44 ROUTE NEAR THE FORTY-SEVENTH AND FORTY NINTH PARALLELS. 



Of the first, Governor Stevens says : &quot;The route will be long, in consequence of the curves 

 of the river, and will involve curves of the minimum radius, numerous bridge-crossings, con 

 siderable side-cutting, and high embankments on the prairie portions, in consequence of the 

 spring freshets (twenty to thirty feet vertical rise.) The rock, in side-cuttings, can be easily 

 quarried. The greater portion of this route has been personally examined by me, and I am 

 satisfied of its practicability, though at great expense.&quot; 



Mr. Lander, in whose judgment and experience Governor Stevens placed great confidence, 

 says of this portion of the route : &quot; The descent of the Bitter Root is very severe. The general 

 grade of the river- valley for that distance is not great (11 Jg feet per mile,) but the changes 

 in level are abrupt, the valley extremely narrow and crooked; sharp curvature and steep 

 gradients will be needed under any system of location, and, by the best mode of conquering 

 these difficulties, the line will be extreme in cost and nearly impracticable.&quot; 



The only instrument used on this examination was a pocket-compass. Governor Stevens s 

 party left the Bitter Root at the debouche of the Cceur d Alene Pass, and Mr. Lander at a 

 point several miles before reaching Clark s fork. The topographer of the expedition, Mr. 

 Lambert, describes this unexamined portion of the Bitter Root as a canon, but in conversation 

 I find that his description was inferred from partial information, and was not intended to 

 mean that the mountain-sides closing in upon the river were vertical walls. Dr. Suckley 

 makes no special mention of it. In respect to this portion of the route, he says: &quot; The numer 

 ous very short curves, obliging frequent crossings by strong bridges, the great length of the 

 route if the river is followed, the steep banks, and the high-raised work necessary to prevent 

 the encroachments of the freshets, (which in many places rise from twenty to thirty feet above 

 the common level,) will all render this part of the road exceedingly expensive.&quot; In view of 

 the difficulties to be encountered on this line, and of the nature of the reconnaissance of it, it 

 should not be considered practicable until more exact data are obtained upon which to form a 

 correct opinion. 



By the second line to Clark s fork: To overcome the summit of the Jocko divide, 852 feet 

 above Hell-Gate, the approach will require a grade of sixty feet, and the descent to the valley 

 of the Jocko a grade of sixty feet, both for short distances, with heavy embankments, and prob 

 ably a lofty bridge. Lieutenant Donelson is of opinion that these grades may be reduced to 

 forty-five and forty feet. Along the valley of the Jocko and Flathead rivers, on their left 

 banks to Clark s fork, the grade will be twenty feet per mile. Ten or twelve miles before 

 reaching Clark s fork, the mountains close in upon the river with steep slopes and rough pro 

 jecting rocks. The heavy growth of timber obliged the party to leave the river, returning to 

 it again at Horse Plain on Clark s fork, a few miles below the junction of the Bitter Root and 

 Flathead. This portion of the Flathead, like that of the Bitter Root, is described by Mr. 

 Lambert as a canon. The distance to Horse Plain from Hell-Gate by the Jocko is 70 miles, 

 by the Bitter Root 95 miles. 



A better connection with the Flathead can probably be made by leaving the Blackfoot 

 valley above the defile ; further examination is necessary to establish this, however. 



Lieutenant Donelson says the average fall of Clark s fork is eleven feet per mile, and lie 

 estimates that the railroad could descend with gradients of from fifteen to twenty feet per 

 mile. With the exception of occasional small prairies, marked on the map, its valley 

 throughout is heavily timbered, mainly with pine. At several points on the route the rocky 

 hill-sides crowd upon the river, arid all deep-cutting will probably expose the rock, appa 

 rently, in general, a species of limestone or trap. 



The line crosses the Flathead some miles above its junction with Clark s fork, (or Bitter 

 Root?) continues on the right bank as far as Big Rock ; then crosses Clark s fork, following 

 the left bank, and recrosses at the Cabinet mountain. Tunnelling the Cabinet mountain 300 

 yards through 50 per cent, basaltic rock, it would continue on the right bank of the river to 



