 est ships-of-war afloat. 
 
 The Sound may be said to belong to the Columbia valley, 
 which is, without doubt, one of the richest agricultural sections 
 of the globe. The river itself with its tributaries might furnish 
 waters for all of the machinery of the world. Immense beds of 
 coal exist so near to the sound, that the coal may be tossed from 
 the mine to the hold of a steamship. These coal fields are the 
 only ones known to exist' on the Pacific from which Califor- 
 nia, and the steam marine of the Pacific in the future must 
 receive supplies. In addition there are the gold fields of 
 Frazer river, of Washington and Oregon near at hand. Its 
 climate is milder than that of New England, although five de- 
 grees further north. Its rivers are filled with salmon, and the 
 cod-fish is found in great abundance along its shores. Inland, 
 are deposits of marble and iron, awaiting the quarried hammer. 
 These are some of the surroundings of the Northern gate-way of 
 the continent. 
 
 What is to be the future of Puget Sound ? 
 
 It is evident that the world is soon to see a great change in 
 its thoroughfares of trade and travel. Hitherto, civilization 
 has had communication with the Orientals, with India and 
 China only by passages around the southern Capes of the two 
 Continents ; but the advancement of civilization to our Pacific 
 coast places us midway between England and Europe on the 
 one hand, and China and India on the other. 
 
 America hitherto, has advanced merely by using its right arm 
 of Commerce but now the time has come for it to stretch out 
 its left arm, and lay its hand upon the trade of Asia. Puget 
 Sound fronts China. It is less than 5000 miles from Shanghai, 
 situated at the mouth of the Yang tse Kiang, the fifth largest 
 river of the globe. It is but 3500 miles from Japan, 4000 from 
 the mouth of the Amoor, and 7200 from Sydney in Australia, 
 Turning eastward into the heart of our Continent, it is of itself 
 an hundred and fifty miles inland from the Pacific. Four hun* 
 
dred miles further inland are the navigable waters of the Mis- 
 souri, leading to the Gulf of Mexico, and up the Mississippi, to 
 the Lakes, and the Ohio to the Aleghanies. It is in a direct line 
 with the great Lawrentian chain of water communication, reach- 
 ing from the Atlantic, more than half way across the continent. 
 In addition, nature has, as will be more .fully shown, leveled 
 the Rocky Mountains at the head waters of the Missouri, as if 
 in kindness to man, that he may easily make a highway from 
 the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
 
 In all past time, civilized nations have prospered as they have 
 controlled the trade of the East. England has enriched herself 
 through her Indian Empire. " British India " says Hon. Mr. 
 Martin, the Queen's late Treasurer at Hjng Kong, " has remit- 
 ted to England during the last fifty years, in bullion and pro- 
 duce, $750,000,000." Sir Charles Forbes remarks that " the 
 wealth which England has received from the natives of India 
 would at compound interest pay off the national debt." 
 
 The commercial system which England has adopted is simple 
 it consists in making herself the world's banking house. 
 
 She has also adopted a consolodated political system, which 
 is subordinate to her commercial system. In the language of 
 Lord Brougham, it is her policy " to preserve the connection of 
 the different component parts of a great and scattered empire, 
 and to connect the whole mass." To do this, "she fosters a steam 
 marine appropriating immense sums annually for mail service 
 to Canada, Jamaica, Central America, South America, Australia 
 the East, the Mediterranean and Red Seas ; and up the 
 Pacific coast from Panama to Frazer river. She establishes lines 
 of regular communication, of travel and trade at all points, 
 not only with her own colonies, but with countries under other 
 governments, to bring all the arteries of the world in connection 
 with that little heart, lying secure from harm in its sea-girt isle ! 
 To this end the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada has been con- 
 structed ; for this, the Victoria bridge is rising above the waters 
 of the St. Lawrence. 
 
 This policy, has made the British Empire the most wonderful 
 nation of all time. "I must have ships, colonies, and 
 commerce" said Napoleon, when seeking the overthrow of 
 
England. ft Render the colonies of England useless, or deprive 
 her of them, and you break down her last wall and fill up her 
 last moat," said Talleyrand. England understands her danger 
 as well as she does the secret of her snccess ; she knows that 
 her existence as a first power, or her existence at all, is depen- 
 dent upon her commercial activity. She must keep ahead of 
 all other nations, must continue to be the world's banker if she 
 would maintain her power and position. Her statesmen under- 
 stand the question, and with far reaching policy are laying 
 plans worthy of a great empire to retain what has been won, 
 and obtain new triumphs. Said Mr. Roebuck in Parliament, on 
 the 20th of August last : 
 
 " The present state of the North American continent was a matter 
 of great interest to England. That continent was divided among 
 three possessors. The southern arid most important portion belonged 
 to the United States of America, which ran up to where they met the 
 dominion of England, which stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
 England possessed the larger part of the continent, which proceeded 
 northward until it reached upon its western frontier the territory 
 belonging to Russia. We heretofore had planted colonies in the 
 southern division that he had named. We had planted thirteen colo- 
 nies in that country ; those colonies had declared their independence, 
 and had since increased to the number of thirty-five or thirty-six free 
 States. We had created a power there which, if something were not 
 done by England as a counterpoise to the United States of America, 
 would overshadow not only England but the earth. He believed that 
 in the northern part of the continent we had the means of establish- 
 ing the counterpoise which he sought. If England would carry out 
 a systematic plan of colonization upon that portion of the continent 
 which now belonged to her, she would enable the world to resist what 
 he believed would otherwise be the predominate power of the Anglo- 
 Saxon race now established in the United States. It was on this 
 ground that he solicited the attention of the House to the few words 
 which he wished to address to them. The English possessed a portion 
 of the American continent, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
 north of the great lakes. Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Ne^ 
 Brunswick, Lower and Upper Canada, were colonies when the English 
 became possessed of the country, and since that time they had not 
 added to the territory one acre of land in the way of colonization. In 
 the meantime the Americans had increased from thirteen to thirty-six 
 independent States, and from 3,000,000 population to nearly 80,000, 
 000, while the English had remained idle ; and though they had seen 
 the Americans become one of the greatest nations, they, notwithstand- 
 ing that they had the means, had effected nothing as a counterpoise 
 to the Americans. He wished to see this s&te of things ended. 
 
8 
 
 He thought it proper that the rights of the Hudson Bay company 
 under their charter should be ascertained, so that the whole of the 
 land should be converted to the purposes of civilization, and the 
 dominion of England be carried from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 
 
 Taking the Western side of Lake Superior to the Rocky Mountains, 
 they would cut the new colony which the right honorable Secretary 
 for the colonies proposed to establish, and he believed plans had been 
 laid before the right honorable Baronet for carrying a railway com- 
 pletely across the Continent, so that a direct communication would be 
 established between England and Vancouver's Island, by way of Halifax. 
 This was a magnificent scheme. He believed the right honorable 
 Secretary for the Colonies was ambitious of renown ; indeed, he had 
 already given the world pledges of that ambition ; and he would tell 
 the right honorable Baronet that the man who carried out this scheme 
 would have achieved greater things than even he (Sir B. Lytton) had 
 done for literature, and his name would be handed down to posterity 
 as a great Colonial Minister. The accomplishment of such a scheme 
 would unite England with Vancouver's Island and with China, and 
 they would be enabled widely to extend the civilization of England. 
 When he referred to the civilization of England, he wished it to be 
 compared with the civilization of America, and he would boldly assert 
 that the civilization of England was greater than that of America. 
 The Colonial Secretary, Sir E. B. Lytton, said : 
 ' Already, by the Pacific, Vancouver's Island has been added to the 
 social communities of mankind. Already, in the large territory which 
 extends west of the Rocky Mountains from the American frontier, and 
 up to the skirts of the Russian domains we are laying the foundations 
 of what may become, hereafter, a magnificent abode for the human race; 
 and now, eastward of the Rocky Mountains, we are invited to see, in 
 the settlement of the Red River, the nucleus of a new colony, a ram- 
 part against any hostile inroads from the American frontier, and an 
 essential arch, as it were, to that great viaduct by which we hope one day 
 to connect the harbors of Vancouver with the gulf of St. Lawrence." 
 
 With such a line of railway constructed, commencing at 
 Halifax and passing via the Grand Trunk line to Montreal, up 
 the Saskatchawan to Puget Sound, the position of England 
 would be thus, by steam ; 
 From Shanghai, jfl 
 
 " " by Cape of Good Hope, 15,500 miles, 70 days 
 
 " " by Panama, 14,000 " 65 * 
 
 " " Puget Sound, 10,200 " 37 " 
 
 From Sydney, 
 " " by Cape of Good Hope, 14,500 miles, 68 days 
 
 " " by.Panama, 11,700 " 60 " 
 
 " by Suez, 13,500 63 " 
 
 " " by Puget Sound, 12,400 " 41 
 
9 
 
 In view of the fact that a passage from England to China can 
 be made in thirty four days less time than by the Cape of Good 
 Hope is of itself sufficient to warrant the construction of the 
 .line by a power which has so much at stake. Surveys are now 
 being made ; one party under the command of Capt. Palliser is 
 moving from Lake Superior west, and another, commanded by 
 Capt. Elliot, is moving east from Puget Sound ; they are to 
 meet at the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 Meanwhile Her Majesty has summoned delegates from her 
 American Provinces who are now assembled at London to advise 
 in the matter. The probabilities are therefore that immediate 
 action will be taken by the British interests to secure the trade 
 and travel of the East by the construction of this line. 
 
 The grant of lands made by Congress to the Minnesota and 
 Pacific Eailroad Company, on that portion extending from St. 
 Paul to the British line at Pembina, have been or will be offered 
 to those owning the great railway lines through Canada. This 
 will give those companies a route through our territory to the 
 British Possessions on the Pacific. This road ia entitled to two 
 million acres of land along the valley of the Mississippi and 
 Bed Rivers, worth, with the road built, it is estimated, at least 
 $15 per acre. 
 
 It is plain that if a railway is carried across the continent 
 through Canada, as it undoubtedly will be, or that if it is 
 controlled by British interests, it will be of little value to Amer- 
 ican commerce, and also it is plain that if the terminus at 
 Puget Sound is in the British dominions, the great metropolis 
 of the North West will be a British metropolis. 
 
 Supposing that the road is built, and that British power con- 
 trols it, it presents two dilemmas to the people of the United 
 States : first, it controls commerce, has all the benefits, and reaps 
 all the advantages ; second, it gives Great Britian the key of the 
 North West ! These are plain, indisputable facts. 
 
 Let us look at the commercial prize. 
 
 The trade with China alone is estimated at the present time 
 to be one hundred and thirty millions of dollars per annum, 
 and the trade of the asiatic Archipelago, at an additional 
 hundred millions of dollars. This has been done with only a 
 
10 
 
 few ports open to trade ; but now, the entire Chinese and Japan 
 Empires are open without restriction even to the navigation of 
 the great rivers of China, the Yang-Tse-Kiang navigable 
 for two thousand miles to the Thibet country, and the Hoang- 
 Ho two thousand miles in length, draining Korkonor, bringing 
 four hundred millions of people in connection with the civilized 
 world. 
 
 The imports of Silk from China to England, direct in 1855 
 was 4,436,852 lbs. The amount from other-countries to Eng- 
 land the same year, 2,182,000 lbs. Teas and Silks are the two 
 great staples of China and their production has been stimulated 
 to a wonderful degree within the last ten years. 
 
 In 1849 the imports of Tea into England 
 
 amounted to "- - - 47,000,000 lbs. 
 
 In 1856 it was - - 91,000,000 lbs. 
 
 In 1849 the imports into the United States 
 amounted to - - 18,000,000 lbs. 
 
 In 1856 it was - - - 40,000,000 lbs. 
 
 The route of vessels from England and the United States to 
 China crosses the Equator twice which subjects Teas to much 
 damage from high temperatures, and which with the long voyages 
 causes high rates of insurance. But with a saving of thirty- 
 four days time, as there will be by a railroad across this conti- 
 nent, England can afford to obtain her Teas and Silks 
 by the most expeditious route, for the less rates of insurance 
 and great saving of time, will send all light and valuable 
 freights over such a route. 
 
 Hitherto the balance of trade with China has been largely 
 against England. It has only been through the Opium trade 
 that she has avoided paying specie for nearly all of the Teas and 
 Silks imported. The United States also pays specie in part. 
 To stop this drain of precious metals, and to supply goods 
 instead, is the point to be gained. The United States has the 
 only great staple which China needs, Cotton. In 1856 the 
 United States exported to Shanghai 221,716 pieces of drills and 
 14,420 of sheetings, against 1,420 of English. The Chinese 
 will purchase only what they need. They are not yet educated 
 into the use of jeven the comforts of civilization. An English 
 
11 
 
 manufacturer exported knives to China, but chop sticks were 
 not to be supplanted by that movement. Coarse Cottons are 
 demanded, because they furnish cheap clothing, and in the 
 manufacture of coarse cottons, England cannot compete with 
 the United States. England supplies China with goods to the 
 amount of two million dollars per annum only, the balance 
 being paid in opium and specie. The great necessity with Eng- 
 land therefore,is, to bring China close to herself, annihilate time 
 and space, and thus make a market for her manufactures, that 
 she may remain as now, the world's banking house. 
 
 But in addition to the trade with China, which, although 
 it is so vast, has but just begun, is the trade with the 
 Amoor country, now being rapidly developed under Kussian 
 protection a trade which is soon to command the attention of 
 the world, and which from its locality, fronting Puget Sound, 
 will like all other streams of traffic find its way across the Pacific 
 to the great centres of the commercial world. 
 
 And in addition to this, is the Japan trade, now to us a fact 
 bringing fifty millions of people hitherto exclusives among the 
 nations of the earth, into the line of the great highway of trade 
 and travel, where the steamers starting from and for Puget 
 Sound will take their coal henceforth to be the western Pacific 
 coaling station, as Puget Sound will be its eastern. 
 
 And again, in addition, Australian products will in a measure 
 find their way to England over the Continental route. The 
 trade of England with that Colony which is so rapidly taking the 
 proportions of an Empire itself, is to be immense. 
 
 And still there is another addition the India travel. The 
 average time now between England and Calcutta by the straitest 
 line the Suez route is 48 days, but the passage by Puget Sound 
 to Calcutta, can with ease be accomplished in 38 a saving oi 
 ten days. Through Puget Sound the trade and traffic between 
 England and Western Europe and the East, will find its way 
 and there, upon those waters, will rise the Liverpool of America. 
 A great Metropolis must exist where the line of railway reaches 
 the Sound, and that metropolis will be the controlling power oi 
 the great north western section of the continent. , 
 
12 
 
 Victoria now contains some seven thousand people, and the 
 large amount of shipping in the harbor, the busy marts of trade, 
 the grading of streets and the rush of business, all bespeak a 
 large and growing city. 
 
 British troops are in barracks at that city. Royal engineers 
 are there to co-operate across the Rocky mountains with a party 
 that started from Montreal last Spring, and who will winter this 
 year on the south fork of the Sascatchawan. The country is 
 represented as eminently practicable, and the idea of extreme 
 cold and deep snows is laughed at by the Hudson Bay Co. 
 
 The Legislative Assembly of Canada ordered a survey of 
 the country west of Lake Superior in 1857 ; the report hasbeea 
 recently published. It says : 
 
 "The Saskatchawan, which gathers the waters from a country 
 greater in extent than the vast region drained by the St. Lawrence and 
 all its tributaries from Lake Superior to the Gulf, is navigable by ei- 
 ther the north or south branch for more than a thousand miles of its 
 course, with the single exception of a few rapids near its confluence 
 with Lake Winnipeg. So mild is the climate on the south branch of 
 this great river, that the Indians hunt the buffalo on horseback all 
 winter, and so little snow is said to fall that snow shoes are seldom 
 used. 
 
 " That the extensive territory drained by the Saskatchawan "and its 
 tributaries is fit for settlement in as far as regards climate, is fully 
 proved by the success which attend the farming operations which are 
 carried on, although on a small scale, at the various trading posts 
 throughout the country, and by the fact that the cattle and horses at 
 these establishments are generally left to forage for themselves during 
 the winter. 
 
 "As regards the soil, from what is yet known of the country, there 
 is not perhaps on the globe so great an extent of territory so little 
 broken by barren tracts. 
 
 "The valleys of the Bed River and Saskatchawan included within 
 British territory exceed 400,000 square miles, or equal in extent to 
 England and Ireland, part of the German ocean, the English Channel, 
 the north-eastern part of France, the whole of Belgium and Holland, 
 the greater part of the Valley of the Rhine, together with the Kingdom 
 of Hanover. 
 
 " The summer climate of this region appears to be very well adapted 
 for agricultural operations. The summer temperature is nearly four 
 degrees warmer than at Toronto, as ascertained by a comparison of 
 
13 
 
 corresponding observations. Indian corn, if properly cultivated and 
 an early variety selected, may always be relied on. The melon grows 
 with the utmost luxuriance without any artificial aid, and ripens per- 
 fectly before the end of August. And yet with these truthful registers 
 of climate we are accustomed to hear of late spring and early autumn 
 frosts, deplored, lamented and held up as one of the great draw-backs 
 of the Red River. All kinds of farm j#oduce common'in Canada suc- 
 ceed admirably in the district of Assiniboia ; these are wheat, oats, 
 barley, Indian corn, hops, flax, hemp, potatoes, root crops, and all 
 kinds of common garden vegetables." 
 
 The English government is taking efficient steps to forward 
 the project. A corps of the Royal Engineers has been sent out. 
 The London Times says : 
 
 " The detachment is composed of picked volunteers, and embraces 
 almost every trade and profession surveyors, draftsmen, engravers, 
 artists, architects, photographers, carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, 
 painters, miners, &c, such as only the Royal Engineers can produce. 
 Steam engines, railway rails, and other mechanical appliances, either 
 for steam or water power, will be sent after the party. 
 
 But one conclusion is to be drawn from all this that England 
 is using strenuous efforts to secure the greatest prize of all 
 time. 
 
 A company (Nov. 16,) is already organizing in London with 
 a capital of fifty millions of dollars to be aided by a liberal grant 
 of crown lands for the consummation of the enterprize. 
 
 In -view of all this, what is our position ? One of masterly, 
 inactivity. Our government does nothing, and it is plain that 
 if Americans would secure the trade of the East, that individual 
 enterprise alone will accomplish the object. American com- 
 merce stands second only to England. It has fought its own 
 way thus far, and now a great prize is before it. It is easy for 
 American Commerce to lay its hand upon the wealth of China 
 and Japan, and on all the riches of the East. Shall it be 
 done? Can it be done? It is plain that if it is done at 
 all, it can only be accomplished by completing a railway to 
 Puget Sound at once. A railroad to San Francisco, desirable 
 as it is to have such a road, will not secure the prize ; if at the 
 same time we neglect that to Puget Sound. A railroad to Pu- 
 get Sound, constructed immediately alone will take the key of 
 the Northwest, from the hands of the Nation, which stands with 
 us in the front rank of power. 
 
14 
 
 The advantages, and the feasibility of a route from the Mis- 
 souri river to Puget Sound are abundantly set forth in the ex- 
 ploration made by Gov. Stevens, by order of Congress. That 
 route is undeniably better than any other route surveyed, but 
 we claim that East of the Rocky Mountains there is a route better 
 than that starting from St. Paul a route . which would have 
 been surveyed by Governor Stevens, had his plans not been 
 interdicted by the Secretary of War. 
 
 At the present time three lines of Railroad are being con- 
 structed from the Mississippi to the Missouri, one across Min- 
 nesota, and one north-west from St. Paul, to connect with and 
 become a part of the British line. It will be plain to any 
 one who understands the Physical geography of the country 
 west of the Missouri, that these roads must find a western ter- 
 minus east of the Rocky mountains. They must become united 
 so as to converge towards two points, either to reach the Pacific 
 through the Southern Pass or through the passes at the head 
 waters of the Missouri. The elevated range known as the Black 
 Hills, commences at the great northern bend of the Missouri 
 in the bluffs of the river, and runs south-west, the hills increas- 
 ing in size, till at the head waters of the Platte, they become 
 mountains, and are known at that point as the wind river chain. 
 There are no known practicable passes at the . head waters of 
 the Platte through the range; but north-west of Council 
 Bluffs, the Black Hills may be crossed without difficulty. 
 The valley of the Yellow Stone lies beyond the only rich, fer- 
 tile section of well watered prairie now remaining in the north- 
 west. It is a well timbered, alluvial section, from the Yellow 
 Stone to the Rocky Mountains, and it is across this section that 
 the survey would have been made, had Governor Stevens been 
 allowed to carry out his plans. This route we maintain is the 
 most feasible, the cheapest, the shortest and the most central of 
 all lines between the Missouri and the Pacific, 
 
 Starting from La Crosse over the line now being constructed 
 from that point the Transit road which will reach the 
 Missouri near the great Southern Bend, we will assume 
 as our eastern terminus of the Pacific route, or rather the 
 
15 
 
 place where all of the other roads should become a part 
 of the Pacific line, a -point near old fort Aux Cedres, or 
 fort Pierre, about ten miles south of the 44th parallel. 
 A line running down the. Mississippi, will connect at the 
 mouth of the big Sioux, with the Dubuque and Pacific 
 road, at Sioux city, and a line, which we believe is al- 
 ready projected from thence to Des Moines, will, with that now 
 being constructed from Des Moines to St. Louis, connect the 
 entire net ivork of railroads in the Union with the proposed east- 
 ern terminus of the Pacific line ! It will cross all the Iowa and 
 Missouri lines. 
 
 The distances east, immediately connecting with our assumed 
 terminus, wil be as follows ; 
 
 From Port Aux Cedres, 
 
 u To Milwaukee, via La Crosse, - - 525 miles 
 
 ** To St. Paul, 310 " 
 
 < To Green Bay, 520 " 
 
 " To Chicago, via Sioux City, Dubuque, 623 " 
 " To St. Louis, via Des Monies, - - 508 " 
 
 This is sufficient to show that the central points, or the point 
 which will best accomodate the whole country must leave the 
 Missouri, somewhere in the vicinity of the great southern bend 
 in latitude 44. From Aux Cedres, west, the distance to the 
 Kocky Mountains, woftld be 670 miles. It may be divided in 
 sections as follows : 
 
 From Fort Aux Cedres to the Black Hills, over a rolling 
 prairie, 200 miles. 
 
 From the Black Hills to the Big Horn River, 
 through an undulating country not unlike the 
 Ohio lands, 110 
 
 From the Big Horn to the Yellow Stone, a rich 
 wooded prairie country, 63 
 
 From the Yellow Stone to the Muscle Shell, over 
 a wooded prairie, 140 
 
 From the. Muscle Shell to the Hell Gate pass through 
 tire wooded and rich valley of the Upper Missouri, 
 where it unites with Governor Steven's line, 157 
 
 Total from Fort Aux Cedres, 670 
 
16 
 
 The saving of distance by this line over the line surveyed by 
 Governor Stevens, starting from St. Paul, is great. The distance 
 from Saint Paul to the Lewis and Clark pass is 1108 miles. 
 The distance by Fort Aux Cedres would be 981 to the Hell 
 Gate pass, a saving of 127. The saving in distance to Chicago 
 would be about three hundred miles, and to Saint Louis about" 
 five hundred and fifty miles. 
 
 From the Pocky Mountains west, the line passes by the Hell 
 Gate river and the Ceur d' Alene Mission over the great plain of 
 the Columbia to Wallah Wallah, and thence up the Yakaima, 
 through the Snoqualme pass of the Cascade range to Puget 
 Sound, or down the Columbia to the Cowlitz, and thence to the 
 Sound. The last named route is 150 miles longer than that 
 by the Yakima, but it is easily constructed, and lies in one of 
 loveliest vallies of the world, rich in agricultural resources, and 
 timber. The central line would be easy of construction, and 
 would present light grades. The entire length of road to be 
 constructed between Fort Aux Cedres on the Missouri and Pu- 
 get Sound is by the longest route (no tunnels) 1608 miles. 
 
 By the Cowlitz river and Ceur de Alene Mission, 
 . one short tunnel, 1433 " 
 
 By the Ceur de Alene and Yakima, two tunnels, 1383 " 
 
 But as the object of this article is only io call attention to 
 one or two specific points, the details relating to the practica 
 bility do not require a place. They are fully set forth in the 
 report of Governor Stevens. The estimated cost is about the 
 same by either route. There is no grade so great as may be 
 found on the Western Road in Massachusetts. 
 
 What then is the obstacle between the commerce of the United 
 States and the great Prize which England is striving to obtain ? 
 Simply the construction of thirteen hundred and eighty-throe 
 miles of railway, through a country rich in resources, with max- 
 imum grades upon the line, less than those on the majority of 
 roads now in operation in the United States ! 
 
 With such a line constructed the great centres of the United 
 States would be distant from the Puget Sound, as follows ;-* 
 St. Louis, ... - 1981 miles. 
 
 Louisville, - - - 2134 " 
 
17 
 
 Chicago, - - - 2006 miles. 
 
 Baltimore, - - - 9790 " 
 
 Cincinnati, - 2221 " 
 
 Green Bay, Wis. - - - 1903 " 
 
 New York, .... 2949 " 
 Philadelphia, - - - 2895 
 
 Boston, .... 2995 " 
 
 Charleston, - - - 1881 " 
 
 The entire distance between New York and Puget Sound 
 with trains travelling at thirty miles per hour will be accom- 
 plished in about 4 days. 
 
 The question to be considered now is, can the country 
 construct such a line of road ? It appears that the Secretary 
 of War, Mr. Jefferson Davis, in his estimates on different routes 
 gives the following : On the route from Council Bluffs through 
 the south Pass, from the Missouri river to the entrance of the 
 Black Hills, 520 miles, at $35,000 per mile. This is rolling 
 prairie and broken lands. From Fulton, on the Red river route, 
 to the Llano Estacado, 449 miles at $35,000 per mile, which is 
 the minimum on all the routes. The average cost of 15 New 
 England roads, including the Boston and Lowell, Boston and 
 Maine, Vermont Central, Western, Boston and Providence, 
 Eastern, &c., aside from land damages, was $36,305 per mile. 
 He estimates the cost of the Fulton line to San Francisco, 2000 
 miles at $45,000 per mile, which is the average cost of the 
 Massachusetts roads, including land damages. 
 
 There is reason to believe that the line from Fort Aux Cedres 
 to Puget Sound, can be constructed more cheaply than the 
 Fulton route, but assuming that to be about an average of the 
 cost of roads in the United States, we have the following 
 figures : 
 
 By the longest route, 1608 miles, $72,360,000. 
 " the intermediate route, 1428 miles, including $6,000,000 
 for a tunnel, $70,710,000. 
 
 By the shortest route, 1383 miles, including $10,000,000 for 
 tunnels, $72,285,000. 
 
 There will be but little rock cutting whichever route is taken. 
 The supplies of timber are inexhaustible ; besides, the line 
 
18 
 
 may be constructed in short sections, which may be reached by 
 water carriage from the eastern end, from the Big Horn, the 
 Yellow Stone and the Jefferson fork of the Missouri, with a port- 
 age round the falls, and from the Columbia and the Sound. 
 
 With the donation of such a portion of public lands as can 
 be obtained from Congress, or with such aid as has been 
 granted to other lines, there is no reason to doubt the 
 ability, of the country, to construct the line immediately. It is 
 but a small work compared with what has been accomplished 
 during the last five years. 
 
 In 1852 we built 2541 miles of road. 
 
 " 1853 * 2T48 
 
 1854 " 3549 * 
 
 " 1855 " 2736 " " 
 
 " 1856 " 3578 " 
 
 Total in five years, 15,152 
 
 In 1850 there were 7,355 miles of railroad in operation in 
 the country : now there cannot be less than 30,000 miles, with 
 10,000 more in process of construction, costing 776,000,000 
 of dollars. Of this amount, in 1856 the country was indebted 
 300,000,000. The entire amount of stock and bonds held 
 by foreign hands was $81,000,000 only! If, in 1856 the coun- 
 try put 3600 miles in operation, there surely need be no 
 hesitancy in regard to our ability to construct 1500 miles within 
 three years ! especially when a large portion of it is through 
 one of the finest sections of the country, inviting to the 
 emigrant, unsurpassed for fertility, and with a climate milder 
 than that of New England ! Inexhaustible supplies of timber 
 are to be found the entire length of the route, with coal fields, 
 marble deposits and iron mines. The snow in the pass of the 
 Kocky Mountains does not average more than two feet in depth 
 through the winters, and the temperature is identical with that 
 of Madison, Wisconsin. Nature has done her part in removing 
 obstacles from the line. The facilities are unequalled by any 
 other route. 
 
 Will it pay? The question is all but superfluous. If it 
 will pay England, why will it not America, with three thousand 
 
19 
 
 miles of ocean travel in her favor, besides other incalculable 
 advantages*? 
 
 If St. Louis, Cincinnati, Chicago, and the great valley of the 
 Mississippi, can afford to obtain Tea and Silks and East Indi a 
 goods shipped 17,000 miles to New York and transported 1100 
 miles by railroad, most assuredly they can afford to receive 
 them by a sea route of 5000 miles and a land route of 1800 ! 
 The freight on Tea between China and St. Louis at the present 
 rate, is not less than $60 per ton. The same ratio by Puget 
 Sound would make it $54 per ton. In addition to this saving, 
 there is the less insurance, the gain of time, the exchange of 
 capital more quickly, the increased flavor of the article. There 
 is every reason to believe that the course of the Pacific trade 
 will change ; that our China goods will reach us by the way 
 of Puget Sound. 
 
 But detail is unnecessary, where generalities are so plain. 
 
 If a railway will pay any where in the world it will pay from 
 the Missouri River to Puget Sound! The country through 
 which it will pass, is of itself adapted to sustain an immense 
 population. A line leading west into the valley of the Yellow 
 Stone, will carry emigration with it, for there is the home of 
 the Buffalo, the region of fertile prairies and rich ravines. 
 
 It is evident that the tide of emigration, rolling continually 
 on to the West, must be turned towards the head waters of the 
 Missouri ; it has already rolled against the Rocky Mountains 
 at the South Pass, "and south of that, is the great American 
 Desert ; but up the Missouri, beyond the Black Hills, there is 
 still an Eden to be possessed. 
 
 The whole subject then sums itself into this, that the interests 
 of the railroad lines reaching west from the Mississippi, the 
 interests of the great cities of the country, and the interest of 
 the nation, require that a line of railway should be immediately 
 commenced at some point on the Missouri, near the Great Bend, 
 to be carried to Puget Sound. 
 
 There is energy, ability, and enterprise, sufficient to build 
 the road to Puget Sound, long long before England can carry 
 her line across the continent, provided the work is commenced 
 as it should be, without delay. 
 
20 
 
 How shall the enterprise be started ? Practical railroad men 
 will see at a glance the salient points, and we cannot donbt that 
 a movement will be made towards the enterprise. It is plain 
 that all of the leading lines in the country are directly interested. 
 Why may there not then be a general convention of railroad 
 men representatives of those lines, to bring about a combina- 
 tion of interests ? 
 
 If a, communication is had with the Pacific, each great com- 
 mercial centre hopes to receive its share of the benefit, and each 
 leading railway line hopes to do its share of the business. It is 
 seen by the table of directions already given, that St. Louis and 
 Chicago are about equi-distant from Puget Sound, and that the 
 Atlantic cities Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Boston and 
 Charleston, stand respectively as they are connected with those 
 cities. It is plain therefore, that each of those cities, and the 
 lines of railway connecting them with the West are alike inter- 
 ested. 
 
 The entire subject commends itself to the immediate and 
 earnest attention of our commercial interest. A movement 
 should be made at once, to enlist the favor of the entire c@m- 
 munity, for there is not a section which will not be benefitted ; 
 a company should be organized; whatever aid can be obtained 
 from government should be asked for ; a reconnoissance of the 
 route between the Missouri and Yellow Stone should be made, 
 and such other measures as may be necessary, should be taken 
 to secure that which history will set down as the great event of 
 the century. 
 
 Again we say, it is easy for America to lay its hand upon the 
 greatest prize of all time, to make herself the world's work-shop 
 the world's banker. 
 
 Such, in brief, is the statement of a great question so great 
 that its importance cannot be estimated. It comes home 
 to the heart of every American who loves his country, who re- 
 joices in her prosperity, her mission. Shall England or the 
 United States control the north-western section of this continent 
 and the trade of the Pacific ? Shall England or the United 
 States have the Metropolis of the north-west ? Shall the Euro- 
 pean travel to the East, take New York and Boston, Chicago 
 
21 
 
 and St. Louis in its course, or shall Halifax and Montreal receive 
 that travel ? 
 
 It is desirable that there should be a Railroad to San Fran- 
 cisco, as there will be before long, for the energy and enterprise 
 of the country demand it ; but a road constructed to any other 
 point on the Pacific than Puget Sound will fail of securing the 
 Prize. England must be headed off in that quarter ! 
 
 If, in the next three years we build a line of railroad from the 
 great southern bend of the Missouri through the valley of the 
 Yellow Stone and Columbia river to Puget Ssund, the trade, the 
 travel, the wealth, the influence, the power is ours ! Build that 
 road, and America will be the controlling power of the world ; 
 neglect to build, and England takes the prize ! 
 
 This is no sectional question ; for Georgia and Maine, alike 
 are interested in it. Shall American cotton manufactured in 
 American looms, supply China and Japan, or shall it be Alge- 
 ria and India staples manufactured in English looms ? Charles- 
 ton is nearer Puget Sound than Boston, and the entire commu- 
 nity of States east of the Mississippi, is nearer China and Japan 
 by Puget Sound than by any other route that can be found by 
 San Francisco or San Diego ! 
 
 What are the objections ? None. There is plenty of water, 
 wood, building material, with light grades, a climate milder than 
 that of New England the entire distance, with an average depth of 
 snow of only two feet in the pass of the mountains through the 
 winter !* with fertile soils with a country capable of sustaining 
 a dense population, with iron and marble on the line, with in_ 
 exhaustible water power with gold and coal at the western ter- 
 minus with an unequalled harbor, with the whole line, on the 
 shortest possible route between the Pacific, the Missouri and the 
 lakes connecting also with the great lines of railway running 
 east and South, and all the net-work of roads in the Union ! 
 
 * The elaborate report of Governor Stevens settles two points in regard to the 
 mountains that the passes are practicable, and that there is no obstruction by 
 snow. We quote from his report . 
 
 The Passes. " The Northern Little Blackfoot Pass is at the source of one of the 
 North forks of Hell Gate river, termed by Lieutenant Mullan, Little Blackfoot river, 
 and is remarkably easy. Tke Indian trail passing here, is a well-worn road, and 
 
22 
 
 The only possible objection that can be raised is, that the 
 present population of the Pacific coast is in California : granted. 
 But the population of Oregon and Washington already exceeds 
 an hundred thousand, and the construction of the road will pre- 
 cipitate population in that section. The question is one of the 
 future, and not of the present. It is to secure the prize. 
 
 In the consummation of the project, the question addresses 
 itself, first, to the great lines of railway running east from the 
 Missouri river the through lines to Charleston, Baltimore, 
 Philadelphia, New York and Boston ; secondly, it addresses it- 
 self to the merchants located in the great centre of trade at 
 Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville, New Orleans, Charleston, Cincin- 
 nati, Buffalo, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Albany, Phila- 
 delphia, New York and Boston : thirdly, it addresses itself to the 
 government as an economical and political measure, whether 
 England or tjie United States shall collect the revenue, and hold 
 the political power incident to the controlling influence of a 
 
 is perfectly practicable for wagons. The dividing ridge is an inconsiderable hill' 
 three to five hundred feet high." Page 99. 
 
 " On the Blackfoot trail, the grades will vary from thirty-five to forty-five feet 
 per mile. The valley of the Bitter Boot will involve several heavy bridge crossings, 
 some sharp curvatures, but no grade exceeding fifty feet, and few approaching 
 forty." Page 100. 
 
 Climate. " Alexander Culbertson, the great voyageur and fur trader of the upper 
 Missouri, and who for the last twenty years, has made frequent trips by land from 
 St Louis to Fort Benton, has never found the snow drifted enough to interfere with 
 traveling. The average depth of snow is twelve inches, and frequently the snow 
 does not exceed six inches." Page 130. 
 
 " On reaching the St. Mary's valley, information was received from the Flathead 
 Indians that the passes were generally practicable with horses throughout the 
 winter." Page 132. 
 
 " The results may be summed up as follows : In the Rocky Mountains the 
 greatest average depth of snow found by Lieut. Mullan, from the 28th of Novem" 
 ber to the 10th of January was only twelve inches, and that only for a short distance 
 over the divide! On the divide leading to Hell Gate river, there was but two inches 
 of snow on the 31st of December. On the 27th of January, the Indians were cross- 
 ng the mountains. In March, Lieutenant Mullan went to Fort Benton by the 
 Southern and Little Blackfoot Pass, finding but ten inches on the first pass, and no 
 snow on the second pass. 
 
 "Lieutenant Grover left Fort Benton on the Second of January, no snow 
 having fallen till the previous evening, crossing the divide by Cadott's Pass, he 
 found but one foot of snow on the divides on the Blackfoot trail." Page 131. 
 
23 
 
 great metropolis : fourthly it addresses itself to all who would 
 derive the immediate benefits of a direct trade with the east, 
 make America a hive of industry, and extend its principles of 
 liberty and social equality throughout the world. 
 Boston Dec. 4th, 1858. 
 
 
*