62 EXPLORATIONS FROM A. D. 1843 TO A. D. 1852. 
_In May, 1849, Lieutenant Michler examined the road from San Antonio to Port Lavacca; and 
in June and July, 1849, the road between Corpus Christi and Fort Inge, along the Nueces, 
Frio, and Leona rivers. 
. In May, 1850, Lieutenants Wm. F. Smith and F. T. Bryan, Topographical Engineers, 
surveyed the Rio Grande with boats from El Paso to Presidio del Norte, where they met 
Lieutenant Colonel Johnston, Topographical Engineers, who, assisted by Messrs. Howard and 
Minter, had reconnoitred the country between the first ford of Devil's river and Presidio del 
Norte. Colonel Johnston and his assistants failed in their attempt to transport the boat to a 
point below the falls of the Rio Grande. The reconnaissance was, however, continued along 
the river, touching it at different points as far as the Pecos. A map of these reconnaissances, 
on a scale of ten miles to an inch, is in the Topographical Bureau. 
From August to November, 1850, Lieutenants M. L. Smith and N. Michler examined a redd 
from San Antonio to Ringgold barracks, via Fort Merrill, of which we have no map. "They 
also surveyed the Rio Grande from Ringgold barracks to a point eighty miles above the mouth 
of the Pecos. 
In April, 1851, Lieutenant Bryan laid out and made a road from Austin to Fort Mason, of 
which we have no map. 
In April, 1851, Cólonel Johnston reconnoitred the western frontier of Texas from the head- 
waters of the Nueces to Fort Belknap, via the headwaters of the Llano, San Saba, Concho, 
and Clear Fork of Brazos. Lieutenant Bryan accompanied General Smith, in 1851, on his tour 
to establish posts along the western frontier of Texas; and he made numerous reconnaissances 
between San Antonio and Fort Belknap, and between the latter and Fort Graham. 
There were other surveys and reconnaissances made by these officers; but the maps are 
not available, and I have experienced more difficulty in compiling the map of Texas than that 
of any other portion. "Throughout most of the above examinations astronomical observations 
were made for latitude. The longitude of San Antonio was determined by Colonel Johnston 
by moon culminations. 
In April, 1851, Lieutenants W. F. Smith and N. Michler were placed on duty on the United 
States Mexican Boundary Survey. Lieutenant Bryan left Texas in the spring of 1852; Lieu- 
tenant M. L. Smith in November, 1852; Colonel Johnston in the spring of 1853. 
MAP OF THE TERRITORY OF THE UNITED STATES WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, ETC., 1850. 
To this Map the following title was affixed: ‘‘A map of the United States and their Terri- 
tories, from the Mississippi river to the Pacific Ocean, and of part of Mexico; compiled in the 
Bureau of the Corps of Topographical Engineers, under a resolution of the United States 
Senate, from the best authorities which could be obtained." 
This map was published on a scale of 50 miles. to an inch, and contained material from the 
greater portion of the maps I have already described. 
"RECONNAISSANCE ON THE PECOS, BY Mn. R. H. KERN, 1860. 
A military reconnaissance of the Rio Pecos, as far south as the Bosque Grande, was B mado, 
in 1850, by Mr. R. H. Kern, who was attached to the command of Captain H. B. Judd, 3d 
artillery. It was probably made with a compass and estimated distances, and without any 
astronomical observations; but of this I have no positive information. The map of the recon- 
naissance was used by Lieut. Parke in his compiled map of New Mexico in 1851. 
