September i6, 1887.] 



SCIENCE 



135 



to exist, but are not yet worked to any considerable extent. This 

 was the most expensive section of the road, the outlay being some 

 $12,000,000 for 200 miles, and a single mile of the heavy cuttings 

 and tunnels cost as much as S75o.ooo- The company expended 

 §2,100,000 for explosives, most of which were used on this section. 

 From the 95th degree of longitude, through Winnipeg to Calgary 

 at the foot of the Rockies, it runs across the great plains nearly one 

 thousand miles. The plains are generally rich, and, when irrigated, 

 yield good crops ; the rainfall, light at Winnipeg, decreases towards 

 the mountains. The country north of the railroad, on the north 

 branch of the Saskatchewan, is richer, has a greater rainfall, and 

 bears heavier crops. It was on the line of this branch that the first 

 surveys were made, and, under Mount Hooker, the highest of the 

 Rocky Mountains, a pass was found only 3,760 feet high, and a route 

 little longer than the one finally adopted ; but beyond this pass the 

 country was so rough and the mountain ridges so numerous that 

 another route was found after the expenditure of over $3,000,000 

 in the survey of twelve thousand miles of different routes. The 

 ascent from Winnipeg, 700 feet high, is gradual to Calgary, 2,900 

 feet above the sea-level, thence to the summit at Stephen, 5,296 

 feet, 150 miles from Calgary. Thence the route descends to the 

 crossing of the Columbia River, where, instead of following the 

 great bend, some 200 or 300 miles, it climbs the Selkirk Moun- 

 tains to the Glacier Hotel, 4,300 feet high. The glaciers come 

 down the mountains close to the hotel, and are easily reached by a 

 short walk. Here are most beautiful views of glaciers, woods, and 

 mountain peaks, affording varied and delightful excursions to the 

 tourist. Between the first and second crossing of the Columbia 

 River, 80 miles, the road ascends 1,788 feet, and descends 2,761 

 feet. The Gold Range is then crossed at a low grade, when the 

 road strikes the Fraser River, about 100 miles west of the Colum- 

 bia, and follows its course through the Cascade Mountains, in 

 deep cations for a long time considered impassable. After leaving 

 the river, the road runs across the low lands to Vancouver on the 

 sound. This is the shortest line from the 95th degree of longitude to 

 the Pacific Ocean, with the lowest grade and the greatest length on 

 the plains. It is claimed to be the only line that runs from ocean to 

 ocean, and is connected with Japan and China by its line of steamers. 

 The Canadian Pacific Railroad Company received from the Domin- 

 ion Government grants of money and land far exceeding those paid 

 to any of our railroads, and has recently obtained a subsidy for 

 carrying the mails across the continent. 



The Northern Pacific Railroad. 



The Northern Pacific Railroad starts from St. Paul on the Missis- 

 sippi and from Duluth on Lake Superior, 600 feet above tide- 

 water. It runs nearly due v»est from Duluth, 1,000 miles to Living- 

 stone at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The country, after leav- 

 ing Lake Superior, is rough, rocky, and is of little value except for 

 timber, for 150 miles. There the great plains begin, and the land 

 is fertile, producing abundant crops if well watered, for about 600 

 miles, when the Bad Lands are reached, about 200 miles west of 

 the Missouri River. 



The other transcontinental railroads, in crossing the plains, have 

 a regular ascent, following the valleys of rivers, but the Northern 

 Pacific crosses the Mississippi, Red, James, Missouri, and Little 

 Missouri rivers, and the divides between these rivers, at right 

 angles. While there is a general up-grade, the ascent is not as regu- 

 lar as on the other lines. West of the Little Missouri the up-grade 

 continues over the Bad Lands to the valley of the Yellowstone ; the 

 road follows that valley for 330 miles, to Livingstone at the foot of 

 the Rockies. The Une passes within a few miles of the Big Horn, and 

 there, where eleven years ago General Custer with his entire command 

 was massacred by the Indians, now the peaceful settlers herd their 

 cattle, and cultivate the fields of wheat and grain. At Livingstone 

 the Yellowstone turns south, opening a way into the mountains. 

 A branch of the road runs to the Yellowstone Park, about 50 

 miles distant, and the traveller is well repaid for the whole 

 journey if he can spend a week in the park. The main line, on 

 leaving Livingstone, crosses the first range of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains at Bozeman summit, 5,570 feet in height. The road then 

 descends to the valley of the Missouri, and follows down the river, 

 50 miles, towards Helena, and passes through that mining centre. 



brilliantly lighted with electric lights, to Mullen Pass, where it 

 crosses the great divide at a height of 5,547 feet, 1,200 miles west 

 of St. Paul, thence, with a general descent, following the waters of 

 Clarke's Forks through Montana and Idaho. Montana, the water- 

 shed between the two oceans, has an elevation of about 4,000 feet 

 above the sea-level. The winters are_ very cold, the summers hot 

 and dry ; only scanty crops can be raised, for there is little rain and 

 few irrigating streams. The cattle range over the plains and moun- 

 tains in summer, and, if properly fed and protected for two or three 

 months, will stand the long cold winters. When storms come, the 

 cattle, unless protected, drift before the wind for many miles until 

 they find shelter, and when the storm abates slowly return to their 

 grazing grounds. The general elevation of Idaho is lower than that 

 of Montana, and its great lakes soften the temperature, while the 

 warm winds from the Pacific Ocean temper the winter climate. 

 There is more rainfall and better soil ; wheat and grain grow in 

 greater abundance. In both of these territories there are great 

 stores of precious metals, the yearly product of Montana being 

 about $25,000,000. The road runs around the beautiful Lake Coeur 

 d'Alene, then for many miles down the Spokane River, with its beau- 

 tiful falls, to Pasco on the Columbia River. Here the road branches, 

 one line following the Yakima River, crossing the Cascade Moun- 

 tains at a height of about 4,000 feet, thence to Seattle and Tacoma 

 on Puget Sound. The other branch follows the Columbia River, 

 which forces its way through the Cascade Mountains, at the Dalles 

 and Cascades, to tide-water at Portland, about 100 miles from As- 

 toria at the mouth of the river. The route over the Cascade 

 Mountains, reaching the fine harbors of the sound, will eventually 

 be the main route. The Northern Pacific is comparatively free 

 from the great alkali deserts found on the more southerly roads, 

 and is therefore more comfortable for the traveller. Few more 

 beautiful trips can be found than over this road by the Yellowstone 

 Park to Tacoma, and thence by the Oregon and California road to 

 San Francisco, and home by the Yosemite and the Atchison, 

 Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad. 



Union and Central Pacific Railroads. 



The Union Pacific Railroad, with its Kansas branches, the 

 Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, and the Atchison, Topeka & 

 Santa Fe, cross the great plains from the Missouri River to the 

 foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains, over a country very similar to 

 that crossed by the Canadian Pacific, but with steeper grades. The 

 Union Pacific begins at Omaha, runs thence 500 miles to Cheyenne 

 on an up-grade averaging ten feet to the mile, increasing in steep- 

 ness as it approaches the foot-hills ; then it rises more rapidly, 

 reaching the summit at Sherman, 8,240 feet above the sea-level, 550 

 miles from Omaha. From thence to the top of the Wasatch 

 Range it runs on an elevated plateau, nowhere less than one mile 

 and a quarter above the sea-level ; it then descends rapidly 3,800 

 feet to Salt Lake, follows the Humboldt Mountain, and crosses the 

 Humboldt Valley, over 300 miles, until the river sinks into the 

 desert, then rising rapidly to the summit of the Sierra Nevadas, 

 7,000 feet, passing by Tahoe, the most beautiful of lakes, then down 

 a grade, which when it was built was the longest and most rapid 

 descent in the world, to tide-water near Sacramento. On turning 

 round a promontory called Cape Horn, near the top of the Sierras, 

 the traveller looks down a perpendicular descent of 2,000 feet 

 into the valley of the American River, — one of the most beautiful 

 views in the mountains. 



The Union and Central roads were the first transcontinental 

 railroads built. The construction was carried on during the civil 

 war, and was finished only four years after its close. The grades 

 are much heavier than those of either of the other roads, and it 

 runs for a longer distance through the mountains. The grades are 

 so unfavorable, compared with other lines, that the Union Pacific has 

 sought another outlet by the way of the Oregon Short Line to the 

 Pacific, and the Central Pacific has found an easier route to the At- 

 lantic by its Southern Pacific Railroad. The Oregon Short Line, a 

 road built and leased by the Union Pacific, leaves the main road at 

 Granger, 875 miles from Ogden, crosses the Rocky Mountains at 

 an elevation of 6,279 fsst- to the Snake River at American Falls, 

 1,100 miles from Ogden, and follows the valley of this river to the 

 Columbia, at Walla Walla junction. The valley of the Snake River 



