ROUTE NEAR THE THIRTY-SECOND PARALLEL. 89 



The next the Tah-ee-chay-pah Pass, elevation of summit 4,020 feet; ascending to it from the 

 Tulares valley in 15 miles with natural slopes, varying through 153, 176, 192, (for 1J mile,) 

 119, and 157 feet, and eight feet per mile, and descending towards the Great Basin nine miles, 

 at 80 feet per mile, the remaining distance being with gentle grades. 



Walter s Pass, elevation of summit 5,302 feet, requires a tunnel of four miles, has a slope in 

 ascending to the summit from the Great Basin of 265 feet per mile for six miles, of 272 feet per 

 mile descending for 6 miles; and just before the Kern river debouches into the Tulares valley, 

 there is an impracticable canon of five miles. 



It is very evident that the most favorable of these passes is the Tah-ee-chay-pah. From the 

 summit to the Tulares valley a side location in earth-cutting can be made, giving an average 

 grade of 144 feet per mile for 17 miles. The steep grade can be extended four miles further, 

 entering the Tulares valley at a lower elevation than that of 1,489 feet. The New Pass and Tah- 

 ee-chay-pah Pass may be connected by an almost horizontal grade around the border of the Great 

 Basin, keeping along the foot of the eastern slopes for about 25 miles, where supplies of water 

 can be had either from springs, small streams, or common wells or artesian wells; then crossing 

 in a nearly straight line to the entrance of the Tah-ee-chay-pah Pass, descending to a fine spring 

 of water, elevation 2,668 feet, and ascending to the entrance, elevation 3,300 feet, and at a dis 

 tance from New Pass of about 60 miles. The whole of this surface is prepared by nature to 

 receive the superstructure of a railroad. It has two intervals of 13 and 17 miles where there is 

 no water; but it can be supplied either by hauling or by digging or boring wells. Fuel, lies, 

 lumber, stone, &c., over this distance of 60 miles, as well as for an additional distance at both 

 ends, must come from the adjoining mountains, where it is abundant. The working parties over 

 this part will be small. 



Having entered the pass at an elevation of 3,300 feet, there will be 12 miles of grade at the 

 rate of 22 feet per mile; then, as before stated, nine miles at SO feet per mile. The ground 

 admits of these grades being arranged to suit those descending to the Tulares valley, which 

 commence after a nearly horizontal grade at the summit for 7-^ miles. From the manner in 

 which these two passes are connected by an almost horizontal line after descending about 500 

 feet from the summit of New Pass, they have, combined, the disadvantages attending only one 

 pass, with a summit elevation of 4,300 feet; and after descending the Pacific slopes through 

 the San Gorgonio Pass to an elevation of 1,118 feet, we have reached the Tulares valley by 

 ascending 3,900 feet; and descending again to an elevation of about 1,500 feet above the mean 

 level of the ocean. From the head of the Tulares valley, the waters of the Bay of San Francisco, 

 navigable for sea-going vessels of large draught, may be attained in several ways. 



The eastern side of the Tulares and San Joaquin valleys is intersected by numerous streams 

 from the Sierra Nevada. The western is bounded by the coast chain, and has few streams. 

 That part of the Tulares valley between Kern and San Joaquin rivers, a space of 150 miles 

 having a soft alluvial soil, is at certain seasons miry. A road, therefore, extending though it, 

 should keep near the foot-slopes of the mountains. From the Tah-ee-chay-pah Pass to the best 

 point of crossing Kern river, 2J^ miles, the route passes over a dry dusty plain, destitute of 

 water and fuel, the soil of which is not well constituted for fertility. The elevation at the 

 crossing being about 500 feet, the general grade will be, for the first ten miles, 78 feet per mile, 

 and for the remaining eleven and a half miles, 18 feet per mile. 



From the crossing of Kern river to the second crossing of the San Joaquin, at or near Gray- 

 son s, the distance is (the route keeping near the foot of the mountains) 258 or 260 miles the 

 general descending grade two and a third feet per mile. The numerous river-beds or bottoms 

 should be crossed on piles, the spaces varying from 50 to 300 feet, the greatest width of the 

 portions to be spanned not exceeding 100 feet. This is not proposed as the route for a railroad, 

 but merely to give a general idea of the distance and character of country which separates the 

 head of the Tulares valley from the navigable \vaters of the Bay of San Francisco. The total 

 12a 



