SO ROUTE NEAR THE THIRTY-SECOND PARALLEL. 



eastern border, at the last point of abundant supply of water, parties should be pushed forward 

 to dig tanks wherever the ground favors their construction, and to sink artesian wells at dis 

 tances of 20 miles apart, or less, should water be readily procured by this process. Supposing 

 it even necessary to bore an artesian well at eveiy 10 miles, and that the cost should be $10,000 

 each well, which is double that of an excessive estimate of the cost of a series of these wells, 

 we should have SI, 000 per mile for cost of road from this cause. By these two means, abundant 

 supplies of water can be got at points a few miles apart, where the camps of the working parties, 

 which need not be large, can be established. The dwarf mezquite, found on the Llano, will 

 furnish sufficient fuel for these parties. 



Railroad trains having engines of twenty-two tons, on four drivers, can carry sufficient water 

 from the headwaters of the Colorado to the mouth of Delaware creek or the Pecos, 125 miles, 

 without adding to the expense of running the trains; and can, from either end of this line, supply 

 all the intermediate stations necessary for the superintendence, repair, and supply of the road. 



Ties can be brought from the country east, and from the Guadalupe mountains, at reasonable 

 cost. Fuel, also, can be supplied from the Brazos, or from the Colorado of Texas. Fortunately, 

 over these plains, destitute of water, but very little excavation or embankment will be required, 

 and the rails can soon be laid. Probably it would be most convenient to bring ties, sleepers, 

 and lumber generally, by the road itself, from the route east of the Llano. In fact, from the 

 east border of the Llano westward, and from the Pacific eastward, a distance of 1,200 miles, the 

 road must be made, as it were, to build itself, carrying its lumber, iron, rails, provisions, and 

 sometimes water, so far as a proper adjustment of economy of time with that of expenditure 

 admits of its doing so. Its progress, from this cause, will be slow ; but as the surface is very 

 smooth, and the inclinations gentle, over these plains, its construction will be proportionately more 

 rapid, aiding to balance the slow progress from the other cause. 



The third section, from the Pecos river to the Rio Grande, presents no unusual difficulties in 

 grade or construction, so far as dependent upon the topographical features of the country. 

 The Guadalupe mountains are passed without a tunnel, and with a grade of 108 feet to the 

 mile; a grade not exceeding those found on roads now built, as on the Baltimore and Ohio, and 

 other railroads. Other routes through or around these mountains are recommended for examina 

 tion, which, it is thought, will give easier grades. Sufficient supplies of water can be had at con 

 venient distances apart, fuel for working parties from the dwarf mezquite on the plains, and 

 cross-ties and lumber can be had from the Guadalupe mountains immediately on the line of the 

 road, and from the Waco mountains, 30 miles distant from it, and also by means of the built por 

 tions of the road, from the supplies on the Brazos and Red rivers. 



BUILDING-STONE, &C. 



In regard to good building-stone the report of the geologist, Jules Marcou, on the specimens 

 procured by Captain Pope see Chapter 13, Captain Pope s Report is not sufficiently explicit 

 respecting all the formations. The cretaceous from Red river to the lower line of the 

 Upper Cross Timbers, 70 miles, is probably too soft ; but thence to the Clear fork of the 

 Brazos, 120 miles, it is undoubtedly good. From the Clear fork to the Guadalupe mountains, 340 

 miles, the route is over formations called by the geologist Trias and Jurassic. From his descrip 

 tion it is possible they may be found too soft, though good building-stone is found in the Trias, 

 as, for instance, the new red sandstone of the Connecticut. The geologist says : &quot; For the 

 construction of a railroad the rocks of the Trias present great facilities. They furnish sandstone, 

 plaster or gypsum, excellent hydraulic lime from the magnesian limestone, and, finally, they are 

 very easy to work, and at the same time firm enough to form excavations or embankments. 

 The sentence is somewhat inexact in its language. The detailed geological report will remove 

 any uncertainty upon this point. Lieutenant Whipple passed over the same formations on the 



