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OFFICERS OF THE COMPANY 
 
 OLIVER AMES, PRESIDENT. 
 
 THOMAS . DURANT, VICE-PRESIDENT. 
 
 JOHN J. CISCO, TREASURER. 
 
 CHARLES TUTTLE, ASSISTANT TREASURER. 
 
 HENRY B. HAMMOND, SECRETARY. 
 
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 "ork. 
 
 JESSE L. WILLIAMS, Indiana. 
 SAMUEL McKEE, Pennsylvania. 
 JAMES S. ROLLINS, Missouri. 
 JAMES BROOKS, New York. 
 
 TRUSTEES FOR THE BONDHOLDERS. 
 HON. E. D. MORGAN, New York. HON. OAKES AMES, Mass. 
 
 GOVERNMENT POMMISSIONERS. 
 
 MAJ. WILLIAM M. W T HITE, Connecticut. 
 GEN. FRANK P. BLAIR, Missouri. 
 GEN. N. B. BUFORD, Illinois. 
 
 GEN. G. M. DODGE, CHIEF ENGINEER. 
 
 COL. SILAS SEYMOUR, CONSULTING ENGINEER. 
 

 Hoc. 
 
 ft 
 
 PROGRESS 
 
 WEST FROM OMAHA, NEBRASKA, 
 
 ACROSS THE CONTINENT 
 
 MAKING, WITH ITS CONNECTIONS, AN 
 
 fr0m 
 
 i\t 
 
 EIGHT HUNDRED AND TWENTY MILES COMPLETED SEPT. 20, 1868. 
 
 OFFICES, No, 20 Nassau St., New York, 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE COMPANY. 
 
 [Pamphlet Edition, September 20th, 1868.] 
 C. A. Alvord, Printer, 15 Vandewater Street. 
 
X 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 INTRODUCTION, .- 3 
 
 OF THE ORK, 4 
 
 CHARACTER^ OF THE WORK, - 6 
 
 DIFFICULTIES OF CONSTRUCTION, - 6 
 
 HOW THE ROAD IS BUILT, _____ 8 
 
 IS THE WORK WELL DONE? - - - - 1O 
 
 j^ESOUR^CES, - l8 
 
 TIMBER, _______ 2O 
 
 MINERAL WEALTH, - 21 
 
 GOLD AND SILVER, _ - - - - - 21 
 
 COAL, ________ 22 
 
 IR^ON, - - - 22 
 
 MINERAL SPRINGS, - - - - - _ 2<$ 
 
 BR^ANCH AND CONNECTING ROADS, - 24 
 
 THE IDAHO, OREGON AND PUGET's SOUND - THE BF^ANCH 
 
 TO MONTANA - THE DENVER AND THE CENTRAL PACIFIC, 24 
 
 RESOURCES FOR N PONSTRUCTION, - 26 
 
 THE MEANS SUFFICIENT TO BUILD THE R^OAD, - 28 
 
 ^UTURE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY, - 29 
 
 ITS SAYING AND PROFIT TO THE GOVERNMENT, 52 
 
 THE ^"AY BUSINESS --- ACTUAL DARNINGS, - 34 
 
 JHE PNION ^ACIFIC RAILROAD POMPANY'S J^IRST 
 
 ^LOP^TGAGE J30NDS, - 36 
 
 THEIR SECURITY AND VALUE, - _ _ _ 36 
 
 PRINCIPAL, AS WELL AS INTEREST. PAYABLE IN GOLD, - 36 
 
 AF^E THE BONDS SECURE? _ - - - - 37 
 
 A PERMANENT VALUE, - '.' ; "-' - ' '- - - 38 
 
 WHAT ARE THEY WORJH AS AN INVESTMENT? - 39 
 
(0 
 
 Bancroft 
 
 BEYOND the Missouri river, the American Union stretches for 
 almost two thousand miles to the Pacific ocean. In previous 
 pamphlets, we have discussed the importance and the practicability 
 of constructing a railroad through this region, from Omaha on the 
 Missouri to San Francisco on the Pacific. Such discussions are no 
 longer necessary; events have superseded argument facts have 
 taken the place of theories. No one ever denied that the road was 
 important, while but few admitted that it could be built, unless at 
 a fabulous cost of time and money. The slow and enormously costly 
 routine of a " public improvement " was not to be thought of. For 
 obvious reasons, the Government could not do the work, and pri 
 vate capitalists would not ; and it was only undertaken when the 
 interests of these two parties were united. The Government agreed 
 to lend the national credit, to the amount of fifty million dollars, 
 and it has already saved far more than the annual interest on its loan 
 in the diminished cost of transporting its troops and stores. This 
 credit was loaned to THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY, 
 building from Omaha, on the Missouri river, West, and to THE 
 CENTRAL PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY of California, building 
 from Sacramento, East, until the two roads shall meet. The dis 
 tance from Omaha to Sacramento is 1721 miles. More than eleven 
 hundred miles of the distance are now traversed by a first-class rail 
 road. The Union Pacific Company have completed over 800 miles, 
 and the Central Pacific Company about 325 miles ; and the Union 
 Pacific will doubtless have nearly if not quite 200 miles more in 
 running order this season. There will then remain but 300 or 400 
 miles more to be done next year, and the whole line will be com 
 pleted one or two years earlier than was promised by its most 
 sanguine friends. There is no longer any doubt that the road can 
 and will be built, nor that it will yield a remunerative profit upon 
 the capital invested. 
 
Little faith was at first felt in the success of the Pacific Rail 
 road enterprise, and it was with much difficulty that a sufficient 
 subscription to the capital stock was obtained for an effective 
 formation of the Company. The national charter was granted 
 in July, 1862, and a preliminary organization made in October, 
 1863. Shortly after, the formal organization was made, with a 
 board of fifteen Directors, to which five Government Directors 
 were added, according to the stipulations of the acts of 1862 
 and 1864.* The authorized capital is One Hundred Million 
 Dollars, of which $13,243,800 have been paid in upon the work 
 already done. The first contract for construction was made in 
 August, 1864; but various conflicting interests, connected with the 
 location of the line, delayed its progress, and the first forty miles 
 were not laid until January, 1866. Since that time, the road has 
 been built more rapidly than any similar work in the world. On 
 the first of January, 1867, 305 miles were finished; on the first of 
 January, 1868, 540 miles; now 820 miles are in operation, and the 
 road is expected to reach the vicinity of Great Salt Lake by Christ 
 mas. The passage of the Eocky Mountains has been much more 
 easily accomplished than was supposed possible before Gen. G. M. 
 DODGE, Chief Engineer of the Union Pacific Eoad, surveyed the 
 route and found how completely nature had prepared the way for 
 the locomotive. In crossing the mountains there are no grades 
 exceeding 90 feet to the mile, and these extend for but short 
 distances, while an altitude of more than six thousand feet is at 
 tained by an ascent so gradual as to be entirely imperceptible to the 
 traveler. 
 
 * The various Congressional Acts and their amendments are too long to be recited here, 
 but copies will be furnished free on application in person, or by mail, at the Company's offices, 
 No. 20 Nassau Street, New York. 
 
The following table shows the distance from the eastern termi 
 nus of the road to the prominent points along the line, with their 
 elevation above the sea level : 
 
 
 DISTANCE ELEVATION 
 
 STATION. 
 
 FROM OMAHA. ABOVE THE SEA. 
 
 Omaha, . . . . 
 
 miles. 
 
 967 feet. 
 
 Fremont, ..... 
 
 46 
 
 
 1,215 
 
 
 Columbus, ..... 
 
 91 
 
 
 1,455 
 
 
 Kearney, .... 
 
 190 
 
 
 2,128 
 
 
 North Platte, 
 
 290 
 
 
 2,830 
 
 
 Julesburg, ..... 
 Cheyenne, . . 
 Sherman, Summit of Black Hills, 
 
 377 
 517 
 550 
 
 
 3,557 
 6,062 
 
 8,262 
 
 
 Laramie, ..... 
 
 576 
 
 
 7,134 
 
 
 Benton, ..... 
 
 690 
 
 
 7,534 
 
 
 Green River, ..... 
 
 820 
 
 
 6,092 
 
 
 Fort Bridger, .... 
 
 845 
 
 
 7,009 
 
 
 Weber Canon, ... 
 
 995 
 
 
 4,654 
 
 
 Huraboldt Wells, .... 
 
 1,218 
 
 
 5,650 
 
 
 Humboldt Lake, .... 
 
 1,493 
 
 
 4,047 
 
 
 Big- Bend Truckee, .... 
 
 1,534 
 
 
 4,217 
 
 
 Truckee River, ..... 
 
 1,60X5 
 
 
 5,866 
 
 
 Summit of Sierras, . 
 
 1,616 
 
 
 7,042 
 
 
 Cisco, ...... 
 
 1,624 
 
 
 5,711 
 
 
 Alta, ...... 
 
 1,652 
 
 
 3,625 
 
 
 Colfax, 
 
 1,667 
 
 
 ' 2,448 
 
 
 Sacramento, .... 
 
 1,721 
 
 
 56 
 
 
 Stockton, ..... 
 
 1,766 
 
 
 22 
 
 
 San Francisco, .... 
 
 1,845 
 
 
 
Parties have sometimes expressed a fear, that a railroad con 
 structed so rapidly as the Union Pacific, must be imperfect ; and 
 others, from various unworthy motives, have endeavored to dis 
 parage a work whose risks they were unwilling to share. The 
 Union Pacific Eailroad is built rapidly because twenty thousand 
 men are at work upon it ; because care has been taken to provide 
 all necessary materials, and have them where they are wanted when 
 they are wanted, and because there are abundant means at all times 
 in the treasury to pay the cost. The road is examined in twenty- 
 mile sections by sworn Commissioners of the Government, who do 
 not accept it unless it comes up to the standard of a first-class road 
 in every respect. 
 
 A party of gentlemen connected with the leading daily press 
 have recently returned from a trip along the line, and we surrender 
 a considerable portion of our space to their graphic descriptions. 
 They were invited to describe everything exactly as they found it, 
 and to draw their conclusions from their own observations. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES OF CONSTRUCTION. 
 
 It must be borne in mind that when the building of this road 
 was begun at Omaha, that place had no railroad connections with 
 the east, and hence all materials to be used in the construction of 
 the new road could only be obtained at great disadvantage and extra 
 cost. Concerning the difficulties which had then to be overcome, 
 the correspondent of the Boston Journal says : 
 
 " The Company commenced operations at Omaha, then a small town, destitute alike 
 of the skill necessary for the practical construction of such a public work, and desti 
 tute even of the mere manual force necessary. Mechanics were needed, laborers 
 were needed ; if they were summoned from abroad, boarding places must be found, 
 and some kind of homes extemporized. There were no shops in which and no tools 
 with which to labor. Shovels, spades, picks, plows, axes and other implements were 
 
to be purchased in Chicago, Buffalo, Boston, New York or Philadelphia, wherever 
 they could be found best in quality and cheapest in price, and transported to this new 
 point of departure. And here again was another obstacle to be contended with, for as 
 yet no rail track had been laid nearer than about 150 miles of the east bank of the Mis 
 souri river. Over this distance, therefore, all men and materials had to be transported 
 by the slow and expensive process of wagon trains. The engine of 70 horse power, now 
 propelling the Company's works at Omaha, was thus carried in wagons from DesMoines, 
 on the river of that name, that at the time being the only available means of getting 
 it through. Again, west of the Missouri river the country is almost entirely desti 
 tute of trees, and excepting a limited supply of cottonwood, similar in fibre and 
 strength to the old Lombardy poplar of the east, there was nothing from which rail 
 road ties could be obtained. East of the Missouri the forest conditions were quite 
 similar, so that in a short time it came to pass that the very ties on which the rail 
 road has been constructed had to be cut in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New 
 York, and teamed over the country at an expense sometimes of two dollars and sev 
 enty-five cents per tie. Then it should be added that the supplies necessary for the 
 support, clothing and maintenance of the laborers were also to be purchased far east 
 and transported as before. In less than a year these difficulties were confronted and 
 conquered, and the great work begun in serious earnest." 
 
 And the correspondent of the New York Evening Post says up 
 on the same subject : 
 
 "The great obstacles were, first, the fact that everything necessary to building the 
 road must be brought from the east. There was no railroad for nearly two hundred 
 miles from the Missouri river, and that river itself formed a barrier to overcome 
 which would cost often as much as it would cost to carry materials hundreds of miles 
 in the east. Every stick of timber, every spike and rail, had to be wagoned for one 
 hundred and seventy-five miles. It cost more to transport the spikes, chairs, &c., 
 than they originally cost at the foundry before the war. The cost of some of the pine 
 timber used was $275 a thousand feet. The ties for the first three hundred miles 
 cost $2 each. The engine used now in the machine shops was hauled by mules one 
 hundred and seventy-five miles. There were no workmen all had to be sent from 
 the eastern cities ; labor cost from 50 to 150 per cent, more than in the east. Missouri 
 coal cost at the levee $11 per ton. Wood cost from $3 to $14 a cord, according to 
 locality. Such was the lack of confidence in the enterprise, that at first tLe Company 
 could get no responsible persons to take contracts for building the road. After the 
 railroad was finished to Council Bluffs, and the great delay and expense of wagoning 
 was at an end, the river rose so that they were compelled to go up some eight miles, 
 and a four-mule team could only drag three rails. With all this, for days they em 
 ployed a hundred teams, and took over rails for a mile of road a day one hundred 
 tons of rails to the mile. The first great necessity the one thing on which the ulti 
 mate success of this road depended was the vigor and rapidity with which it should 
 be pushed. Until it was evident that they had got too far in the desert to come back, 
 there was no certainty that there was a bona fide intent to build the road to the Pa 
 cific. Till this was settled no assistance could be had from the public. Government 
 might authorize them to issue bonds, but until the public would buy them there was 
 no assistance. The men who undertook the task were equal to it ; they saw that 
 rapid work was the first essential. There was no stone for hundreds of miles ; there 
 was no wood for ties except cottonwood, so they made their culverts of wood, and 
 treated the cottonwood ties by Burnetizing, making them, it is claimed, as durable as 
 other wood not so treated, and pushed on their road. When the railroad from the 
 east came to the river, they no longer used cottonwood ties, but contracted for oak 
 from the east. All this time they were pushing ahead into a hostile Indian country ; 
 
the surveyors and engineers were attacked or killed, the working parties harrassed, 
 and the subsistence of the working parties had to be wagoned to them. The en 
 gineers and graders kept from fifty to one hundred miles in advance of the track 
 layers. The bridges are all contracted for, built in Chicago, brought to the end of 
 the track, and carried in teams beyond and set up, so as to cause no delay in laying 
 the track. It is this constant prevision, this providing for everything months and 
 miles beforehand, which demonstrates the genius of those who direct this great work, 
 and enables them to push on the conclusion so rapidly. It is a knowledge of this 
 fact that has removed the doubt as to the durability of the road, based on its rapid 
 construction ; hundreds of laborers and months of work have preceded the little band 
 of lightning track-layers who are throwing their iron filaments across the continent." 
 
 HOW THE ROAD IS BUILT. 
 
 The building of the Union Pacific Railroad with the extraordi 
 nary rapidity which has characterized the work, has been so contrary 
 to all previously received opinions respecting railroad construction, 
 that those who have not themselves examined the process can have no 
 adequate idea of its magnitude. In January, 1866, 40 miles had been 
 built; in January, 1867, 305 miles were in operation; in January, 
 1868, 540 miles were finished, and on the 20th of Sept., 1868, 820 
 miles were complete, and the track-laying is steadily progressing at 
 the rate of three or four miles per day. The completed railroad will 
 reach the vicinity of Great Salt Lake by the end of this year, and by 
 the national anniversary of 1869, the Union Pacific and the Central 
 Pacific will have met at some point from one hundred to two hun 
 dred miles west of Salt Lake, and railroad communication between 
 the Atlantic and the Pacific will be an accomplished fact. No such 
 marvelous work could be done without the most perfect system of 
 organization, combined with tremendous energy. Of this semi- 
 military organization the editor of the Baltimore American writes 
 from the end of the track: 
 
 " The scene did not disappoint any of the imaginings created by what had been told 
 us. We found here an army of men, systematized and drilled to perfection, living 
 hi boarding cars that each day advanced over the newly laid rails to the very spot of 
 their labors, supplied with regularity with all the means of subsistence, and finding 
 always ready for them the material of construction by which their work is advanced 
 toward completion. 
 
 "As the great idea of a railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific came to fruition 
 during the throes of rebellion, so also to the men who conquered that rebellion is its 
 rapid realization to be ascribed. Without the men who fought in the ranks of our 
 army, it is to be doubted whether this great enterprise could have been a success. 
 Nine out of every ten of the men who are now working on the line of this railroad 
 have been in the army, and from there have brought the habits of discipline, the tem 
 per of hardy reliance and the love of an adventurous open air life which has made 
 them the best railroad builders in the world. One can see all along the line of the 
 now completed road the evidences of ingenious self-protection and defence which our 
 
men learned during the war. The same curious huts and underground dwellings 
 which were a common sight along our army lines then, may now be seen burrowed 
 into the sides of the hills or built up with ready adaptability in sheltered spots. The 
 whole organization of the force engaged in the construction of the road is, in fact, 
 semi-military. The men who go ahead, locating the road, are the advanced guard. 
 Following these is the second line, cutting through the gorges, grading the road and 
 building bridges. Then comes the main line of the army, placing the sleepers, laying 
 the track, spiking down the rails, perfecting the alignment, ballasting the rail, and 
 dressing up and completing the road for immediate use. This army of workers has 
 its base, to continue the figure, at Omaha, Chicago, and still further eastward, from 
 whose markets are collected the material for constructing the road. Along the line 
 of the completed road are construction trains constantly pushing forward ' to the 
 front' with supplies. The Company's grounds and workshops at Omaha are the 
 arsenal, where these purchases, amounting now to millions of dollars in value, are 
 collected and held ready to be sent forward." 
 
 The laying of the rails upon this ever-advancing railway is a 
 constant marvel, and a scene of fascinating interest. The descrip 
 tion which we quote is from the editor of the Philadelphia Bulletin. 
 He writes : 
 
 " We were soon off from Benton to the end of the track. It was a beautiful morn 
 ing, and presently we all doffed our hats respectfully to the Seven Hundred Mile post 
 on the U. P. R. R. Ten miles further, and we are brought to a halt by the construc 
 tion and boarding trains at the end of the road. The advanced limit of the rail is 
 occupied by a train of long box cars, with hammocks swung under them, beds spread 
 on top of them, bunks built within them, in which the sturdy, broad-shouldered pio 
 neers of the great iron highway sleep at night, and take their meals. Close behind this 
 train come loads of ties and rails and spikes, &c., which are being thundered off upon 
 the roadside to be ready for the track-layers. The road is graded a hundred miles in 
 advance. The ties are laid roughly in place, then adjusted, gauged and leveled. Then 
 the track is laid. 
 
 " Track-laying on the Union Pacific is a science, and we, pundits of the Far East, 
 stood upon that embankment, only about a thousand miles this side of sunset, and 
 backed westward before that hurrying corps of sturdy operatives with a mingled feel 
 ing of amusement, curiosity and profound respect. On they came. A light car, 
 drawn by a single horse, gallops up to the front with its load of rails. Two men seize 
 the end of a rail and start forward, the rest of the gang taking hold by twos, until it is 
 clear of the car. They come forward at a run. At the word of command the rail is 
 dropped in its place, right side up with care, while the same process goes on at the 
 other side of the car. Less then thirty seconds to a rail for each gang, and so four 
 rails go down to the minute ! Quick work, you say, but the fellows on the U. P. are 
 tremendously in earnest. The moment the car is empty it is tipped over on the side 
 of the track to let the next loaded car pass it, and then it is tipped back again, and it 
 is a sight to see it go flying back for another load, propelled by a horse at full gallop 
 at the end of sixty or eighty feet of rope, ridden by a young Jehu, who drives furi 
 ously. Close behind the first gang come the gaugers, spikers and bolters, and a lively 
 time they make of it. It is a grand Anvil Chorus that those sturdy sledges are playing 
 across the plains. It is in triple time, three strokes to a spike. There are ten 
 spikes to a rail, four hundred rails to a mile, eighteen hundred miles to San Francisco. 
 That's the sum, what is the quotient? Twenty-one million times are those sledges 
 to be swung twenty-one million times are they to come down with their sharp punc 
 tuation, before the great work of modern America is complete ! 
 
10 
 
 " On they go. Fifteen minutes from the moment that the rail is dropped upon 
 the track, it is adjusted, spiked, bolted to its predecessor with the 'fish-plate,' (there 
 are no ' chairs ' used,) and ready for the advancing train. It was worth the dust, the 
 heat, the cinders, the hurrying ride, day and night, the fatigue and the exposure, to 
 see with one's own eyes this second grand 'March to the Sea.' Sherman, with his 
 victorious legions, sweeping from Atlanta to Savannah, was a spectacle less glorious 
 than this army of men, marching on foot from Omaha to Sacramento, subduing un 
 known wildernesses, scaling unknown mountains, surmounting untried obstacles, 
 and binding across the broad breast of America the iron emblem of modern progress 
 and civilization. All honor, not only to the brains that have conceived, but to the 
 indomitable wills, the brave hearts and the brawny muscles that are actually achieving 
 the great work !" 
 
 IS THE WORK WELL DONE? 
 
 This is a point of the highest importance. The unprecedented 
 speed with which the road is being built is a matter of astonishment 
 to every beholder ; its solidity, permanence, and safety are questions 
 in which every financier, and indee.d every American citizen is di 
 rectly interested. The large grants made by government in aid of 
 the Union Pacific Kailroad make it so peculiarly a national work 
 that the finished road will be our national pride or humiliation, 
 according to its character. But to the emigrant, the miner, and 
 the investor in the Company's bonds, the question is more practical. 
 Is the road so built that it will transport the vast products which 
 will ere long be developed along its line ? Is it so strongly and 
 carefully built that it will secure and keep the tide of travel to and 
 from the Pacific coast? Has such skill in engineering and con 
 struction been employed that a small percentage of its earnings will 
 keep it in prime condition, or will its receipts be swallowed up in 
 constant and heavy repairs and renovations ? These are points to 
 which the especial attention of the recent editorial party was direct 
 ed, and every possible facility given its members for forming an 
 intelligent opinion. What that opinion was, after examination, may 
 be seen by the quotations below. 
 
 Hon. CHARLES A. DANA, late Assistant Secretary of War, and 
 now editor of the New York Sun, says : 
 
 "A party of thirty gentlemen have just returned from an excursion to the 
 present terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad at the Rocky Mountains. Their 
 unanimous opinion is that the road is constructed in the most thorough and solid 
 manner, and that it is superior in firmness, smoothness, and capacity for rapid run 
 ning, to any other new road which they have ever seen. This is true of the parts of 
 the track which were laid only the day before the excursion train passed over them, as 
 well as those at the eastern end of the line which have been in use for some two years. 
 
11 
 
 The work is well done, both as respects the judgment with which it is laid out, and 
 the thoroughness of its construction ; and there is no part of it which could, under 
 the circumstances, be better than it is ; all reports to the contrary are erroneous and 
 mistaken." 
 
 He also says : 
 
 "The examination of the Union Pacific Railroad was thorough. The train was 
 stopped at every important point, and nothing was anywhere hidden from observa 
 tion. The universal opinion was that a more solid, useful and satisfactory railroad 
 than the Union Pacific has never been constructed in this country." 
 
 The correspondent of the New York Tribune writes : 
 
 " The astonishing rapidity with which this railroad has been built has become the 
 subject of general wonder throughout the country. Nothing like it has been seen 
 before. Two hundred and thirty-five miles were built in 1867, and the track-layers 
 are to-day more than 200 miles in advance of their starting point in April last. Can 
 a road built with such tremendous speed, and that, too, in a district where every tool, 
 every laborer, every appliance to aid in the work, has to be brought hundreds of miles 
 from the eastern manufactory, be well built? This is a vital question, and one upon 
 which the people want the most unequivocal information. I have seen and examined 
 more than 700 miles of this road, and 1 believe it thoroughly built and fully equipped. 
 For 500 miles the grades are exceedingly light, and the direction an air line. There 
 the road was easily built, but nowhere indifferently or slovenly. The embankments 
 are high enough to secure good drainage, and wide enough to make a solid founda 
 tion; 2,650 ties are laid to the mile (the average on eastern roads is 1,700); the rails 
 are joined by fish-plates, making a 'contin ous rail;' the water courses are spanned 
 by substantial Howe truss bridges, or by culverts of timber, which is to be at once 
 replaced by solid masonry, although the timber is good for at least ten years' wear. 
 The road bed is being ballasted with broken stone and disintegrated granite, which is 
 excavated in the passage of the Black Hills, and which makes as fine ballasting mate 
 rial as there is in the world. The road is remarkably smooth. On the return trip, 
 the run from Cheyenne to Omaha was at an average rate of 34 miles and a fraction per 
 hour, and we ran 55 miles in one hour. In short, the road shows less signs of newness 
 than nine out of ten new roads at the East, and is, so far as an intelligent observer 
 can judge, a well-built, well-equipped, and well-managed railroad." 
 
 The correspondent of the Scientific American gives this testi 
 mony : 
 
 "In regard to the road itself, the opinion of the editor of the Sun (quoted above) 
 expresses just what we all felt after thorough examination. On our return, we made 
 the run from North Platte to Omaha, a distance of 290 miles, at an average rate of 
 over 34 miles an hour, and ran 55 miles in one hour. No railroad officer in the coun 
 try would dare do that, or suffer it to be done upon his road, if the latter were not 
 in splendid condition. This portion of our trip was made with as much comfort as 
 any other part of the whole run from New York to the Rocky Mountains ; and I 
 claim that this one fact will convince any candid man that it is a gross libel to speak 
 of the 'absolutely unsafe manner in which the road is constructed.' Here are some 
 of the details of construction: the iron is of the very best American manufacture; 
 the ties number 2,650 to the mile (the average upon the railroads of the country is 
 about 1,700); the rails are all joined by 'fish-plates,' of a pattern approved by the 
 best railroad engineers; the road is being ballasted with broken stone brought from 
 
12 
 
 the Black Hills ; the culverts are now built of substantial timber, which would be 
 good for ten years' wear, but the contract is already made for replacing them with 
 heavy dressed masonry. The equipment of the road is superb. The locomotives are 
 of the best Taunton, Providence, Trenton and Paterson make, while the freight and 
 passenger cars, which are turned out at the Company's own magnificently appointed 
 shops at Omaha, are equal in every respect to any that I have seen in the course of 
 many years active traveling." 
 
 The correspondent of the New York Express says : 
 
 "Figures will not convey, language cannot adequately describe the magnitude of 
 the undertaking which is now being carried on in this far western region. Actual 
 observation alone can serve to thoroughly convince the unbeliever of the vigor, the 
 unflinching industry, which is being exhibited in the construction of this marvelous 
 road ; and, what is more, constructing it well. Firm, solid, substantial, we have here 
 as fine a track as can be found on almost any road in the country, while the traveling 
 accommodations are full of ease and comfort." 
 
 The correspondent of the New York Times writes : 
 
 " The Union Pacific Railroad is built and equipped in the very best manner, at least 
 as far as we have traveled over it, and we have thoroughly examined it at various 
 points. * * * The first-class cars, manufactured at Omaha, are equal to any cars 
 to be found on any of the eastern railroads, and indeed the whole rolling stock of the 
 Company will compare with that of any other railroad in the country." 
 
 The correspondent of the New York Evening Mail sums up his 
 report of the trip in these words : 
 
 " We went out, of many minds. But we went to examine for ourselves a great 
 national work, of which we had heard and read all sorts of stories. We came back, 
 of one mind. Our independent judgments had molded themselves into one unani 
 mous verdict, a conviction which grew out of a rigid scrutiny and a practical test. 
 The Union Pacific Railroad is a grand national success. In its inception, in the 
 magical swiftness of its construction, in the substantial durability of the work, in 
 the vigorous administration of every department of its affairs, in the great results 
 which it is already accomplishing for our western world, it challenges the admiration 
 and cordial support of every one who takes an honest pride in the success of a grand 
 American enterprise. There is nothing superficial about it no veneer, no pinch 
 beck, no sham of any sort. ' And so say we all.' " 
 
 The correspondent of the New York Observer says of the road 
 at the summit of the Black Hills : 
 
 " We were far up among the clouds, more than a mile and a half above ocean level, 
 and yet riding upon a railroad as firmly and as beautifully built as any road in our 
 country. The track had been very straight across the plains, occasionally diverging 
 to the right or to the left. But across the mountains it is not an air line. It makes 
 a curve, or a detour, here and there, to avoid a cliff, or gain a plateau. But at every 
 point of real difficulty to be overcome, the wisdom of the survey and the exact prac 
 tical skill of the engineer are strikingly conspicuous." 
 
 The correspondent of the New York Christian Advocate says : 
 
 " Built with such wonderful rapidity, under difficulties that would overwhelm the 
 minds of ordinary men, can this be, is it, a well built, safe, and thoroughly equipped rail- 
 
13 
 
 road? This is just what your readers and the general public desire to know. To 
 determine this question by a critical inspection and observation of the entire work, 
 was the leading motive that led us into the Editorial Excursion Party over the Rocky 
 Mountains via the Union Pacific Railroad. And whatever may have been our pre 
 vious notions of this work, candor compels us to say, that to the extent of its com 
 pletion, this road, with its entire outfit and appurtenances, is in every respect a first- 
 class railroad." 
 
 The editor of the Boston Transcript says of the condition of 
 the road : 
 
 " Has the road been poorly built as a speculation, and to obtain the grants of land 
 and money, as has been often insinuated or roundly asserted by its enemies and those 
 ignorant of the truth ? No ; most emphatically, no. The Union Pacific is a first- 
 class road ; finely graded, thoroughly tied, well ironed and ballasted, and substan 
 tially bridged. In short, and without going into details and without fear of contra 
 diction by any who have traveled over and carefully observed it, it may be distinctly 
 affirmed, that the Union Pacific will compare favorably with many of the best roads in 
 the country. This statement, I think, would be substantially if not wholly indorsed 
 by the impartial witnesses that comprised our excursion party. Large portions of the 
 track have been tested during a severe winter ; and as I have before written you, we 
 rushed smoothly and safely along, always at high speed, and sometimes at the rate 
 of over fifty miles an hour. This certainly subjected the structure to a severe trial 
 of its solidity. 
 
 "If any of your readers think I have overpraised the Union Pacific Railroad and 
 overstated its importance as the greatest work of the age, in view of its worth as an 
 instrumentality of trade and commerce and as an agent of peaceful civilization, let 
 them go and see it for themselves, or, if they cannot do that, let them seek authentic 
 information and listen to impartial testimony, and they can soon convince themselves 
 that I have hardly hinted at half the truth." 
 
 The correspondent of the Boston Journal writes : 
 
 " Seven hundred and twelve miles of this great thoroughfare I have carefully ob 
 served in all its aspects, as respects material, grading, road-bed, ballasting, construc 
 tion, <fec., and the result of my unbiased judgment is a full justification of the action 
 of the United States Commissioners, Maj. WILLIAM M. WHITE, Gen. FRANK P. BLAIR 
 and Gen. N. B. BUFORD, accepting the same as in all respects a first-class road. It is 
 built in a thorough and substantial manner, and an evener, firmer bed under the tread 
 of the heavy train will seldom be found. Time will, of course, give it additional 
 solidity." 
 
 The editor of the Boston Traveller says : 
 
 "It is built in the best and most substantial manner possible, and will compare 
 favorably with any other road in the United States. For a new road, I do not remem 
 ber ever having traveled on its superior. * * The road is well ballasted, and except 
 in seasons of extreme drought, must be comparatively free from dust. * * Few 
 of the old roads of the country are so easy to ride over as this new one." 
 
 The correspondent of the Boston Advertiser writes from Omaha : 
 
 " I shall frankly admit that although familiar with the west, this trip has removed 
 certain cobwebs from my mind which decorate every Boston intellect. I concede, 
 for example, that the Union Pacific Railroad is the greatest wonder of America. 
 
14 
 
 There has been nothing more marvellous or more admirable, both in boldness of con 
 ception and brilliancy of execution, since the Great Eastern steamed away from Ire 
 land with the cable in her hold and landed it in safety at Heart's Content. People 
 talk of it as a selfish speculation, and of course it is, and ought to be ; for men who 
 have dared to carry through so magnificent an enterprise should receive a magnificent 
 reward. Yet, as the war for the Union was largely a selfish struggle, but would have 
 failed if it had not aroused the enthusiasm and the nobler attributes of the people, so 
 this great undertaking, also, has its heroes and its roll of martyrs. The SHERMAN of 
 the road is THOMAS C. DURANT, of New York, who did not hesitate to cut from his 
 base when the good of the enterprise required it, and who dashed into the valley with 
 a Sheridan-like velocity which utterly amazed the cautious and redtapey intellects in 
 the east, but which was amply justified by the splendid results. 
 
 u Each of our party examined at different points some hundreds of miles of the road 
 either standing on the platform of the last car or sitting above the cowcatcher. 
 Every one testified that it is in every respect a first-class road. There is no indication 
 of slip-shod or shoddy work about it. The ballasting of the road is excellent. One 
 can write in the cars with greater ease than on any other western road that I have 
 ever traveled over, and I have traveled over nearly all of them from time to time." 
 
 The correspondent of the Boston Post says : 
 
 " We have traveled over 710 miles of this road with a degree of ease and speed equal 
 to that found upon any eastern road, and have carefully examined it in all particu 
 lars. The bed of the road is solid, the rails heavy and well laid, and nothing but the 
 best material used in building it; 2,650 cross-ties, or, as they are more familiarly 
 known, sleepers, are used to the mile. All its equipments, stations, and in fact every 
 thing connected with it, indicate that it is intended for work. * * * Without 
 hesitation we can pronounce the statements made, that upon completion of the road 
 it would prove useless, owing to its poor construction, all false. They have been 
 deliberately planned for purposes that we have previously stated, and would not bear 
 examination." 
 
 The correspondent of the Boston Congregationalist writes as 
 follows : 
 
 " Is the road, built with such rapidity, a good, substantial road ? Mindful of the 
 universal hope and desire on this point of vital importance, I determined at the out 
 set to employ the closest observation upon it. I rode many miles upon the rear 
 platform, and many others upon the front of the engine. I employed the time at 
 dozens of stopping-places not only at regular stations, but at other places in ex 
 amining the construction of the road, and the degree of thoroughness manifest in 
 the work, and the following things seemed to me to be true beyond question: The 
 road-bed is of adequate breadth; the embankments are made with due care; the 
 bridges are substantial ; the ties are of cedar and pine and other kinds of wood 
 equally good, and are placed nearer together than is common on eastern roads, and 
 the rails are of the first quality. * * * In view of these facts, it would be a vio 
 lence to the truth to deny that the road is what its friends declare it to be a thor 
 oughly built, substantial, superior road." 
 
 The editor of the Philadelphia Press says : 
 
 "A well laid, safely-ballasted road, in good running order for seven hundred miles 
 west of Omaha, with station and division houses, water-tanks, round-houses, machine 
 shops, and an abundance of first-class rolling stock, is the evidence which the Union 
 Pacific Railroad offers to-day of its ability to make good its promises and representa- 
 
15 
 
 tions. It is a commonly accepted idea, entertained even by persons disposed to be 
 friendly to the interests of the road and the West, that this railway is but a rudely- 
 laid tramway, hastily put down over an undulating and unprepared surface for the 
 mere purpose of obtaining as quickly as possible the government subsidies. This is 
 the hypothesis of ignorance, but perhaps a pardonable one, when it is considered that 
 not one out of a thousand of the people of the East have any adequate or intelligent 
 knowledge of the country, or the enterprise which is developing and revealing it. A 
 large majority of our population hardly are aware of the fact of the existence of the 
 great land beyond the Mississippi and Missouri, which vast domain covers an area 
 of two million square miles. 
 
 " Let me state briefly the condition of the material of this road as it stood last 
 week. 
 
 "The rails are confessedly of the best quality. Even the open enemies of the road 
 acknowledge their superior character. Many weigh sixty pounds to the yard ; are 
 clamped by two spikes to each cross-tie, and fastened together at the ends by the 
 'fish-plate,' the Company holding to the now generally received opinion in the bet 
 ter railroad circles that the continuous rail is the true idea of an iron road. 
 
 "Everywhere the road-bed has been prepared by the formation of a slightly raised 
 foundation, with gutters or trenches on each side, and, after the rails have been laid 
 down, ballasted with gravel or broken stone. 
 
 "Over this road, thus equipped and appointed, our party made a trial run, which 
 was the best test possible of its smoothness, safety, management, and general 
 condition. On the home trip, coming in from Cheyenne City to Omaha, a stretch 
 of five hundred and seventeen miles, our running time averaged thirty-four and three 
 fourth miles. At one point fifty miles were run in sixty minutes. This is very nearly 
 the fastest time on record in the history of American railroading. That it was 
 made on a new road, running in part through a hostile land, is the best evidence 
 in the world that the road has been built with honesty and fairness." 
 
 The correspondent of the Philadelphia Inquirer says : 
 
 " The very first impression which the practical observer receives from the road 
 is that of its solidity and smoothness. It is remarkably well settled for so new a 
 road. Everywhere, from Omaha to Cheyenne, and from Cheyenne to Laramie, the 
 road has a firm bed of proper elevation and breadth. * * * The lines of rail, 
 whether straight or curved, are very even and exact, and we rode at rates of speed 
 varying from twenty-five to sixty miles per hour, with the utmost steadiness, and 
 with a consciousness of entire security. We ran fifty-five consecutive miles in sixty 
 minutes, in returning from North Platte to Omaha, with less swinging motion than 
 we have often felt at twenty-five miles per hour on other roads. This is due in part 
 to the remarkable firmness and solidity of the work, and partly also to the excellent 
 ballasting, which is everywhere observable on the settled portions of the whole line. 
 * * * The Company's foundries, furnaces, machine shops, construction and repair 
 shops, are all planned upon a scale commensm*ate with the magnitude and grandeur 
 of this, the greatest, the crowning American enterprise. 
 
 "Viewed as a whole, viewed in its parts, viewed in minute detail, the conviction 
 is irresistible that the Union Pacific Railroad Company are keeping their faith with 
 the American people ; and as they are working out the great problem for the people, 
 they ought to be, as they are, sustained by the people." 
 
 The editor of the Philadelphia Age writes : 
 
 "It might be supposed, from the rapidity with which the work was done, that it 
 was of a temporary and perishable character. But such is not the case. * * * Of 
 the roadway it is enough to say that we traversed it smoothly, safely and steadily for 
 
16 
 
 five successive days, at a rate of speed varying from twenty to fifty miles per hour, 
 and between the old track and that at the western terminus, which had been finished 
 but an hour or two, no discrepancy was perceptible." 
 
 The editor of the Philadelphia Bulletin sums up the result of 
 close examination by saying : 
 
 " The road itself is as solidly and substantially built as any road in America. The 
 bridges are built with heavy and well-seasoned timber; the ties are large and very 
 closely laid; the embankments are solidly constructed; the rails are carefully gauged 
 and the joints closely joined with ' fish-plates;' the road is well ballasted with stone, 
 gravel and earth, according to the nature of the soil, and the traveler passes over this 
 newly built track with as little consciousness of jolting and jarring as if the road-bed 
 had been settled and used for a dozen years. The high rates of speed which can be 
 safely attained over the Union Pacific, when required, attest the excellent nature of 
 the whole work. The rolling stock is built at the Company's shops at Omaha, * * 
 and is of the most substantial character. In short, the closest scrutiny has failed to 
 discern any signs of hasty or imperfect construction." 
 
 The Philadelphia North American says that 
 
 " The track is now being laid at the rate of four miles per day, and built more 
 rapidly and better than any similar work in the world." 
 
 Says the editor of the Baltimore American : 
 
 " It is proper to say just here that the rumors that have been put afloat at the East 
 that the Company is a party of speculators, putting down a rude and poorly construct 
 ed road, that will be useless, or nearly so, when completed, is a falsehood that could 
 only have been deliberately concocted and put in circulation for reasons which would 
 not bear examination. The road is a good one, well and solidly laid, with heavy rail, 
 and twenty-six hundred cross-ties to the mile, over which the cars travel with 
 remarkable smoothness, and the equipments, station-houses and workshops, of 
 which all show that it is being built for use and not speculation." 
 
 In another letter he says : 
 
 " It is well-built, and needs but those final touches, the dressing up of embank 
 ments, and improvement of the road-bed, which all new roads, during the first year 
 of their existence, add to the construction account, to make it as perfect as any first- 
 class road east of the Alleghanies." 
 
 The correspondent of the Chicago Journal of Commerce writes : 
 
 "In a word, without going further into details, we unhesitatingly affirm, without 
 fear of contradiction by any impartial person who has seen and examined the road, 
 that the Union Pacific, in its substantial character, and in view of the short time it 
 has taken to ' put it through ' as far as it has gone, is the greatest industrial triumph 
 of the age a triumph of which the nation may well be proud, and for the accom 
 plishment of which those who took it in hand deserve the highest praise for the 
 faith, resolution, activity, perseverance and varied business capacities they have man 
 ifested." 
 
17 
 
 The correspondent of the Pittsburgh Chronicle writes as follows : 
 
 " The road, notwithstanding the marvellous rapidity with which all these great dif 
 ficulties have been overcome, is, so far as it has been laid, one of the best in the United 
 States. Never have I traveled over a smoother one, or one on which a high rate of 
 speed could be maintained with greater security and comfort. It was possible to 
 take notes very comfortably on a train going at the rate of thirty miles per hour. 
 The curves are comparatively few, the grades moderate, very deep cuts unknown, and 
 the track well ballasted. The bridges are well built, the track of the best T rails." 
 
 We could extend these quotations to even greater length, find 
 ing in each one hearty commendation of the manner in which this 
 continental railroad has been built. There is no dissenting voice 
 among all the intelligent views which are given of the road and its 
 appurtenances. Good as this railroad is, the Directors of the Com 
 pany are determined to make it better, and at a recent meeting, it 
 was resolved to place three million dollars of the First Mortgage 
 Bonds in trust to provide for replacing the wooden culverts with 
 stone, for substituting iron for the shorter wooden bridges, and 
 for the other permanent improvements necessary to prepare it for 
 its great future traffic. 
 
18 
 
 The lands along the line of the Union Pacific Eailroad for two 
 hundred miles west of the Missouri river, have a fertility almost 
 unequalled in all the rich fields of the productive West. These 
 lands are in the valleys of the Platte, Elkhorn, Loup Fork, and 
 Papillion rivers, the second and third being branches of the 
 first, and emptying into it from the north, and the last a tribu 
 tary of the Missouri. From the vicinity of Fort Kearney (190 
 miles from Omaha) to the base of the Eocky Mountains, irrigation 
 will be found necessary to secure abundant crops, but for grazing 
 and pasturage most of these lands are very valuable. Through 
 the mountain region, there are numerous valleys and water 
 courses which contain a soil needing only industrious cultivation to 
 secure a profitable return to the farmer. The lands on the Laramie 
 Plains are high, but are mostly well watered, and vegetables, small 
 grains, &c., thrive well. The valleys of Green river, Black Fork, 
 and the streams east of the rim of the great basin, are from one to 
 five miles wide, well watered, and will support a large population. 
 The valleys of the Weber river and Great Salt Lake are already 
 thickly settled, and yield immense crops of grain and vegetables, 
 while for fruit, they are perhaps unequalled in the United States. 
 The quotations given below show how the Union Pacific Eailroad 
 Company's lands are regarded by intelligent eastern observers. 
 
 Says the correspondent of the New York Times : 
 
 "The soil all along this valley of the Platte is of a rich, alluvial character, pro 
 ducing splendid crops of wheat, oats, corn, barley, &c., and the natural grass of 
 the prairie grows in great luxuriance, making herding a very profitable business. 
 Owing to the depth and looseness of the soil along these rich bottom lands, the 
 farmer will never suffer from either drought or excessive rains in dry weather 
 
19 
 
 evaporation drawing the moisture to the surface, and the loose friable soil absorb 
 ing the excessive water in rainy seasons. This fact has already attracted most of 
 the settlers to this region, and along the Platte are some very extensive farms, and 
 the country for one hundred and fifty or two hundred miles west of Omaha pre 
 sents but few indications of those "western wilds" to which we had been look 
 ing forward. The average yield of wheat from these lands is 30 to 35 bushels to 
 the acre, and of corn 45 to 55 bushels." 
 
 The correspondent of the New York Express says : 
 
 "The first hundred miles presents a spectacle of wonderful fertility, large fields 
 of wheat, oats and corn stretching out on either side, while the cuttings of the rail 
 road give glimpses of a soil rich to fullness, with dry, loamy earth that gives promise 
 of a crop unexcelled by even the great grain producing lands of Illinois or the eastern 
 States." 
 
 The correspondent of the New York Evening Post writes as 
 follows of the products of Nebraska : 
 
 "Oat3 produce from sixty to one hundred bushels (forty pounds a bushel). The 
 wheat of Nebraska commands in St. Louis market ten cents above other wheat ; the 
 average crop is twenty-six bushels to the acre, and forty bushels are not uncommon. 
 The uplands, formerly thought unsuitable for crops, give thirty bushels to the acre. 
 Corn averages seventy-five bushels to the acre. Pota oes yield well with abundance 
 of rain, but are uncertain. Such droughts as affect Kansas, cutting off all crops, 
 have not been experienced here." 
 
 The editor of the Boston Traveller says : 
 
 "For 200 miles west of the Missouri river indeed, up to where the road crosses 
 the North Platte and at the base of the mountains, and in the valleys of all the 
 rivers, the land is unsurpassed for richness, and vegetation, like the roses in the 
 Groves of Blarney, 'spontaneous grows there.' There is no finer farming and graz 
 ing land in the world, and in a very few years any cultivator of the soil will become 
 wealthy. The high lands are covered with bunch and buffalo grass at all seasons of 
 the year, and afford superior pasturage. There is more rich grass destroyed by fire 
 on this prairie and mountain land, every year, than would suffice to support all the 
 cattle in the world." 
 
 The Boston Watchman and Reflector says : 
 
 " The Papillion valley is one of the most beautiful and fertile sections of Nebraska. 
 * * For two hundred miles, with a breadth of from twenty to fifty miles, does 
 the fertile Platte valley exhibit its charms, wooing by its richness the graziers of the 
 continent. Millions of cattle might feed upon its luxurious grasses, as millions of 
 buffalo have fed for ages. There is no need of stock-raisers emigrating to Texas. For 
 years to come t :e neighboring bluffs will give to the owner of one hundred acres the 
 range often thousand. Cattle in this climate only need feeding three or four months 
 in the year, and a railroad runs by the stock-yard, on which your herd may be con 
 veyed to a Chicago market within four days. Three men in moderate circumstances 
 might club together their capital, raise ten thousand dollars, invest it in five hundred 
 acres of land, fifty cows and one bull, twenty marcs, one stallion and one jack, and in 
 ten years time they would gain not only a competence, but a fortune." 
 
20 
 
 Of the portion of Wyoming traversed by the railroad, and which 
 has already been spoken of as requiring irrigation to produce large 
 crops, the editor of the Philadelphia Age says : 
 
 "It bears, however, heavy crops of short grass, upon which cattle feed and fatten 
 during the summer and winter without other provender. This will make this sec 
 tion, even in its present condition, unrivaled for grazing and pasturage." 
 
 The editor of the Baltimore American says: 
 
 " The soil for a distance of two hundred miles from the Missouri is a rich, black 
 loam, that produces splendid crops. * * The indigenous prairie hay is cut in large 
 quantities, cured and sent farther west into the mountain regions, which will always 
 have to depend principally upon the products of the plain for the supply of its wants. 
 The nutritious qualities of this grass is evident in the sleek, fat condition of the 
 horses and cattle feeding upon it. A poor horse is a rarity in this region which we 
 have not seen. 1 ' 
 
 To extend these quotations would be but to repeat in other 
 forms the same idea that, agriculturally, Nebraska has no superior 
 in all the great States of the Union, and that the lands along the 
 line of the Union Pacific offer especial advantages to the emigrant 
 from abroad or from the eastern States.* 
 
 TIMBER. 
 
 Pine, Spruce and Hemlock grow on the Black Hills in large 
 quantities, and skirt the mountains to the south for 300 miles. The 
 immense forests on the Medicine Bow, Elk, and other mountain 
 ranges are inexhaustible, and the great streams, the Laramies, Med 
 icine Bow, and North Platte, that rise among them, furnish easy 
 transportation by rafts to bring their products to the Union Pacific 
 road. West of the main divide on the heads of Green river, New 
 Fork, Piney, and Labarge, on the north, and Black Fork, Henry's 
 Fork, Bear river and Weber on the south, are some of the finest 
 Pine forests in the country ; they are hundreds of miles in extent, 
 and are capable of being brought to this road by the streams above 
 mentioned, which are in good rafting condition during the spring. 
 
 * It is expected that full particulars in relation to these lands will be printed and ready for 
 circulation in a few months, when the Company will be pleased to respond to letters of inquiry. 
 
GOLD AND SILVER. 
 
 While the increased facilities for transportation of laborers, ma 
 chinery and supplies which the railroad will give, will greatly increase 
 the production of gold and siver in Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Idaho 
 and Montana, those regions will all find their cheapest and most 
 direct outlet by way of the Union Pacific Railroad. In addition 
 to the above named mining territories are the new mining dis 
 tricts in Wyoming, near to the line of the road. The gold mines 
 discovered in 1867 upon the Sweetwater river, and along the east 
 base of the Wind River mountains, have already attracted a large 
 emigration, which will steadily increase so long as the developments 
 promise so favorable returns as they have thus far done. Deposits 
 of silver have been found near the line of the road, not far from the 
 summit of the Black Hills, which promise to yield a handsome 
 profit for working. No doubt the country in the north from the 
 Big Horn mountains to Green river is rich in the precious metals. 
 The heads of the Powder river, the different tributaries of the 
 Platte and Sweetwater, the immense country drained by the trib 
 utaries of the Big Horn river, Wind river, Porpogie and Sweet- 
 water are already being prospected, and quartz lodes and placer 
 mines are being discovered all over that vast extent of country. No 
 man can now predict the amount of trade, travel, and traffic these 
 mines will build up for the road. 
 
 In the report of the Commissioner of Mining Statistics, J. Ross 
 BROWNE, recently submitted to Congress by the Secretary of the 
 Treasury, the mineral yield of the States and Territories for 1867, 
 is estimated as follows : 
 
22 
 
 California, .... $25,000,000 Colorado, . . , j. . . . $2,500,000 
 Nevada, .... 20,08P>0 New Mexico, .... 500,000 
 
 Montana, . . . . ' . 12,000,000 Arizona, 500,000 
 
 Idaho,. . . . . 6,500,000 ! Miscellaneous, . . . 5,000,000 
 
 Washington, . *'''.- . 1,000,000 i 
 
 Oregon, .... 2,000,000 Total, . . . $75,000,000 
 
 The entire product of the precious metals from 1848 to Jan. 1, 
 1868, is estimated as follows : 
 
 California, .... $900,000,000 
 Montana, .... 65,000,000 
 
 Nevada, 90,000,000 
 
 Idaho, . . ... 45,000,000 
 Washington, . . . . 10,000,000 
 Oregon, . , . . 20,000,000 
 
 Colorado, .... $25,000,000 
 New Mexico and Arizona, . 5,000,000 
 Miscellaneous, . . . 45,000,000 
 Retained for plate, jewelry, &c., 50,000,000 
 
 Total, . . . $1,255,000,000 
 
 Mr. BROWNE says of the region under consideration : " The area 
 of land suitable for cultivation is much larger than was originally 
 supposed, and important results are anticipated from the comple 
 tion of the Pacific Kailroad." 
 
 COAL. 
 
 A discovery of almost incalculable value to the Company, and 
 to the entire country along the line of the road, has been that of 
 enormous beds of very excellent coal in the Laramie Plains and the 
 mountains at the west. This coal field is now being developed, and 
 it is found to be the finest yet opened west of the Missouri river. 
 At Carbon Station, about 650 miles west from Omaha, a vein sixteen 
 feet in thickness is being worked, and about one hundred tons of ex 
 cellent coal taken out per day. This coal is semi-bituminous, and is 
 found to be better adapted to use upon locomotives than that which 
 had previously been obtained from northern Iowa for that purpose. 
 The fuel question has been one which it was feared would be hard 
 to meet in the far west, where timber was comparatively scarce, but 
 the opening of this coal field, together with the working of other 
 beds near Cheyenne, and the discovery of yet other extensive de 
 posits in Weber valley, west of the Wahsatch mountains, have solved 
 the problem in a manner as satisfactory as it is valuable. 
 
 IRON. 
 
 Limonite and Hemitite ores are found in vast quantities at the 
 eastern base of the mountains on the Laramie Plains, and in por 
 tions of the Great Salt Lake basin/" Mountains of magnetic ore 
 
haye been discovered on the Chugwater, easy of access from the 
 line, and also on the north fork of the Platte. On the Weber river, 
 iron ore exists in inexhaustible quantities, and so far as tested it is 
 equal in quality to the average found anywhere in the United States. 
 Concerning the mineral deposits along the line of the road, the 
 editor of the Philadelphia Press says : 
 
 u These great plains have not as yet given up their mineral treasures. Scientific 
 or systematic exploration in this direction has never yet been made. The rich mines 
 now working are more the result of accident or fortune than of intelligent labor, but 
 even they are yielding a princely revenue already. The whole line of the Pacific Rail 
 road, after It enters the mountain region, is rich in coal and other mineral deposits. 
 Iron is found in vast quantities on the Laramie Plains, and each day scientific explo 
 rations are opening up veins of gold, silver, lead, copper, and other valuable minerals. 
 The salt springs yield a result of twenty per cent, of pure salt, and the entire region 
 is one of vast promise for the future." 
 
 MINERAL SPRINGS. 
 
 The correspondent of the Pittsburgh Commercial (an educated, 
 scientific chemist,) writes as follows : 
 
 "In the Rocky Mountains the number of springs, cold, thermal, saline, chalybeate, 
 sulphurous and alkaline, are past all computation, and represent nearly all the kinds 
 of mineral waters known to be of therapeutic value. Near to Salt Lake city and in 
 other parts of the mountains are the hot sulphur springs, which are found so bene 
 ficial in cutaneous and rheumatic diseases, rivalling the eaux-chandes at Cauterct in 
 the Hautcs Pyrenees, in their efficacy, and superior to them in the more agreeable 
 climate in which they are situated. On the Bear river the alkaline springs are far 
 more active and powerful in the proportion of constituents than those of Ncris and 
 the celebrated Grand-grilles at Vichy, where the shattered constitutions of the Euro 
 pean nobility are wont to seek a cure." 
 
THE IDAHO, OREGON" & PUGET's SOUND THE BRANCH TO MONTANA 
 THE DENVER, AND CENTRAL PACIFIC. 
 
 Eapid construction of the main line of the Union Pacific Rail 
 road is of paramount importance, but the building of branch and 
 connecting railroads is also a work of magnitude and of great value. 
 Branch roads to Colorado, Oregon and Montana are projected. 
 Arapahoe county, Colorado, by a vote of 1,210 for to 15 against, on 
 the 20th of January, 1868, decided to take $500,000 of the stock of 
 a railroad connecting Denver with the Union Pacific road, in the 
 vicinity of Cheyenne, a distance of 100 miles, and that road is now 
 in process of construction. 
 
 A bill was introduced into Congress, at the last session, to in 
 corporate the Idaho, Oregon & Puget's Sound Railroad Company, 
 which contemplates not only a road to the points indicated in the 
 company title, but also a branch to Montana. The report of the 
 chief engineer of the company upon the Oregon route, says that to 
 reach the navigable waters of the Pacific by the Snake river route 
 will require the construction of but 400 miles of additional road, 
 and this through a country abounding in timber and coal, and capa 
 ble of sustaining a large population. The road could be built at 
 the rate of 300 miles per year, and, in the words of the engineer, 
 " the local business of Oregon and Idaho would support it to-day. 
 No such difficulties in obtaining material, labor, or transportation 
 would be encountered on this line as we have had to encounter in 
 building the Union Pacific." 
 
 The Montana branch would leave the Oregon line in Snake River 
 Valley, and, by a feasible route, would reach the heart of the Terri- 
 
25 
 
 tory in a distance of 200 miles. By beginning active work in the 
 spring of 1869, the fall of 1870 would give Montana, Idaho, Wash 
 ington, and Oregon Territories direct steam communication with 
 all points east, whereas, by the route to which they have been look 
 ing for railroad connection the Northern Pacific they would have 
 to wait years for the building of 1,700 miles, instead of the 400 
 which are here necessary. 
 
 The eastern connection of the Union Pacific, by way of the 
 Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, is now complete. The Chicago, 
 Rock Island & Pacific road is being rapidly extended from Des 
 Moines, and will be finished to the Missouri river in a few weeks. 
 The Burlington & Missouri Railroad, which is being built across 
 Southern Iowa to Omaha, will form a third line to the eastward, 
 while the completion of the railroad to St. Joseph gives direct rail 
 connection with St. Louis. Omaha already contains about 17,000 
 inhabitants, and is the center of a very large traffic. This city will 
 be the converging and diverging point for all the eastern trade of 
 the road. 
 
 The business of Omaha and of the Union Pacific road will be 
 greatly facilitated by the magnificent iron bridge which is to be 
 erected across the Missouri at that point, and which, with its ap 
 proaches, will cost two and one-half million dollars. This bridge is 
 now under contract, and work upon it has begun. 
 
 The Central Pacific of California, which will form the western 
 or Pacific coast connection, is being pushed forward with great 
 energy, and, beginning at Sacramento, has already crossed the 
 Sierra Nevada mountains, which were the most formidable barrier 
 to be surmounted on the whole Pacific line. The Central Pacific 
 Company report that they have already expended about forty million 
 dollars ($40,000,000), have finished 325 miles, and that they have 
 no doubt that they will be able to meet the Union Pacific in 1869. 
 
Congress, having determined that the Pacific Railroad should be 
 built with the aid of the Government, also determined that that 
 aid should be ample to accomplish the purpose. No half-way 
 measures would answer. The most feasible route across the con 
 tinent was selected, which should be the Grand Trunk Line the 
 western artery of the whole railroad system of the United States. 
 The grants in aid of construction are as follows : 
 
 1st. THE RIGHTS OP WAY AND MATERIAL, which include all 
 necessary public lands for track, stations, depots, timber, stone, &c. 
 
 2d. THE GRANT OF MONEY. The Government grants its six 
 per cent, currency interest thirty-year bonds to the Union Pacific 
 Railroad, to the following amounts : 
 
 $8,272,000 
 
 7,200,000 
 
 On the plain portion of the road, extending from Omaha to the base 
 of the Rocky Mountains, 517 miles, at the rate of $16,000 per 
 mile, is . . . '. ' . .' 
 
 On the most difficult portion of the road, extending from the east 
 ern base of the Rocky Mountains westwardly, 150 miles, at 
 the rate of $48,000 per mile, is ..... 
 
 On the remaining distance westwardly towards the California State 
 line, at the rate of $32,000 per mile. Estimating the distance 
 to be built by the U lion Pacific Company, before meeting 
 with the Central Pacific, at 1,100 miles, this would leave a re 
 mainder of 433 miles, at $32,000 per mile, which is . . 13,856,000 
 
 Or a total, for 1,100 miles, of . . . . . $29,328,000 
 
 These bonds are issued only on the completion of each section of 
 twenty miles of road, and upon the certificate of Commissioners ap 
 pointed by the United States Government that the road is thor 
 oughly built and adequately supplied with all the machinery, equip 
 ment and fixtures necessary to complete a first-class railroad. The 
 interest on these bonds is paid by the U. S. Treasury, but is a 
 
27 
 
 charge against the Company. By its charter, the Company re 
 ceives one-half the amount of its claims against the Government, 
 for transporting its troops, freight, mails, &c., in money, and the 
 remaining half is placed to its credit as a sinking fund, to be applied 
 to the payment of the interest and principal of these bonds. 
 
 It should be remembered that lotli divisions of the great Pacific 
 line stand upon precisely the same footing in this and in all other par 
 ticulars respecting the Government grants. (See Acts of Congress.) 
 
 3d. THE GRANT OF LANDS. The Government grants to the 
 Company every alternate section of land for twenty miles on each 
 side of the road, making in all twenty sections, equal to 12,800 
 acres for each mile of the railroad. For a distance of 1,100 miles, 
 this grant, which is an absolute donation, amounts to fourteen mil 
 lion and eighty thousand (14,080,000) acres. As the railroad fol 
 lows the rich valley of the Great Platte for nearly 300 miles, a large 
 portion of these lands may be classed among the most productive in 
 the world, and, indeed, there can hardly be any lands along the 
 line of such an important road that will not command a reasonable 
 price for tillage, grazing or timber. It will certainly be quite 
 within bounds to estimate them at an average of $1.50 per acre, 
 and competent experts value them at a much higher rate. On the 
 the 7th of March, 1868, the President of the United States signed 
 a congressional bill which provides that the alternate sections of 
 land belonging to the Government on the line of the Union Pacific 
 Railroad shall not be sold at less than $2.50 per acre. 
 
 4th. THE LOAN GRANT. The Government grants the Com 
 pany a right to issue its own First Mortgage Bonds on its railroad 
 and telegraph lines to an amount equal to that of the bonds of the 
 United States issued to the Company. By special act of Congress 
 [passed July 2, 1864], these First Mortgage Bonds are made a lien 
 prior to all claims of the Government, or to any claims whatsoever. 
 This gives the Union Pacific Railroad Company the following re 
 sources, exclusive of its capital stock, for the construction of 1,100 
 miles of road : 
 
 U. S. Bonds on 517 miles at $16,000 per mile, . . . $8,372,000 
 
 " " 150 " 48,000 " ... 7,300,000 
 
 " " 433 " 33,000 "'.... 13,856,000 
 
 $29,328,000 
 
 The Company's own First Mortgage Bonds to same amount, . 29,328,000 
 Land Grant of 12,800 acres per mile, at $1.50 per acre, . . 21,120,000 
 
 Total, $79,776,000 
 
THE MEANS SUFFICIENT TO BUILD THE ROAD. 
 
 The supposed great difficulties in the way of building the Pacific 
 Kailroad have diminished as they have been encountered. Con 
 tracts for the construction of 914 miles west from Omaha, com 
 prising much of the most difficult mountain work, and embracing 
 every expense except surveying, have been made with responsible 
 parties (who have already finished 820 miles,) at the average rate of 
 sixty-eight thousand and fifty-eight dollars ($68,058) per mile- 
 This price includes all necessary car-shops, depots, stations, and all 
 other incidental buildings, and also locomotives, passenger, baggage 
 and freight cars, and other requisite rolling-stock, to an amount 
 that shall not be less than $7,500 per mile. Allowing the cost of 
 the remaining one hundred and eighty-six of the eleven hundred 
 miles assumed to be built by the Union Pacific Company to be 
 $90,000 per mile, 
 
 THE TOTAL COST OF ELEVEN HUNDRED MILES AND EQUIPMENT, 
 WILL BE AS FOLLOWS I 
 
 914 miles, at $68,058, . . . . ... $62,205,012 
 
 186 " 90,000, . . . . . . 16,740,000 
 
 Add interest and miscellaneous expenses, surveys, &c., . . 3,500,000 
 
 Amount, . ' . . . . ' . ' . $82,445,012 
 
 As the U. S. Bonds are equal to money, and the Company's own 
 First Mortgage Bonds have a ready market, we have as the 
 
 AVAILABE CASH RESOURCES FOR BUILDING ELEVEN HUNDRED 
 
 MILES, 
 
 U. S. Bonds, . . . . . V . .$29,328,000 
 
 First Mortgage Bonds, . . . v ! 29,328,000 
 
 Capital stoek paid in on the work now done, ' . ; i 13,243,800 
 
 Land Grant, 14,080,000 acres, at $1.50 per acre, . . . 21,120,000 
 
 Total, . :. . . . . . .$93,019,800 
 
 The land grant will not be immediately available for income, 
 but the Company have other facilities for supplying all the means 
 needed in construction. 
 
How large a business is it safe to predict for the Union Pacific 
 Railroad ? This is a question not easily answered, simply because 
 the indications are so favorable that the actual traffic will almost 
 inevitably be greater than even the most sanguine of its friends 
 now assert. But we can put upon record the estimates of some of 
 those who have given the subject especial attention. Hon. E. D. 
 MANSFIELD, Commissioner of Statistics for the State of Ohio, and a 
 gentleman thoroughly familiar with railroad enterprises in their 
 relation to the development of the country, made the following esti 
 mates in relation to the prospects of this Company, in May, 1867: 
 
 "We have some authentic facts on which to base a fair estimate of the business 
 of the Pacific Railroad, when it is completed. In a general view, we find the fact of 
 an intermediate unsettled country counterbalanced by the millions of persons and 
 tonnage of products on either side seeking mutual intercourse. On this point we 
 have the following facts, derived from Shipping Lists, Insurance Companies, Rail 
 roads, and general information : 
 
 Ships going from the Atlantic around Cape Horn 100, . . 80,000 tons. 
 Steamships connecting at Panama with California and China 55, 120,000 " 
 Overland Trains, Stages, Horses, &c., . . . . 30,000 " 
 
 " Here we have two hundred and thirty thousand tons carried westward ; and ex 
 perience has shown, that in the last few years the returned passengers from California 
 have been nearly as numerous as those going. So also the great mass of gold and 
 silver flows eastward ; latterly there is an importation of wheat from California and 
 goods from China by the Pacific route. Fairly assuming, therefore, that the trade 
 each way will be about equal, we have 460,000 tons as the actual freight across the con 
 tinent. 
 
 " How many passengers are there ? We make the following estimate : 
 
 110 (both ways) steamships, 50,000* 
 
 200 " vessels, 4,000 
 
 Overland (both ways), , . 100,000 
 
 Number per annum, ...... 154,000 
 
 * It may be well to say, in support of the accuracy of this estimate, that the Pacific Mail 
 Steamship Company carried 31,897 passengers in the year ending January 31, 1868, and 27,000 
 in the first six months o: 1 1868, while the North American Steamship Company have carred, 
 this year, an average of 1,600 pissengers per month, or about 20,000 per year. The total by 
 these two lines, for the year 1868, will probably exceed 70,000. 
 
30 
 
 " Present prices (averaging half the cost of the steamships), for both passengers 
 and tonnage, give this result: 
 
 154,000 passengers at $100, i : . , ; . . .$15,400,000 
 
 460,000 tons rated at $1 per cubic foot, . , * . 15,640,000 
 
 Present Cost of Transportation, ,, > . $31,040,000 
 
 " There can be no doubt that the number of passengers will be more than doubled 
 by the completion of the road ; so also, the road would take all the very light and 
 valuable goods, which would be greatly increased by the China trade. Taking these 
 things into view estimating passengers at 7# cents per mile, and goods at $1 per 
 cubic foot we have 
 
 300,000 passengers at $150 each, . '. ; . .$45,000,000 
 
 300,000 tons at $34, . . .- '.. . . 10,300,000 
 
 Gross receipts, . . . . . . $55,200,000 
 
 "Suppose that the proportion accruing to the Union Pacific is $30,000,000, then 
 estimate the running expenses at one-half, and this would leave a net profit of 
 $15,000,000. 
 
 " This may seem very large to those who have not examined the subject, but it 
 must be remembered 1st, that the longest lines of road are the most profitable ; 2d, 
 that this road connects two oceans, and the vast populations of Western Europe and 
 Eastern Asia; 3d, that the immense mining regions of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and 
 California, just developing, will produce a transit of persons and freight at present 
 beyond belief. We leave this estimate on record as a moderate (not an exaggerated) 
 view of the business and profits which may be fairly expected from the Grand Pacific 
 Railroad." 
 
 For many years to come, at least, the Union Pacific Eailroad will 
 be the only railway avenue of communication between the Atlantic 
 and Pacific States, and between the great mining districts and the 
 markets whence they derive their supplies, and to which they ex 
 port their products. As such, the through and the way traffic of 
 the line must be immense. But added to this home traffic will be 
 the great volume of China trade, that is preparing for the new order 
 of things when the railroad shall be complete. The Pacific Mail 
 Steamship Company of New York are now running a regular line 
 of their splendid steamers between San Francisco and China and 
 Japan, which is doubtless the pioneer of other lines, that will tra 
 verse the Pacific Ocean laden with the teas, spices and other pro 
 ducts of Eastern Asia, the most of these cargoes finding their natural 
 transit over the Union Pacific Kailroad. Already, as will be seen by 
 subsequent tables, the earnings of the unfinished road, on way busi 
 ness alone, have exceeded four millions per year, and every additional 
 completed mile must increase the business and profit. The popu 
 lation of the Territories, thanks to this railroad, is rapidly increasing; 
 the fertile lands along the line are being taken up and improved by 
 
31 
 
 settlers who will be good customers of the railroad to which they 
 owe their safety and their profitable cultivation of the soil; the 
 yield of gold, silver, iron and coal, will be largely augmented, as 
 the railroad affords improved and cheapened mining facilities, and 
 the merchants of the Old and the New worlds will find by this line 
 the shortest and cheapest route for their interchange of commercial 
 commodities. Concerning one feature of the anticipated through 
 traffic, the correspondent of the Pittsburgh Commercial writes : 
 
 " Of the China trade referred to in the above, no small item will undoubtedly be 
 tea. The aroma of all teas, of whatever description or quality they may be, is injured 
 and even destroyed by a long sea voyage. The Russia overland tea is from this cause 
 the most celebrated in Europe, and is used by the wealthy in England and France, 
 not only for its taste but its exhilarating effect. It is contended this is a kind 
 of tea not imported into this country, but it is well known that several Chinese mer 
 chants, such as Fouqwa, of Canton, furnish their American customers with the 
 choicest teas which are exported ; the rare and highest flavored brands are of course 
 consumed at home. When the people once learn to appreciate the remarkable dif 
 ference in the flavor of tea, brought by rapid steamer to San Francisco and over the 
 railroad to the markets here, the small additional cost will be a matter of no consid 
 eration, and the importation by this route will be immense." 
 
 The editor of the Boston Journal, in closing a review of the 
 West under the new regime of railroad extension, says : 
 
 " People these great States Dacotah. Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Montana, 
 Washington, Oregon, Nevada, California with the sons of toil ; cast into their fertile 
 molds the seeds of cereal harvests unlock the gates of their hidden mineral wealth ; 
 constrain their water forces to the benign utilities of civilization ; convert their 
 forests into vehicles of commerce; turn their decaying exuberance into living active 
 values, and give them avenues of passage east by Pacific railways, to the marts of 
 trade by lake and ocean shores, and west over the splendid steamers plying between 
 San Francisco and Eastern Asia, to the teeming millions of China and Japan, and 
 who can calculate the wondrous tide of travel and freight that shall find transit along 
 this great artery of motion, commerce, wealth, national unity, and peace. But more 
 than this must be true. So great will be the saving of time and the safety of freight 
 age, that a large proportion of the commerce of Japan and China (in the years to 
 come to be marvelously developed, under commercial treaties with those peoples,) 
 their teas, their spices, their woods, their silks, and all their wonderful products, 
 must find their natural transit over the road of the Union Pacific Company. 
 
 u Certainly the day of great and unexampled things is upon us, and it behooves 
 us of the older cities and States, into whose hands no inconsiderable portion of this 
 wealth and toil is to fall, to cease guarding and fortifying the old wharf, the old ware 
 house, the old market, and the old roadstead, and to prepare more spacious recepta 
 cles, more generous avenues, new facilities of transhipment, widen our narrow 
 streets, consolidate our iron tracks, spread out our wharves, bridge our sluggish and 
 half-used water-courses, and stir ourselves with the electric thrill of new motives 
 and world-wide purposes of progress." 
 
33 
 
 
 The prospective value of the Union Pacific Kailroad, as a pro 
 moter of emigration and of increased production of the minerals of 
 the west, is beyond question. But its value and profit as a national 
 undertaking are by no means confined to the future. Each year 
 of its operation, even in its unfinished state, insures direct, une 
 quivocal profit to the national treasury, as the following figures, 
 furnished by Gen. M. 0. MEIGS, U. S. Quartermaster-General, abund 
 antly prove. 
 
 Previous to the building of this continental railroad, all govern 
 ment freight, consisting chiefly of supplies for the troops upon the 
 frontier, was carried by wagons under contracts given to the lowest 
 responsible bidders. At the time of the Mormon war, the annual 
 expense of maintaining troops upon the Plains amounted to about 
 $1,000 per man, most of this sum being chargeable to transporta 
 tion. In 1866, wagon transportation upon "Koute No. 1" (the 
 route now occupied by the Union Pacific Railroad), cost an average 
 of 28.4 cdnts per ton per mile. In 1867, an average of 39.4 cents 
 was paid for similar service, while, on account of the increased dis 
 tance, for the season from January 1, 1868, to March 31st, the lowest 
 contract that could be made was for 50 cents per ton per mile. 
 
 The average tariff of government transportation over the Union 
 Pacific Railroad is 10.61 cents per ton per mile, but even this is in 
 excess of the actual cost, as may be seen by the following extract 
 from a letter from Quartermaster-General MEIGS, under date of 
 September 1, 1868 : 
 
 "It may properly be assumed that the average rate per ton per mile charged by 
 your Company, (10.61 cents,) being based upon your published tariff rates, is some 
 what in excess of the actual average rate paid by this Department for its transporta 
 tion, owing to the fact that the greater portion of the freight carried for it is com 
 prised under the lower classes, and that ten and one-hall (10.5) cents per ton per 
 mile would approximate the rate actually paid." 
 
33 
 
 The amount paid by the War Department to the Union 
 Pacific Railroad in 1867, for government "transportation, was 
 $699,698.81. Had this same freight been transported by wagons, 
 at the contract price for that year (39.4 cents), the cost would have 
 been $2,625,536.41. In other words, the money actually saved, in 
 one year, in the transportation of government freight, with the 
 road in operation for an average distance of but 386 miles, was one 
 million nine hundred and twenty-five thousand eight hundred and 
 thirty-seven dollars and sixty cents ($1,925,837.60). As has been 
 stated, one-half the Company's charges against the government for 
 transportation are paid in cash, the balance being credited toward 
 the payment of the United States Bonds and their interest. The U. 
 S. Treasury Department ofiicially reports that the total amount of 
 interest which had been paid by government upon bonds issued to 
 the Company up to June 30th, 1868, was $764,655.75. The amount 
 paid by the Company on account of the above charge to the same 
 period, was $615,914.58, with a balance then due from the War De 
 partment, of $55,229.42, one-half of which was applicable to the 
 payment of the interest account. It will therefore be seen that the 
 government has actually paid out only $121,126.46 (which itself 
 will probably be more than paid by Government transportation 
 during the present year), while its actual saving in one year's trans 
 portation was almost two million dollars. As the railroad is rapidly 
 carried forward, the amount of its government service and the cor 
 responding saving to the treasury will increase even more rapidly, 
 while in other respects the national gain will be equally manifest. 
 By the building of the road and the emigration which it renders 
 possible and profitable, the value of all government lands along its 
 line will be increased beyond present computation. Lands which 
 before were entirely inaccessible, and therefore worthless, are now 
 brought into direct connection with markets whose demand for all 
 productions of the soil will steadily increase, while those situated 
 near the town-sites established by the Company will at once become 
 of very great value. The population thus supported and encouraged 
 by the railroad will not only swell our agricultural and mineral pro 
 ductions, but, if the present ratio of national taxation be kept up, 
 the people along the line of the Pacific road will, in ten years time, 
 pay not less than ten million dollars as annual taxes into the U. S. 
 treasury. In short, it is safe to assert that this railroad will prove 
 by far the most profitable of all the internal improvements ever 
 aided by government. 
 
34 
 
 ]je 
 
 jittml warnings, 
 
 As no one has ever expressed a doubt that as soon as the road is 
 completed, its through business will be abundantly profitable, it be 
 comes interesting to know, not only what may be expected, but 
 what has actually been earned, by the way or local business, so far 
 as it has been opened. It should be remembered that, although set 
 tlements are being rapidly made along the line, until recently the 
 road has run through a wilderness for almost its entire length ; but 
 as every year brings an influx of population, this local traffic will 
 have a steadily increasing value. At present, its transportation 
 for the government and for the mining regions is the chief source 
 of its already large revenue. As these mining regions are penetrat 
 ed, the earnings will be greatly increased, and the various branch 
 lines that will soon be constructed will be most valuable feed 
 ers of the main trunk. 
 
 The following are the earnings and expenses of the Union Pa 
 cific Railroad for the year ending June 30, 1868 : 
 
 EARNINGS. 
 
 From Passengers, 
 " Freight, 
 41 Express, 
 " Mails, 
 " Miscellaneous, 
 
 $888,335.05 
 
 3,233,371.61 
 
 30,954.79 
 
 66,800.00 
 
 26,579.28 
 
 4,246,040.73 
 
35 
 
 EXPENSES. 
 
 For Conducting Transportation, 
 " Motive Power, 
 " Maintenance ot Cars, 
 Way, 
 " General Expenses, 
 
 Net earnings to balance, 
 
 $517,802.86 
 977,010.03 
 209,150.57 
 831,537.66 
 149,255.43 
 
 $2,684,757.14 
 1,561,283.59 
 
 $4,246,040.73 
 
 The average length of road in operation for the same time was 
 472 miles. 
 
 The amount of First Mortgage Bonds the Company can issue 
 on this 472 miles is $7,520,000. 
 
 Gold interest for one year, at the rate of 6 per cent., is . . $451,200 
 
 Add 40 per cent, premium for gold, .... 180,480 
 
 $631,680 
 Surplus for the year, after paying interest on First Mortgage Bonds, $929,603.59 
 
 "We will now add to the account the interest on the U. S. Second 
 Mortgage Bonds, and it will stand as follows : 
 
 Net earnings for one year, ..... $1,561,283.59 
 
 Interest on First Mortgage Bonds, reduced to currency, $631,680 
 " " Second " " in currency, . 451,200 
 
 Total, . . . 1,082,880.00 
 
 Surplus after paying all interests, .... $478,403.59 
 
 The earnings for the first half of the financial year were so large 
 that the Company reduced their charges twenty-five per cent. If 
 the way or local business produces such results, what may we expect 
 from the traffic that must pass over it from the two sides of the 
 whole North American continent ? 
 
 \ 
 
36 
 
 ss^$<^r 
 
 ev^m^ 
 
 THEIR SECURITY AND VALUE. 
 
 As before stated, the Union Pacific Eailroad Company are au 
 thorized by Congress to issue their First Mortgage Bonds in the 
 same amounts as are issued by the Government to the Company on 
 the various sections of the road as they are completed, viz. : 
 
 On the first 517 miles at $16,000 per mile, . . . $8,272,000 
 
 On the Rocky Mountain region, 150 miles, at $48,000 per mile, 7,200,000 
 
 On 433 additional miles at $32,000 per mile, . . . 13,856,000 
 
 Total for 1,100 miles, $29,328,000 
 
 All these bonds are for $1,000 each, and have coupons attached. 
 They have thirty years to run, and bear interest at the rate of six 
 per cent, per annum in gold, payable on the first days of January 
 and July, at the Company's offices in the city of New York. 
 
 PRINCIPAL AS WELL AS INTEREST PAYABLE IN GOLD. 
 
 "While the Company have never supposed that the principal of 
 their bonds would be paid otherwise than in gold, yet, to put all 
 question on this subject at rest, at a meeting of the directors held 
 on the 12th of March, 1868, it was unanimously 
 
 That the President and Treasurer are authorized and directed to 
 enter into a covenant with the Trustees of the First Mortgage Bonds of this Com 
 pany, to pay the principal of said Bonds, at maturity, in United States gold coin. 
 
 In accordance with this resolution, the President and Treasurer 
 made the following 
 
37 
 
 tt0W tttt P*tt ItJJ tte* gWStfttttf, tfia; TFteran, the Union Pacific Rail 
 road Company heretofore executed to EDWIN D. MORGAN and OAKES AMES, 
 Trustees, a certain Indenture of Mortgage bearing date the first day of November, 
 one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, mortgaging thereby the railroad of the 
 said Company to the said Trustees to secure the payment of the said Company's First 
 Mortgage Bonds, and the said Indenture of Mortgage was duly recorded ; And whereas, 
 the said Company have issued divers of the said first mortgage bonds, and intend here 
 after to issue divers others of said First Mortgage Bonds mentioned in and provided 
 for by the said indenture of mortgage ; And whereas, by the tenor of said bonds the 
 principal sum payable thereon at maturity is to be paid in lawful money of the United 
 States; Now, in consideration of the premises, and of one dollar to the said Company 
 in hand paid, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, and for divers other good 
 and valuable considerations the said Company thereunto moving, the said Company 
 hereby covenant and agree to and with the said EDWIN D. MORGAN and OAKES AMES, 
 as Trustees, for the benefit of all who are or shall be holders of said bonds, and to 
 and with the successors of said Trustees in the trust created by the said Indenture 
 of Mortgage, that the principal of all the said First Mortgage Bonds, being one thou 
 sand dollars each, as well such as have been issued hitherto as such as shall be issued 
 hereafter, shall and will be paid by the said Company whensoever the same respect 
 ively become payable according to the tenor thereof, in the gold coin of the United 
 States at par, that is to say, one thousand dollars of such coin for each of the said 
 bonds. 
 
 git fitness 3l)ercof, the said Company have caused these presents to be sealed 
 with their corporate seal, and to be subscribed by their President and Treasurer, this 
 twelfth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight. 
 
 Sealed and delivered in \ OLIVER AMES, President. 
 
 . HAM. f HN J. CISCO, Treasurer. 
 
 It will be noticed, that this covenant applies to all the First 
 Mortgage Bonds of the Company without exception, including 
 those that have been heretofore issued, as well as those which may 
 be issued hereafter. We now come to the first question which will 
 be asked by every investor, viz. : 
 
 ARE THE BONDS SECURE ? 
 
 Ans. : Congress has taken an especial care that the interests of 
 the bondholders of this road shall be secured, that has never before 
 been shown towards a similar enterprise. The Mortgage is made to 
 Hon. E. D. MORGAN, U. S. Senator from New York, and Hon. 
 OAKES AMES, Member of U. S. House of Eepresentatives from 
 Massachusetts, who alone can deliver the bonds to the Company, 
 
38 
 
 and who are responsible for their delivery in strict accordance with 
 the terms of the law. 
 
 The President of the United States appoints Five Government 
 Directors who cannot be stockholders, who take part in the direc 
 tion of all its affairs, and one of whom is to be on every Committee 
 of the Company. It is the duty of these directors to see that all the 
 business of the Company is properly managed, and to report the 
 same to the Secretary of the Interior, who reports, through the 
 President, to Congress. 
 
 The President of the United States also appoints three Commis 
 sioners to inspect the work as it progresses, in sections of twenty 
 miles, to see that it is in all respects a first-class road, and that it is 
 suitably provided with depots, stations, &c., and all the rolling stock 
 necessary for its business. The U. S. Bonds are issued to the Com 
 pany only as each section of twenty miles is accepted by the U. S. 
 Commissioners, and the trustees of the first mortgage bondholders 
 deliver the Company's own First Mortgage Bonds to the Company 
 only on the same conditions, except that the Company are permitted 
 to issue their bonds for one hundred miles in advance of the com 
 pleted line, to cover a part of the cost of grading, &c. 
 
 To give every facility for the negotiation of the Company's First 
 Mortgage Bonds, the Government makes its own bonds issued to 
 the Company a second lien, and it will be noticed that the Union 
 Pacific Railroad is, in fact, a Government work, built under the 
 supervision of Government officers, and to a large extent with 
 Government money. We may say, without danger of contradiction, 
 that no bonds issued by any other company in this country, or, so far 
 as we know, in the world, are made so secure by a responsible Govern 
 ment, as the First Mortgage Bonds of the Union Pacific Railroad 
 Company. They are not only a first mortgage upon a property that 
 costs three times their amount, but upon a property of daily increas 
 ing value, and whose income is already much more than their in 
 terest. First mortgage bonds, whose principal is so thoroughly 
 secured, and whose interest is so liberal and so amply provided for, 
 must be classed among the very safest and best securities. 
 
 A PERMANENT VALUE. 
 
 The recent movements in Congress in favor of redeeming the 
 Government bonds in currency, or taxing them directly or indirectly 
 so as to reduce the rate of interest, and practically compel the 
 
39 
 
 holders to fund them at 4 or 4J per cent., have induced many 
 careful investors to exchange their Government securities, as a 
 whole or in part a for Union Pacific First Mortgage Bonds. There 
 are others who always prefer a first mortgage upon such a great, 
 valuable, and productive real estate, to the obligations of any 
 state or nation, which are subject to the vicissitudes of political 
 action. 
 
 WHAT AEE THEY WOKTH AS AN INVESTMENT ? 
 
 Ans. : Other conditions being the same, securities are valuable 
 according to their rate of interest. The recent average quotations 
 for U. S. 10-40 bonds, bearing only 5 per cent, gold interest, redeem 
 able by the government in six years, have been 105 to 106, and 
 the U. S. sixes of '81, gold six per cents which may be redeemed 
 in thirteen years, have been at from 113 to 115 J. The best first mort 
 gage six per cent, railroad currency bonds range at about par, and 
 the seven per cents run to a considerable premium, while the Union 
 Pacific First Mortgage Bonds are sure to pay six per cent, in gold, 
 which, with the premium at 40, (where it has stood upon the aver 
 age for about three years,) pay 8| per cent. 
 
 It will be noticed that a very important consideration in deter 
 mining the value of these bonds is the length of time they have to 
 run. 
 
 It is safe to assume, that during the next thirty years, the 
 rate of interest in the United States will decline as it has done in the 
 old countries of Europe, and we have a right to expect that such six 
 per cent, securities as these will be held at as high a premium as 
 those of this Government, which, in 1857, were bought in at from 
 20 to 23 per cent, above par. 
 
 There is no doubt that the Union Pacific Bonds will become a 
 favorite investment abroad, for although the Company have made 
 no effort to sell them, except at home, considerable amounts have 
 been voluntarily taken on foreign account, and it is probable, that 
 as soon as the road is completed, a very large proportion of the 
 whole amount will be taken out of the country. 
 
 It should be remembered, that the whole issue of these bonds 
 will be only about thirty million dollars, of which over eighteen 
 millions have already been sold ; and while subscriptions are now 
 received at 102, it is expected that, with a favorable money market, 
 the price may be further advanced at an early day. 
 
40 
 
 In addition to their safety and profit, these bonds offer every con- 
 yenience of a convertible investment. The gold coupons will be 
 cashed by bankers in any part of the country, and the bonds 
 themselves are taken as security for loans at the lowest current rates. 
 
 Full particulars in relation to terms, agents, and means of sub 
 scribing may be found in the advertisement on the last page of the 
 cover. 
 
 NEW YORK, Sept. 20th, 1868. 
 
 JOHN J. CISCO, TREASURER, 
 
 Union Pacific Railroad Company. 
 
Union Pacific Railroad Co. 
 
 
 OFFER A LIMITED AMOUNT OF THEIR 
 
 FIRST MORTGAGE BONDS 
 
 AT 102, PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST 
 t 
 
 PAYABLE IN GOLD. 
 
 These Bonds are for $1,000 each, and have Coupons attached. They have thirty 
 years to run, and bear annual interest, payable on the lirst days of January and July 
 at the Company's Ofliee in the City of New York, at the rate of six per cent, 
 in gold. 
 
 At the present rate of premium on gold, they pay an annual " 'come on their 
 cost of 
 
 BETWEEN EIGHT AND NINE PEh 
 
 The Company reserve the right to advance the price of their bonds to a higher 
 rate at any time, and will not be h olden to fill any orders or receive any subscrip 
 tions on which the money has not been actually paid at the Company's office before 
 the time of such advance. 
 
 Parties subscribing will remit the priee of the bonds and the accrued interest in 
 currency at the rate of six per cent, per annum, from July 1st, 1808. Subscriptions 
 will be received in New York at 
 
 THE COMPANY'S OFFICE, No. 20 Nassau Street, 
 
 AND BY- 
 JOHN J. CISCO & SON, Bankers, No. 59 Wall Street, 
 
 AND BY THE 
 
 Company's Advertised Agents throughout the United States. 
 
 Remittances sliould be made in, drafts or officer funds 2** r '^ n -^ e>0 York, and the Bonds 
 mill be Kent free of charge by return express. Parties subscribing through local agents, will 
 look to them for their safe delivery. 
 
 JOHN J. CISCO, Treasurer. 
 
 NEW YORK, SEPTEMBEH 14, 1868.