80 EXPLORATIONS FROM A. D. 1852 To A. D, 1857. 
Captain J. Pope was assisted by Lieutenant Kenner Garrard, first dragoons; Dr. J. Mitchell, 
surgeon and naturalist; Mr. C. L. Taplin, and J. H. Byrne, with an escort of twenty-five men 
under Lieutenant L. H. Marshall, third infantry. The party, including teamsters, &c., num- 
bered seventy-five men. They were provided with sextant, chronometer, odometer, and 
compasses. The grades were determined by measuring the vertical angle with a theodolite. 
The expedition left Doña’ Ana February 12, 1854. Passing through the Organ mountains, 
they struck southwest to the pass at Cerro Alto, in the Hueco mountains. From this point 
Lieutenant Garrard was sent to El Paso to connect the two points by survey. From Cerro 
Alto the expedition moved eastward to the Guadalupe Pass, passing by the way of the Cornudos 
de los Alamos. Lieutenant Garrard explored the Guadalupe range some distance to the south, 
and joined the main party at the head of Delaware creek. On reaching the Pecos, Lieutenant 
Marshall explored it up to the mouth of the Sacramento river, and Mr. Taplin was sent across 
the Llano Estacado to the Sulphur Springs. The main party then moved down the Pecos to 
the emigrant crossing; thence east over the usual road to the Big Springs of the Colorado; and 
thence northwest to the Sulphur Springs. Lieutenant Garrard was sent back from this point 
to the Pecos, at the mouth of Delaware creek, to survey the direct route between the two 
places. From the Sulphur Springs the whole party travelled a very direct course to Fort 
Belknap; thence northeast to the west fork of the Trinity; and thence eastward to Preston, 
where their examinations terminated. | 
Captain Pope made additional explorations in the vicinity of the Guadalupe mountains 
during the years 1855— 56— 57, while engaged in the experiment for obtaining water by artesian 
wells, but his final report has not yet been made. 
EXPLORATION AND SURVEY FOR A RAILROAD ROUTE FROM BENICIA, CALIFORNIA, TO FORT FILLMORE, 
NEW MEXICO, BY LIEUTENANT J. G. PARKE, TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEERS, 1854-'55. 
The report of these examinations form part of Volume VII of the quarto edition of the Pacific 
Railroad Reports, and is accompanied by two topographical maps, on a scale of twelve miles to 
an inch, and profiles of his routes on the same horizontal scale, and a vertical scale fifty times 
larger. On the same sheet is a profile of the route from Fulton to San Diego, on a horizontal 
scale of thirty-six miles to an inch, and a vertical scale fifty times greater. There are also 
geological maps and profiles. : 
Lieutenant Parke was assisted by Mr. Albert H. Campbell, civil engineer; Doctor Thomas 
Antisell, geologist; and Messrs. Custer and N. H. Hutton, topographers. They were provided 
with sextants and chronometers, barometers, compasses, and odometers. On the 20th 
November, 1854, they left Benicia with a party of about thirty persons, crossed the Straits of 
Carquinez to Martinez, and proceeded up the Arroyo de las Neuces to the head of the San 
Ramon valley. Turning south they crossed the Coast range near the San José Mission, from 
which they travelled around the end of San Francisco bay to the Puebla de San José. They 
then turned up the San José valley, crossed over the Gavilan range at the source of Pajaro 
river, and examined the passes in this vicinity. 
The route then lay up the broad valley of the Salinas (or Monterey) river, until reaching a 
point about twenty miles above the Soledad Mission, where the wagon train turned southwest 
over the mountains to the head of San Antonio Pass. A thorough examination was then made 
of all the mountain region between Point Conception and Fort Tejon in the Cafiada de las 
Uvas; upon the termination of which the expedition proceeded to Los Angelos. 
