INSTRUCTIONS. TOPOGRAPHICAL REPORT ON WESTERN DIVISION. 203 



WASHINGTON, D. C., May 9, 1853. 



SIR: On your arrival at San Francisco, you will ascertain from the proper sources the exact 

 state of affairs with reference to the supplies and personnel of your command. Before leaving 

 there for the Columbia river, you will make all the arrangements necessary to carry out the gen 

 eral instructions for the conduct of the expedition. 



Having arrived at Astoria, you will at once proceed to organize your command at such point, 

 either in Oregon or Washington Territory, as you may decide to be the best. You will employ 

 such guides, hunters, and muleteers as you may find necessary, as well as the civil assistants 

 indispensable to the performance of the required duties. With regard to these, and all other 

 points involving expenditure, you will be careful to observe the strictest economy compatible with 

 the success of the expedition. The first and most important point to which your attention is to be 

 directed will be the exploration of the Cascade mountains. You will thoroughly explore this 

 range from the Columbia river to the forty-ninth parallel of north latitude, making detailed exam 

 inations of the passes, and obtaining full information in relation to the range in general. Pend 

 ing this examination you will endeavor to examine the line of the proposed rodd from Wallah- 

 Wallah to Steilacoom, and to start its construction. Having completed the survey of the Cascade 

 range, you will at once proceed eastward as far as the Rocky mountains, unless you meet, 

 before reaching that range, the main party coming from the east. In selecting your route, you 

 will start from the most practicable pass in the Cascade range, and follow what you regard as 

 the most promising line for a practicable road. From the nature of the case it is impossible for 

 me to give you detailed instructions ; but I have, in the course of a number of conversations, fully 

 explained to you the objects of the expedition, my own probable operations, and my views. 



I have, therefore, to direct you to keep constantly in your mind the tenor of these conversations, 

 and the written general instructions. You will use your own judgment as to the manner of 

 carrying them out in the most rapid and effectual manner. 



Whenever you meet with the main party from the east, or any portion of it, you will at once 

 assume the command, (in my absence,) and give whatever orders may be necessary, in your 

 opinion, to carry out the objects of the expedition. Funds will be placed at your disposal to 

 meet your expenses. 



Enclosed are the general and detailed instructions of the expedition, with an explanatory 

 memorandum. 



Yours, &c., 



ISAAC I. STEVENS. 



Brevet Capt. G. B. MCCLELLAN, 



Corps of Engineers. 



8. TOPOGRAPHICAL REPORT OF LIEUTENANT j. K. DUNCAN, u. s. A., TOPOGRAPHER OF THE WEST 

 ERN DIVISION. 



OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON TERRITORY, 



February 21, 1854. 



SIR: I have the honor to submit, together with an accompanying map, the following report 

 on the topography and general character of the country along the route pursued by the party 

 under }-our command in an exploration of the Cascade mountains, during the months of July 

 August, September, October, and November, 1853,Wiz : 



A route northeasterly from Fort Vancouver, on the Columbia, to the Cathlapoot l river; 

 thence, eastward along the banks of the Cathlapoot l and across the ranges of the Cascade 

 mountains, south of Mount St. Helens and Adams, to the open country beyond; thence, turning 

 Mount Adams oil the east, northerly to Ketetas, a point on the Yakima above where it receives 



