"The highest ground encountered between Lake Superior and the Missouri River, at the mouth of the Yellowstone, is only 2,300 feet above the sea; the low summit of the Rocky Mountains is but little over 5,000 feet, and the Bozeman Pass, through the Belt Range, is assumed to be about 500 feet lower. The height of the country upon which the line is traced, and upon which my estimate of cost is based, may be approximately stated thus, beginning at Lake Superior, going westward:—

Miles.Average height above the sea.
To Dakota Valley,3001,200feet.
Yellowstone River,3002,200"
Along Yellowstone,4002,500"
Flathead Valley,3003,500"
Lewis or Snake River,2003,000"
Puget Sound,500400"
——
2,000

"Compare this with the profiles of the finished line of the Union and Central Pacific roads. Properly, the comparison should be made from Chicago, the eastern water terminus of Lake Michigan, of the Omaha line. There are, on that route, approximately, as follows:—

Miles.Average height above the sea.
From Chicago to Omaha,5001,000feet.
Near Cheyenne,5003,300"
Cooper's,1007,300"
Promontory Point,4856,200"
Humboldt,4064,750"
Reno,1304,000"
Auburn,1184,400"
Sacramento,36300"
San Francisco,10050"
——
Chicago to San Francisco2,375

"On the Northern Pacific line there need be but two principal summits, whilst on the other there are four, the lowest of which is about a thousand feet higher than the highest on the northern route. If, therefore, the roads were the same length between the Pacific waters and the great lakes and navigable rivers east of the Rocky Mountains, the advantage would be largely in favor of the Northern route; but this actual distance is three hundred and seventy-five miles less, and the equated distance for ascents and descents in its favor will be very considerable" (Report, p. 45).

From the explorations and surveys already made by the engineers, it is believed that there need be no gradient exceeding sixty feet per mile between Lake Superior and the Pacific Ocean. If such be the fact, it will enable the company to transport freight much more cheaply than the central line can carry it, where the grades are one hundred and sixteen feet to the mile, over the Sierra Nevada Range. To those who never have had time to examine the subject, the following tabular statement in regard to the power of a thirty-ton engine on different grades will be interesting. An engine weighing thirty tons will draw loaded cars on different grades as follows:—

On a level94 cars
10feetpermileascending56 "
20""""40 "
30""""30½"
40""""25 "
50""""20½"
60""""17 "
70""""15 "
80""""13 "
90""""11½"
100""""10 "
110""""8½"
120""""6 "

A full car-load is reckoned at seven tons. It has been found in the operation of railroads that an engine which will move one hundred and seventeen tons on a grade sixty feet per mile will move only about fifty tons on a grade of one hundred and sixteen feet. A second glance at the diagram (p. 48) shows us that the sum of ascents and descents on the line already constructed must be vastly greater than that now under construction; and inasmuch as it is impossible to carry a load up or down hill without costing something, it follows that this road can be operated more economically than a line crossing four mountain-ranges, and the ultimate result will be a cheapening of transportation across the continent, and a great development of the Asiatic trade.

Throughout the entire distance between Lake Superior and the Pacific Ocean along the line, the husbandman may turn the sod with his plough, the herdsman fatten his flocks, the lumberman reap the harvest of the forests, or the miner gather golden ore.