EXCAVATIONS AND EMBANKMENTS. 91 
of clay and sand, intermixed with gravel and pebbles, as lower down. It is probably wooded 
as far as Miniwakan lake, and at the final crossing by the train near the source of one of its 
forks, was even then noticeable for its deep valley and steep banks. 
Mouse river isa large stream of water, and, after the Red river of the North, is the most import- 
ant river on the ronte between the Mississippi and Missouri. It flows in a deep, wide valley, 
upwards of 200 feet below the prairie level, with a width of bottom varying from a half to two 
miles ; is wooded, and sometimes heavily wooded, with a growth of elm, oak, ash, and probably 
with other woods. Its high and steep banks, of about the same formation as belongs to the 
Shayenne, are cut by deep coulées, extending back from the river ten and fifteen miles, having 
generally a fertile soil and scattered trees. These coulées are difficult of passage with wagons, 
and the construction of a railroad across them would be attended with heavy embankments and 
culvert masonry, and with great expense. The location of the line has been so chosen as to 
head them. At Mouse river a coarse, gray sandstone crops out, and may furnish some fair 
building-stone. Near by, at the Butte Maison de Chien, examined by Mr. Lander, he reports an 
abundance of excellent sandstone for building. 
Mouse river is about 120 feet wide, and was, apparently, as much as seven feet deep, and is 
navigable for a long distance, and possibly quite to Red river. The information obtained in 
regard to it was, from one source, that no obstruction to its navigation existed as far down as its 
mouth ; from another source, that there was one intervening rapid. Its navigability would be 
of service in transporting materials, and its valley, with many fertile and pleasing locations, 
offers greater inducements for settlement than are to be found for a long distance on either side 
of it. 
The interval remaining to the high plateau hiding the valley occupied by the railroad from the 
Missouri, is by the River of the Lakes, a tributary of Mouse river—small, but possessing in its 
deep, wide valley and coulées much of the same character. It is wooded for only a small extent. 
From the head of the River of the Lakes, a favoring and singular, coulée breaks the Plateau 
du Coteau du Missouri, and, with a grade not exceeding forty feet per mile, the line passes 
through to the bottom lands of the Missouri. 
From the commencement of the Bois des Sioux prairie to Missouri river, the earth-work would 
not be heavy, nor of an expensive nature. An average embankment of seven feet would cover 
the earth-work. The excavation of the Bois des Sioux prairie is easy, approaching and bordering 
on the Shayenne; boulders and stones are often mingled with the soil, adding to the expense of 
removal; and this last character of formation is, at intervals, met with all along the line, while, 
in general, the substratum appears to be a clayey loam. 
Of rock excavation there is none. Except in crossing the divide, grades need not exceed 
thirty feet per mile, and will rarely be so great. 
The Bois des Sioux will require a bridge of 140 feet; the Wild Rice river 120 feet; a small 
stream near Wild Rice river shouid be spanned by a hundred-foot truss, and James river will 
require 120 feet of bridge. 
The culvert masonry will be small in amount; but care should be taken in side-ditching, and 
the prairie embankment should always be as high as four feet, both to obtain a dry and firm road- 
bed, and for the disposal of the winter snows. 
Wood will be scantily furnished from the route of the road for its construction. The Bois des 
Sioux and Wild Rice rivers will furnish a small amount. The Shayenne will furnish sleepers 
for 200 miles of the way, single rail. We do not know that James river will furnish any. 
Wooded lakes occasionally aid in the supply. Mouse river is liberally wooded, and I think may 
be depended upon to furnish 200 miles with sleepers. The connexion with the Mississippi and 
Red rivers at one end, and with the Missouri at the other, will make up any deficiency in the 
superstructure; but the Missouri bottoms furnish little but the sweet cotton-wood, a soft, porous 
and inferior wood, and not to be used when other can be obtained at a reasonable expense. 
