25 



cliaractei- as to dctciniiin; the lalitiulc to fiaetioiuil i)aits of a iniiiiito in arc; wliik' at points 

 wliere tho telegraph could bo used, more satisfactoiy results liave. beeu attained with regard to 

 longitude ; below ^Vllite Pine these positions are only apiiroximate, depending upon the equability 

 of the rate of the ehrouonieters. 



NATURE Ol" TILE KECONNAISSANCE. 



The intention has been that the information collected shall be of as great practical value as 

 possible, showiug u|iou the map, besides the general top()gia[>liical features, all tlie present exist- 

 ing roads, with tables giving distances between stations, the character of the roads, &c., streams 

 and springs, the spots at which timber exists, the height of noticeable mountain ranges, peaks, &c. 



The basis of the recounaissance has beeu the actual road traveised, careluily meanderi-d; the 

 distances being taken by odometers that can bedeiiended upon to a vaiiation not exceeding two i)er 

 cent. The positions of the camps, as thus determined, have been moditied from the results of the 

 astronomical work. In many cases, from the tops of prominent i)eaks that luid beeu carefully 

 located, directions were taken to other i>rominent peaks, far in the distance; thus accomplishiug 

 a trigonometric connection. 



Meteorological observatious have beeu takeu, so as to be used in connect ion with the obtaiu- 

 ing of altitudes, and for such general information as their discussion will develop. At six or seven 

 points these have been taken hourly, and at intervals exteudiug from forty-eight to uinety-six 

 hours. 



Aneroid barometers, coin|iared each day with cistern barometers, have been used with good 

 success to give data for determining a rough luolile of routes traversed. 



The natural trend of the mountain chains and valleys is seen to be north and south, varied 

 lu're ami there by a break in the wave-motion of the great force that first created the upheaval — 

 showing at these points lateral (livergen(-es, giving more dillicidt divides from one valley to 

 another, and every variety of hill and ravim^ coutour. This is, perhaps, the most noticeable iu 

 the vicinities of the White Pine and Pahranagat ranges. 



The valleys traversed were twenty-three iu unmber, as follows: Huntington, Ituby, White 

 Pine, Long, Steptoe, Cave, Desert, Meadow, Spring, Snake, Lake, Pahranagat, Kose, Cedar, Eagle, 

 Dry, Clover, ^Meadow, ^"egas, Coal, Sierra, Railroad, and Alkali. 



Eighteen mining districts were visited, that lie withiu the ana eiiil)iace(l by our route, as 

 luliows: Cave, White Pine, Ivobinson, Patterson, Sacramento, Snake, Shoshone, Ely, El Dorado, 

 Yellow Pine, Timber .^lountain, Hercules, TimPah-LTte, Pahranagat, Reveille, Hot Creek, Morey, 

 and Grant. Slight glances at their character, and a somewhat general descrijition of each, is giveu 

 in the body of the report. There are really two distinct and somewhat jiarallel lines: One, 

 leaving the railroad near Toaua, bears southward through Ste])toe \'alley, via Cave and Pahrana- 

 gat Valleys, aud thence along the Muddy and Virgin Rivers to the Colorado; theuce by a prospect- 

 ive route till some ]ioint on the military road from Mojave to Presrott is reached. The other, leav- 

 ing the railroad at lOlko, passes west of Hamilton, down Railroad Valley, thence, via Crescent 

 Mill, Indian Springs, Las Vegas, and Hardy ville, to the same military road. 



If any route is ever used as a through line of travel, either as a railroad ov as a country road, 

 for any heavy transiiortation, it nuist be the one crossing the Colorado at the mouth of the Virgin. 

 The more westerly line is comi)ar,itively a desert all the way to Hardyville, after White I'ine is 

 reached. 



IJy a reference to the tables, it will appear that the distance from Toano, ou the Central Pacific 

 Railroad, to I'rescott, Ariz., on the natural route of travel, is live hundred aud fifty eight miles; 

 while from Elko, a point farther south on the railroad, by a nu>re westerly route, it is six hundred 

 and forty one miles, giving an advantage of l.j per cent, to the former in distance alone. The 

 other advantages, such as better roads, camps with better accommodations in regard to wood, 

 water, aud grass, and fewer de-sert marches, are superior to the one above mentioned. Provided 

 the road can be made through from the mouth of the Virgin, loaded wagons can reach Camp Toll- 

 tiate from the Ceutral Pacific Railroad in twenty or twenty-one days actual travel ; while, on the 

 other route, it Mould take at least twcnty-niue or thirty days, aud longer intervals at stoppiug- 

 i w 



