And, first, a few words touching routes.
THE PACIFIC RAILROADAs all the world knows, there are three main lines proposed for a “Pacific Railroad” between the Mississippi and the Western Ocean, the Northern, Central, and Southern.[2]
[2] The following table shows the lengths, comparative costs, etc., of the several routes explored for a railroad from the Mississippi to the Pacific, as extracted from the Speech of the Hon. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, on the Pacific Railway Bill in the United States Senate, January, 1859, and quoted by the Hon. Sylvester Maury in the “Geography and Resources of Arizona and Sonora.”
| Routes. | Distance by proposed railroad route. | Sum of ascents and descents. | Comparative cost of different routes. | No. of miles of route through arable lands. | No. of miles of route through land generally uncultivable, arablesoil being found in small areas. | Altitude above the sea of the highest point on the route. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miles. | Feet. | Dollars. | Feet. | ||||
| Route near forty-seventh and forty-ninth parallels, from St. Paul to Seattle | 1955 | 18,654 | 135,871,000 | 535 | 1490 | 6,044 | |
| Route near forty-seventh and forty-ninth parallels, from St. Paul to Vancouver | 1800 | 17,645 | 425,781,000 | 374 | 1490 | 6,044 | |
| Route near forty-first and forty-second parallels, from Rock Island, viâ South Pass, to Benicia | 2299 | 29,120 | [3] | 122,770,000 | 899 | 1400 | 8,373 |
| Route near thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth parallels, from St. Louis,viâ Coo-che-to-pa and Tah-ee-chay-pah passes to San Francisco | 2325 | 49,985 | [4] | Imprac- ticable. | 865 | 1460 | 10,032 |
| Route near thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth parallels, from St. Louis, viâCoo-chee-to-pa and Madeline Passes, to Benicia | 2535 | 56,514 | [5] | Imprac- ticable. | 915 | 1620 | 10,032 |
| Route near thirty-fifth parallel, from Memphis to San Francisco | 2366 | 48,521 | [4] | 113,000,000 | 916 | 1450 | 7,550 |
| Route near thirty-second parallel, from Memphis to San Pedro | 2090 | 48,862 | [4] | 99,000,000 | 690 | 1400 | 7,550 |
| Route near thirty-second parallel, near Gaines’ Landing, to San Francisco by coast route | 2174 | 38,200 | [6] | 94,000,000 | 984 | 1190 | 5,717 |
| Route near thirty-second parallel, from Gaines’ Landing to San Pedro | 1748 | 30,181 | [6] | 72,000,000 | 558 | 1190 | 5,717 |
| Route near thirty-second parallel, from Gaines’ Landing to San Diego | 1683 | 33,454 | [6] | 72,000,000 | 524 | 1159 | 5,717 |
[3] The ascents and descents between Rock Island and Council Bluffs are not known, and therefore not included in this sum.
[4] The ascents and descents between St. Louis and Westport are not known, and therefore not included in this sum.
[5] The ascents and descents between Memphis and Fort Smith are not known, and therefore not included in this sum.
[6] The ascents and descents between Gaines’ Landing and Fulton are not known, and therefore not included in this sum.
The first, or British, was in my case not to be thought of; it involves semi-starvation, possibly a thorough plundering by the Bedouins, and, what was far worse, five or six months of slow travel. The third, or Southern, known as the Butterfield or American Express, offered to start me in an ambulance from St. Louis, and to pass me through Arkansas, El Paso, Fort Yuma on the Gila River, in fact through the vilest and most desolate portion of the West. Twenty-four mortal days and nights—twenty-five being schedule time—must be spent in that ambulance; passengers becoming crazy by whisky, mixed with want of sleep, are often obliged to be strapped to their seats; their meals, dispatched during the ten-minute halts, are simply abominable, the heats are excessive, the climate malarious; lamps may not be used at night for fear of unexisting Indians: briefly, there is no end to this Via Mala’s miseries. The line received from the United States government upward of half a million of dollars per annum for carrying the mails, and its contract had still nearly two years to run.
There remained, therefore, the central route, which has two branches. You may start by stage to the gold regions about Denver City or Pike’s Peak, and thence, if not accidentally or purposely shot, you may proceed by an uncertain ox-train to Great Salt Lake City, which latter part can not take less than thirty-five days. On the other hand, there is “the great emigration route” from Missouri to California and Oregon, over which so many thousands have traveled within the past few years. I quote from a useful little volume, “The Prairie Traveler,”[7] by Randolph B. Marcy, Captain U. S. Army. “The track is broad, well worn, and can not be mistaken. It has received the major part of the Mormon emigration, and was traversed by the army in its march to Utah in 1857.”