41 



driveu from Texas to this section of the country is improved after a few years, on account of tlie 

 superior quality of the natural grass. This seems likely to be true of all the immense grazing- 

 fields of Nevada, and other portions of the great western interior, and that their value is slowly 

 becoming known can only be looked to with satisfaction, since numerous herds are now grazing in 

 the valley of the Mississippi and on the plains of Texas, on lands gradually becoming so valuable 

 that they will be required for agricultural j)urposes. We must soon look to the high mountain- 

 areas for their sustenance and jjrojiagation. If these grasses will submit to an increase of large 

 herds, or to cultivation, and retain their perennial power, the question of meat-supply for the millions 

 in the United States for years to come is solved. 



niOFJLE OF EOADS. 

 The profiles have been preserved upon manuscript maps. 



MTTEKAX'S CREEK TO MOUTH OF RIO VreOEN. 



This is designated as Profile No. 1, and gives that portion of the railroad-route projected, 

 actually traversed by the survey-parties. The distance is about two hundred and sixty -eight miles, 

 the actual fall in altitude being .^,L'00 feet ; that is, from G,4()0 at Camp 13 to 1,'20() at Camp 52, 

 being 19 feet to the mile. The divides that are the most marked exist between Cave and Sierra 

 and Coal and Pahranagat Valleys. They are of such a nature as to offer no hinderance to ordinary 

 railroad-grades, while it will be seen that the decrease in elevation is interrupted by no sudden 

 breaks. 



The highest point will be G,700 feet, about 700 feet greater than the altitude of Toano, oa 

 Central Pacific Railroad, which is given on their map 5,96-1: feet above sea-level. 



ELKO TO EL DORADO CANON. 



This is denominated Profile No. 2, and the distances are also given in Table No. 2 of the report. 



The divides between the valleys along this route are more noticeable, and in two or three in- 

 stances present barriers almost impassable, and hence would uecessitate an extraordinary expendi- 

 ture for the construction of a railroad. These are at Quinn's Canon, where a crossing of the continu- 

 ation of the White Pine range is effected, between Mud and (Juartz Spriugs, and at the head of 

 El Dorado Canon. 



It is not certain that a road could not be run to the westward of Quiun Canon, and to the last 

 two points mentioned. In this event, however, it must continue always to the westward of the 

 Colorado, and remain all the time in a very desert section, wiiich cannot of itself afford the materials 

 necessary for stocking and keeping in supply the construction-parties. The distance from Monte 

 Christo to near the divide of the water-shed between the Humboldt and Colorado Basins to El 

 Dorado Canon is three hundred and four miles, while the difference in altitude is C,G72 feet, show- 

 ing a fall of 22 feet per mile, which is not only greater than that of the route first mentioned, but, 

 taken in connection with the sterility of the country and the necessity of heavy grades, condemns 

 the project of a railroad near this meridian. 



Itseemsnot unlikely, looking well into the future, thatthe Colorado River, atsome point between 

 Camp Mojavc and the foot of the Gratid Canon, will be approached by at least two lines of railroad 

 that, leaving the Central Pacific, follow generally north and south lines. The first will doubtless 

 be not far removed from the one projected on Map No. 1, while the second, connecting with the 

 Utah Central at Salt Lake City, following to the south and west through the chain of Mormon 

 settlements, will meet the river near the foot of the Grand Wash. Still another line of road, 

 passing to the eastward of the Sierras through Owen's River Valley, joining the present railroad 

 from Virginia City to Carson, may be broken to the east to the Colorado, or, bearing slightly to the 

 westward, continue on to San Diego. I believe it to be not an over-sanguine idea that all of this 

 will happen ; the exact date of completion of each or any of these public improvements being yet 

 indeterminate. 

 6 w 



