LETTER TO SECRETARY OF WAR. LETTER OF LIEUTENANT MULL AN. 633 



OFFICE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD EXPLORATION AND SURVEY, 



Olympia, Washington Territory, March 6, 1854. 



SIR: I have the honor to inform you that, on the 4th instant, Garry, the chief of the Spokanes, 

 reached this place with an express from the St. Mary s valley, bringing letters from Lieutenant 

 Mullan, and information that the route from that place was entirely practicable for horses; no 

 snow of greater depth than one and a half foot having been found, and that depth only in crossing 

 by the trail the divide between the Jocko and the Bitter Root liver and some of the mountain 

 spurs that overhang Clark s fork. The express left the camp of Lieutenant Mullan on the 17th 

 of January. 



.Lieutenant Mullan, on the 28th of November, left his camp to make the connexion with Fort 

 Hall, and, crossing the Rocky mountains twice, both going and returning, but in different routes, 

 he reached his cantonment on the 12th of January. A copy of his report I herewith enclose. I 

 will particularly call your attention to his statement that the grass was luxuriant in the mountain 

 valleys ; that the greatest depth of snow on the Rocky Mountain divide was fifteen inches ; and 

 that Victor, the Flathead chief, was, at the date of his letter, (the 12th of January,) crossing the 

 mountains on his return from the plains beyond. 



I hope to be able to send off my preliminary report by this steamer. The drawing and report 

 are all but finished. A railroad line is laid down from actual observation, (the line of Lewis and 

 Clark s Pass and of the Columbia and Cowlitz rivers.) No grade exceeds fifty feet, and only for 

 a few miles is the grade more than forty feet. There is but one tunnel, and that in crossing the 

 Rocky Mountain chain; and the summit-level of the road is about five thousand feet above the 

 sea. Every exertion has been made to prepare it at an earlier date; but the late arrival of Mr. 

 Tinkham, and the great amount of materials to be examined and put together, will explain to 

 the department the delay which has occurred. 



I expect the arrival of Lieutenant Grover in some two weeks, and I indulge the hope that his 

 examinations will be decisive as to the snow question. 



Very respectfully, sir, your most obedient, 



ISAAC I. STEVENS, 



Governor of Washington Territory, in Charge of Exploration. 

 Hon. JEFFERSON DAVIS, 



Secretary of War, Washington, D. C. 



CANTONMENT STEVENS, BITTER ROOT VALLEY, W. T., 



January 12, 1S54. 



SIR : I have the honor to report, that in conformity to the paragraph of your letter of instruc 

 tions, dated at the St. Mary s village, of October 3d, 1853, &quot;to continue the exploration of the 

 country between the Rocky and Bitter Root ranges of mountains, extending to Fort Hall, to con 

 nect the survey of Colonel Fremont, and northward to the Flathead lake, and even to the upper 

 waters of Clark s fork of the Columbia,&quot; I left my main camp, on the Bitter Root river, on the 

 28th November, 1853, with the intention of making the connexion with Fort Hall, taking with 

 me Mr. Adams as artist, the Flathead interpreter, Gabriel, as guide, and three men. I merely 

 submit at present for your consideration the general character of the route followed, accompanied 

 by a rough sketch, intending to send by next express, or by Lieutenant Grover, a detailed report 

 and a map of the country passed over. In going to Fort Hall, I followed up the main stream of 

 the Bitter Root river to its headwaters, by a very easy, practicable, and beautiful route, to the 

 dividing ridge of the Missouri and Columbia waters. Here I found the ascent steep, and the 

 divide very high, the descent being very easy and gradual. Empty wagons can, I think, how 

 ever, cross this divide in going to the south, but freighted ones not. In going towards the north 

 there is no difficulty whatever, as wagons this season have crossed it. Crossing the dividing 

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