45 



EXPLORATIONS IN NEBRASKA AND DAKOTA. 



Preliminary report of Lieut. G. K. Warren, Topographical Engineers, 

 to Captain A. A. Humphreys, Topographical Engineers, in charge of 

 O^ce of Explorations and Surveys, War Department. 



Washington, D. C, November 24, 1858. 



Captain : I have the honor to submit the following preliminary 

 report on the results of the explorations conducted by me in Nebraska 

 in the years 1855,-'56,-'57. This report is divided as follows : 



1st. Koutes explored, and main incidents affecting their direction 

 and extent. 



2d. Physical geography of Nebraska, character of the soil, and 

 resources of the country. 



3d. Kemarks upon the climate and meteorology. 



4th. A description of the principal rivers, and discussion of the 

 merits of different routes. And 



5th. An enumeration of the Indian tribes, military posts, and routes 

 for military operations. 



To the report is annexed a small map of Nebraska on a scale of 1 to 

 6,000,000, showing the main physical features of the country and the 

 routes requiring further examination, as well as those already explored. 

 The report is accompanied by catalogues of the paleontological, min- 

 eralogical, botanical, and zoological specimens collected on our explo- 

 rations, prepared by Dr. F. V. Hayden, so as to show the localities 

 where they were found. Much useful instruction as to the manner of 

 making meteorological observations and collecting specimens in natural 

 history was given to us by the officers of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 and the secretary, Professor Henry, furnished us with rooms in which to 

 store the collections and elaborate the results. A brief report, by Dr. 

 Samuel Moffett^ of the health of the party during the expedition in 

 185Y, is also appended. 



We have found it necessary to defer to a subsequent report the narra- 

 tive and itinerary of the routes, the complete maps, profiles, and other 

 illustrations, the tables of meteorological observations, and the results 

 of our collections and observations in geology, botany, &c. 



Some of the geological results have already been published by per- 

 mission of the War Department in papers read by Dr. Hayden, Mr. 

 F. B. Meek, and Dr. Joseph Leidy, before the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences of Philadelphia. A letter prepared by me for the Hon. G. 

 W. Jones, senator from Iowa, has also been published, accompanied 

 by a small map of Nebraska, on a scale of 1 to 6,000,000. This map 

 has also been colored so as to indicate approximately the geological 

 formations, and in this shape is published with one of the papers pre- 

 pared by Dr. Hayden in the proceedings of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences of Philadelphia. 



A map of my explorations in Nebraska was ordered to be engraved 

 by the United States Senate during the last session, and is now nearly 

 ready for publication. In preparing this map I availed myself of all 

 other explorations and surveys within the limits comprised by it, (in- 



