84 NAVIGABILITY OF THE MISSOURI. 



river, and at the several points for two miles above these rapids, at the ferry near the mouth of 

 Swan river, and at the Little Falls. 



No difficulty will be experienced in locating the road from the plateau of the Bois des Sioux 

 to the valley of Mouse river. It should keep south of the Shayenne, the northern limit of the 

 plateau, to avoid the severe crossing of that river, and, pursuing a course north of the Dead Colt 

 Hillock, keep along the dividing ridge between the Shayenne river arid the Riviere a Jacques. 

 On this portion of the road there is a scarcity of timber, and for a portion of the way water 

 must be brought in aqueducts from the lakes on the Coteau du Missouri, which may be used both 

 in runnin^ the road and in the growth of cotton-wood on the line of the road for supplies of fuel. 

 Timber and fuel can be brought to the plateau in great quantities from the Red river of the North, 

 and considerable supplies can be procured from the Shayenne. Lignite coal has been found on 

 the Mouse river, and further search may lead to the discovery of beds of bituminous coal. 



3. From the valley of Mouse river the route to the plateau between the Milk and Missouri 

 rivers must pass over the Coteau du Missouri at grades of not exceeding forty feet to the 

 mile, and, descending into the valley of the Missouri river either by the Grand Coulee or the Big 

 Muddy river, at grades not exceeding forty feet to the mile, can take two directions, either along 

 the valley of the Milk river, to a point north of the Bear s Paw mountains, or, crossing the Milk 

 river near its mouth, can pursue an intermediate course between the Milk and Missouri rivers, 

 passing through the Bear s Paw mountains. 



The second route, involving the intricacies of the Bear s Paw mountains, and not having been 

 examined by an estimating engineer, will not be considered in this report. It will save perhaps 

 twenty miles in distance, and should be examined previous to the location of the road. 



The valley of the Milk river has extraordinary railroad facilities in its water, its groves of 

 cotton-wood, its materials for ballasting; and is in connexion at several points with the Missouri 

 river, as a line of supplies and communication to Fort Union, which may be reached by a spur 

 road at the mouth of the Big Muddy, and at the mouth of the Milk river. This will render 

 available for the road the resources in timber and stone of tl e upper Missouri and Yellowstone. 



From the great lakes, therefore, to the plateau at the oase of the mountains, the road has 

 several solutions, involving no higher grade than forty feet, and that for a few miles passing 

 for the most part through a rich country, part of it heavily timbered and well watered ; a deficiency 

 of wood and water in other parts easily supplied by aqueducts, by the growth of cotton-wood, 

 by the connexion of the Missouri and the Yellowstone, of the Red river of the North, the Shay 

 enne and the Mouse rivers. In this connexion I will refer to the general character of the Missouri 

 as a line of communication in the construction of the road. 



The Missouri is navigable as high as the mouth of the High Wood creek, fifteen miles below 

 the Great Falls of the Missouri, by steamers drawing eighteen to twenty inches of water at all 

 seasons of the year, when not obstructed by ice, and lor steamers drawing two and a half to 

 three feet for one-half the season. Its principal tributary, the Yellowstone, is also navigable for 

 steamers for two hundred miles, and still farther for keel-boats and canoes. None of the rivers 

 of the upper Missouri are navigable, except, perhaps, the Marias, which is said to be navigable 

 for steamers of light draught some fifty miles. There are two rises in the river, occurring in May 

 and June, caused by the melting of the snows of the prairies and the mountains, which facilitate 

 very much the navigation of the river. The distance from its mouth to Fort Union is 1,900 miles, 

 and to the mouth of the High Wood creek about 2,430 miles. From the mouth of the river to the 

 Great Bend the country admits of almost continuous settlement; thence to Fort Union, only about 

 one- fourth could well be cultivated. Above Fort Union there are many extensive bottoms 

 adapted to agriculture, and much arable land in the vicinity of Fort Benton, especially on the 

 High Wood creek. The immense quantity of game along the whole course of the river to below 

 the Great Bend, is an evidence of its goodness as a grazing country. The obstructions consist 

 in snags, sawyers, and sand-bars, rapids, chains of rock, through which there is but one channel, 



